Having to wait for us to answer your email is a drag. Mostly it just takes too long, but having to actually ask us questions has the result of discouraging question-asking in the first place.
In an effort to make the site increasingly user-friendly, we have created a guide, a sort of mentor that can help us help you faster and more efficiently. I present to you, The Professor:
The Professor sits patiently on any contact form and uses some nifty context clues and search functions to deduce what it is you want to know before you even complete your sentence. The idea is to help more people answer questions more quickly.
Perhaps it would be best to call the Professor an adjunct for the time being, because right now he’s not very sophisticated. He gets easily confused and overwhelmed and we need your help to make sure he grows up to his full academic potential. If he suggests a help topic that’s not useful, tell him whatfor by clicking the little “x” in the top right hand corner of his suggestions. He doesn’t know how to answer a lot of questions so far, just some of the most common.
We’ll monitor this criticism and do regular performance reviews for so that his instruction will become increasingly useful. He’s hoping for tenure eventually, and we want to encourage his growth so that he reaches his goal!