How to communicate with Professors
Your professors will not automatically know when you're traveling for competition, what your game schedule looks like, or how much your schedule shifts week to week, and nor should they care. Unlike your coaches and athletic staff, professors are solely concerned with your learning, and all interactions revolve around you as a student, not an athlete. This means the way you communicate with them carries disproportionate weight. At smaller institutions you will have the opportunity to build strong relationships with professors, with lots of face-to-face time, and with an opportunity for you to understand each other. At most bigger institutions it may be less realistic to build a relationship where class size exceeds the opportunity for students to connect with professors outside of occasionally asking questions related to the specific topic of a class. Regardless, how you handle yourself and approach communications will have consequences. A single well-handled conversation can set the tone for an entire semester. A single mishandled situation can follow you for the next few months.
This guide treats your relationship with each professor as exactly that: a relationship. You're not asking for favors, and you're not owed accommodations by default; it is your responsibility to manage a professional relationship with someone who will ultimately decide your grade, your options for makeup work and missed classes, and, indirectly, your eligibility.
Why This Matters
Missed or late communication is the single biggest driver of avoidable academic conflict for student-athletes. Be early and often.
Professors who hear from you directly, in a professional tone, and before the problem are far more likely to work with you when something goes wrong.
How you communicate shapes whether a professor sees you as a reliable student who happens to travel or a chronic excuse-maker. Reputations that can follow you for a college career.
Reframe How You View The Relationship
Professors do not owe you anything. Their job is to help you learn and give you the resources to grow. You're not just "missing class." You're coordinating two demanding endeavors, athletics and academics, that are not designed to talk to each other. It is your job to balance the two. Ultimately you are making the decision to compete in your sport. A scholarship may help you get through school, but you are at school to learn; it is on you to manage the two. Treating that coordination as your responsibility, rather than something a professor should just accommodate, is what separates athletes who build strong academic relationships from those who don't.
What Professors Are Dealing With
A single professor may be teaching several sections, advising dozens of students, running their own research, and sitting on department committees. Office hours might serve 50+ students a week. As well as constant emails from students demanding. None of this excuses unresponsiveness, but it explains realistic response times and why a rushed, vague message is easy to deprioritize. But also be aware of the other resources available on campus for any challenges you have.
Academic advisor: there to help interpret any attendance policies and mediate if a conversation with a professor stalls, more of a last resort. They are there to help you view the long term, not necessarily immediate academic challenges.
Compliance office/athletics academic support: often issue official travel letters to confirm sport-related activities and absences on your behalf.
Faculty athletics representative (FAR), when available: a formal bridge between athletics and academics for unresolved conflicts.
Tutoring service: available at most campuses for free to help you with any specific problems you have relating to course materials
Know your rights: most institutions have written policies guaranteeing reasonable accommodation for official university-sponsored travel. You are not asking for a favor when you invoke a policy that already exists.
Core Communication Principles
Be proactive, not reactive. Notify a professor about an upcoming absence as soon as your travel schedule is confirmed, not the night before, and never after the fact.
Check the syllabus: Most of your questions (attendance policy, late-work policy, preferred contact method, whether make-up exams are offered at all) are usually addressed here. Referencing the syllabus in your message ("I saw the attendance policy allows for...") signals that you've done your homework and aren't asking the professor to repeat themselves.
Lead with the solution, not just the problem. "I'll be traveling for a competition on these dates; here's how I plan to submit the assignment early/make up the exam" lands very differently than "I'm going to miss class.”
Timing matters. Reach out as early in the semester and as early before each specific absence as possible. Last-minute requests read as poor planning, even when the travel itself was unavoidable.
Choose the right channel for the situation. A quick logistics question can go by email; a grade dispute or accommodation conversation deserves office hours or a scheduled meeting.
Keep the tone professional by default. Even with professors you get along with well, written communication should stay formal until they signal otherwise.
Common Scenarios & How to Handle Them
Notifying a Professor of an Upcoming Absence: Send your official travel documents, given by athletic departments, to professors as early as possible. Ideally at the start of the semester with specific dates once your competition schedule is finalized. Follow up individually with each professor rather than assuming the letter alone is sufficient, and provide reminders when the events are approaching.
Requesting to Reschedule an Exam or Assignment: Propose a specific alternative date or method; don't just flag the conflict. Offer an alternative, but remember it’s what the professor prefers: taking the exam early, taking it on return, or an alternative format.
Missing Class Due to a Sporting Conflict: These can easily be overlooked, as they aren't on the official travel calendar. Give as much notice as the situation allows, and be direct about its nature. Reinforcing that it’s medically or athletically necessary rather than optional.
Falling Behind Academically Due to Travel Load: Flag it before it becomes a crisis. A mid-semester check-in ("I want to make sure I'm on track given my travel schedule") is far more effective than a message sent the week grades are due.
Disputing/Clarifying a Grade: Ask questions before making claims. "Can you walk me through how this was scored?" opens a conversation; "I deserve a higher grade" closes one. Bring the rubric or assignment criteria.
Requesting a Letter of Recommendation: Ask well in advance (at least 3–4 weeks), in person or by a detailed email, and provide context: what it's for, the deadline, and a résumé or summary of your work in their course.
Disclosing a Documented Accommodation: Start at your institution's accessibility service/disability/accommodations office first; they formally notify professors. Following up directly with the professor afterward to confirm logistics is still good practice.
Building the Relationship Early, Not Just in a Crisis: Introduce yourself in the first week or two of the semester, even if you don't anticipate any conflicts. A professor who already knows your name and situation responds very differently to a mid-semester travel request than one hearing from you for the first time under pressure.
Communication Channels & Etiquette
Email Norms
Use a clear subject line, e.g., "[Course Name] — Travel Conflict, Oct 14–16"
Introduce yourself by name, course, and section in your first message of the semester. And potentially in follow-ups, depending on the relationship and class sizes.
Keep it concise; outline the situation, what you're asking for, and any relevant information in the first few lines.
Use your university email address, not a personal one.
Office Hours Etiquette
Come with specific questions written down in advance.
If you can't make posted office hours due to practice, ask for an alternative time—most professors will accommodate this if asked respectfully.
LMS / Canvas Messaging
Some professors prefer course-platform messaging over email for anything related to a specific assignment or grade, since it keeps the conversation attached to the coursework. This will often be outlined in the syllabus, so be aware of their preferences.
What Not To Do
Don't no-show a class or exam with zero notice, even if the absence is unavoidable.
Don't over-explain or over-apologize: state the situation plainly and move to the plan.
Don't wait until after a deadline has passed to raise a conflict you already knew about.
Don't offer problems without solutions.
Realistic Response-Time Expectations
Give a professor 24–48 hours to respond during the work week before following up. If a decision is time-sensitive, say so directly in your original message rather than sending a string of follow-ups.
Final Do’s and Don’ts
Do
Notify professors as soon as your competition schedule is set.
Don't
Wait until the week of an absence to say anything.
Do
Propose a specific plan or alternative date.
Don't
Just state the problem and leave it to the professor to solve.
Do
Reference the syllabus policy when relevant.
Don't
Ask a question the syllabus already answers.
Do
Introduce yourself early in the semester.
Don't
Only reach out when there's a problem.
Do
Follow up politely after 24–48 hours if needed.
Don't
Send repeated messages within hours of each other.
Do
Loop in your advisor if a conflict isn't resolving.
Don't
Let an unresolved conflict escalate silently.
