Academic Life in the United States

The academic structure of professorial tenure and research and teaching career tracks is complex. It differs in the U.S. from other countries; it differs across the U.S., too.

In the U.S., the relationship between professors and students is basically regarded as a business relationship, based on academic and professional mentorship, rather than a familial one. At the same time, it is often much less formal than it is in some other countries.

All of that can leave you a little unsure how to talk to your teachers!

In general, start by calling your teachers “Professor” (whatever their rank) unless they ask you to call them by another title or sign their emails with a different title in front of their name. Some prefer you to use their first name or a shorthand title like “Dr. Ami.”

Professors schedule weekly office hours. Introduce yourself early in the term. That way, you'll feel more comfortable if you need to talk about a problem with your coursework.

Use the office hours to ask questions, discuss coursework and request assistance before you fall behind. Request a separate appointment if you want to have a longer conversation about academic goals or professional mentorship.

When you talk to or email your professor, be direct and to the point. Keep the conversation focused on class questions or problems.

If you find it hard to prepare for that kind of conversation, contact Lorri Blanton, one of our international student support specialists. She can help you with cross-cultural communication problems.

In large classes, graduate teaching assistants are also available to help you progress through the course. They grade assignments and run labs, clinics and practice sessions. They may sometimes know your work better than your professor does. Ask them for help if you don’t understand the course material or an assignment.

In general, talking with TAs is much more casual than talking with your professors, since TAs are students, too.

Beyond the classroom, the staff in your college and program offices can help solve other problems or answer questions about schedules, assistantships, the course catalog and many other college and program matters. They are also knowledgeable about the university as a whole and can help direct you to appropriate support staff and resources.

Generally, you can contact office staff without an appointment to ask for assistance. As very busy people, they appreciate direct and courteous communication.

Your undergraduate academic advisor is another important person for you to know outside the classroom. Universities you are familiar with at home may not have advisors in this role, as their programs may not offer as many paths or electives at the undergraduate level as typical U.S. universities do.

Academic advisors help you judge whether you are making good progress toward your degree and can help you make good choices when you sign up for your courses each term. Make an appointment to speak to your advisor at least once or twice a year.

Thesis or doctoral advisors offer guided progress and continuous feedback for graduate students as they do in universities around the world.

Kelly Plazibat in the UC International office is just one of the people who can help if you are having trouble with your academic work. She offers workshops and resources about topics like classroom differences, how to write emails for academic purposes and how to talk to your professors. You can email her for advice about a problem, too.

You will meet Kelly at some of UC International’s social events!

The Academic Writing Center tutors offer free, individualized assistance to all students. They can help you improve your academic papers. Often, they can work with you through videoconferencing.

In the Learning Commons, academic coaches can tutor you in other skills, like note taking or time management, for academic success. Their assistance is available for all students.

This free resource gives access to a large library of interactive tutorials for business, technical and creative topics. Learn new software, master personal skills like time management, develop career strengths—all at your own pace.

Subject librarians specialize in the knowledge of the resources and research techniques for specific subjects.

They create the library's bank of online research guides and tutorials to help you find and use library resources more effectively. (You can find the tutorials in the drop-down search for all guides.)

They can also help if you can't find what you need in the existing guides or in your search of the library's physical and online collections of books, articles, journals, databases and other resources.  Contact them for assistance with your class assignments and research projects.

Meet the library specialists who work directly with international students.

They create resources, workshops and tutorials to help familiarize you with all aspects of the U.S. academic research process.

The Center for English as a Second Language (CESL) is the academic unit that provides ESL courses to international graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Cincinnati.

Cincinnati's public library system holds conversation groups to practice English speaking skills at multiple library branches near UC.

• Clifton
• Corryville