By LINDSAY ONUFER and DARYL PUTMAN

We found ourselves writing this article while juggling the onslaught of beginning-of-term requests, responding to time-sensitive faculty emails outside of work hours, accommodating last-minute changes to the modalities of the courses we teach, and trying to make time for workshops and projects.

Ironically, even as we wrote about the importance of creating professional boundaries, we felt the impulse to stretch our own. The balance we still struggle to strike between supporting others and protecting our own capacity to work and teach effectively can be overwhelming, contributing to stress and burnout. These challenges are not unique to us; this stress can make it difficult for faculty to find joy in teaching or the energy to engage fully in research and other academic work.

Faculty reported rates of stress and burnout are, unsurprisingly, still rising, driven by the growing complexity of students’ needs and expectations and technology fatigue, particularly since the emergence of generative artificial intelligence tools (College Innovation Network, 2024; Vyletel et al., 2023).

Systemic barriers can exacerbate these challenges, particularly for early career, contract and minoritized instructors who often report inequitable workloads and higher stress levels (Hollywood et al., 2019; Misra et al., 2021).

While there is no single solution to this problem, setting professional boundaries with students can help make teaching more sustainable without sacrificing empathetic, supportive teaching practices. Below, we offer several strategies, including tips from Pitt instructors, to help you establish and uphold boundaries with students.

Build boundaries proactively in your syllabus.

Use your syllabus to clarify expectations and create a foundation for clear, mutually respectful student/faculty boundaries. Start by including clear communication guidelines which address how students should contact you, what type of information to include in their communications to you, and when they can expect a reply.

For example, Sarah Kildow, Spanish language instructor, shared that she tells her students that she will not respond to late evening emails the same day and encourages them to send time-sensitive messages earlier in the day. This prevents students from assuming that they can expect an immediate reply.  

You can also clarify grading and assignment policies to address common student questions, such as policies for submitting late work, when to expect assignment grades or feedback, and how to communicate grade questions.

Josie Rush, Composition instructor, includes a syllabus statement indicating that they will not discuss grades with students until 24 hours after students receive grades and feedback. According to Rush, “This gives (students) time to actually read the feedback and emotionally regulate a bit, and it gives me time to catch my breath before discussing all the grading I just did!”

Communicating these types of guidelines upfront can reduce student anxiety and save you time and stress by preventing miscommunications or unnecessary follow-up messages.

Establishing guidelines collaboratively with students can also foster a sense of ownership in the structure of the course. Asking students to revise or co-develop policies on communication, participation or artificial intelligence tool usage further clarifies the rationale and expectations for following guidelines, making students more likely to adhere to them.

Leverage technology tools to maintain boundaries

While technology has made communication more accessible, it has also blurred the lines between professional and personal communications. Recent trends in software have encouraged us to view all our incoming email in one list (or, worse, to use just a single email address!). Strategic use of tech tools can also be used to help you maintain boundaries with students. Do not underestimate the value of compartmentalization of our different digital lives and the cost of constant context switching.

Do you still use separate mailboxes? If not, try it. Doing so comes with a small cost of convenience but can benefit your mental well-being and productivity. For example, you can conduct your administrative and research communications in your Pitt email, keep most student communications in the Canvas inbox, and maintain a separate personal email address. You might even consider trying different Canvas notifications settings until you find the level that works best for you. Some instructors even opt out of Inbox notifications entirely and instead schedule times when they check manually.

When determining how to set up your mailboxes, think about the following and adjust:

• Which mailboxes do you need to check on the go?

• Does the “unified inbox” (where messages in different accounts appear as if they were one big inbox) feature truly help you?

• Would it be helpful to configure different applications for different mailboxes to keep them separate? E.g., your phone’s default for your personal email, Outlook for your Pitt email, and the Canvas Teacher App for Canvas Inbox messages.

• Do you need your phone to check for messages automatically? Or will checking manually work for you?

• Does the app let you schedule working hours when it will check automatically, outside of which you would need to check manually?

Of course, it is important to convey your communication preferences to students. Your syllabus and Canvas home page are good places to post these. Let students know your expected turn-around time for replies while allowing yourself weekends, evenings, and holidays as you can.

You can also tactically use Automatic Replies (Out of Office), even in Canvas. For example, you can set one while you are doing your final grade calculations that you will not respond directly to "What's my grade?" messages and that other replies may be delayed; or set one during breaks between semesters that you are not checking messages. This approach models healthy boundary-setting practices while still maintaining consistent communication with students.  

Empower students to troubleshoot independently

If you find yourself devoting significant time to answering student questions unrelated to course content, teaching students to access resources and problem solve can develop their independence while also reducing their demands on your time.

Providing students with a curated list of resource links, such as links to Canvas Student tutorials and University resources like the Writing Center, is a simple way to inform them about and guide them toward existing help. Encouraging them to consult these resources before reaching out can promote more self-reliance and free up time for you to spend engaging in more meaningful interactions with students.

You can also scaffold academic skill-building activities into your course. Incorporating low- or no-stakes activities on how to interpret or apply your feedback, read academic texts critically, or take notes can help students learn how to engage in class and use your guidance more effectively. For example, one of the authors uses Perusall for an activity in which students collaboratively annotate assignment instructions to help them better understand expectations and grading criteria. While these types of activities do require some class time, they can also improve students’ work and reduce the time spent responding to student questions later.

Consider modeling and promoting problem-solving strategies in your responses to student inquiries. When students reach out with questions that could be answered by accessing resource links or reading the syllabus or assignment instructions, try asking them, “What steps have you already tried to answer this question?” before answering it for them. This can prompt students to reflect on their efforts before seeking help and reinforces that they are capable of finding answers on their own.

Additional considerations

 Establishing and maintaining boundaries with students requires consideration of positionality and power dynamics in the classroom. For instance, research shows that students’ expectations for faculty may be influenced by stereotypes or biases. For example, students often expect female faculty to be more nurturing (El-Alayli et al., 2018), meaning that students may be more resistant to female instructors setting boundaries. Acknowledging these dynamics can encourage students to respect those boundaries.

Even with planning and proactive boundary setting, maintaining boundaries requires ongoing practice. Students may sometimes overstep boundaries. When this happens, reinforce expectations clearly, referring to your syllabus as needed. For example, if a student sends multiple late-night emails expecting an immediate response, you can remind them of your communication guidelines.

If you need additional support planning, communicating, or maintaining boundaries with students, reach out the Center for Teaching and Learning. We can offer consultations on how to frame boundary-setting conversations, create clear policies, address specific challenges or boundary transgressions, or select technology tools.

Lindsay Onufer is senior program manager in the University Center for Teaching and Learning and Daryl Putman is assistant manager, educational software consulting, in the Teaching Center.