Question about how university staff should address professors?

[the-tenure-track-prof]

I am a new tenure track assistant professor. I`ve noticed that at my new university, staff addresses professors (all are Ph.Ds) on a first-name basis and I`ve heard professors complaining about this issue.
I`ve noticed also that even if a professor requests to be addressed with the title, some staff will refuse to comply which seems to be disrespectful.
I am still learning the environment and I was wondering if anyone has/had similar experiences?.

[onthefringe]

Staff can smooth your way to tenure or make it rough. They are human beings and your colleagues, even if they don't have PhDs. Be respectful to them, and don't expect them to call you something different than your faculty colleagues do.

[Puget]

Are you in the US? It would be weird and seem rather classist/hierarchical in most US colleges and universities (at least the ones I've experienced) for anyone other than an undergrad to call faculty by their titles. As onthefringe says, these are your colleagues, and colleagues use first names. In my experience only very insecure people insist on titles.

[downer]

I`ve noticed also that even if a professor requests to be addressed with the title, some staff will refuse to comply which seems to be disrespectful.

I'm curious whether you are reporting your own experience and are talking about yourself in the third person.

It might also make a difference what the local culture is. Big university vs small college, east coast, west coast, midwest, north or south, etc? What do most other people perfer in your environment?

I agree that that the person who requests to be called by an official title rather than their first name is being disrepected by the staff when they use the first name instead. It is a sign that this person is not well liked.

[Hegemony]

I've never heard university staff use anything other than a first name in the U.S., and I think it would be very peculiar of a professor to insist otherwise.  If you're in the UK, I can see it, but I still wouldn't think it matters immensely.

[nescafe]

I'm more formal than most of my colleagues, in that I expect students to use my title and I refer to my colleagues by their title in the presence of all students (undergrad and grad).

But the staff? Come on. Staff are our peers (and in some cases, our moral superiors).

[Kron3007]

I`ve noticed also that even if a professor requests to be addressed with the title, some staff will refuse to comply which seems to be disrespectful.

I'm curious whether you are reporting your own experience and are talking about yourself in the third person.

It might also make a difference what the local culture is. Big university vs small college, east coast, west coast, midwest, north or south, etc? What do most other people perfer in your environment?

I agree that that the person who requests to be called by an official title rather than their first name is being disrepected by the staff when they use the first name instead. It is a sign that this person is not well liked.

Yes, it may be a sign that they are not well liked, specifically because they do things like request being called by their formal title.

Personally, I prefer my subordinates to use m'lord.

Seriously though, this just seems weird unless you are going to start referring to them as Mr/Mrs/etc, but that would also be weird.  As others have said, there are cultures where this would be common and I have international students who insist on calling me sir or Dr/Professor all the time, but if the OP is in North America it seems odd. 

[the-tenure-track-prof]

I`ve graduated from a private research university on the East Coast and I`ve never heard a staff addresses a university professor by his/her first name. It sounds to me that this might be a common practice in other universities and parts in the US.

I`ve moved to a university located in a conservative city in the Midwest and it seems that in this university staff addresses all faculty members by their first name. My colleagues told me that she asked the staff to address her by her title and some refused to do so which I thought is disrespectful. The dean once mentioned that the staff on campus might call a faculty by their first name because they feel "inferior" which sounds odd to me.
I personally would call a person with whatever title the person would ask me to call him/er by just because I would like to show him/er respect.

I`ve noticed also that even if a professor requests to be addressed with the title, some staff will refuse to comply which seems to be disrespectful.

I'm curious whether you are reporting your own experience and are talking about yourself in the third person.

It might also make a difference what the local culture is. Big university vs small college, east coast, west coast, midwest, north or south, etc? What do most other people perfer in your environment?

I agree that that the person who requests to be called by an official title rather than their first name is being disrepected by the staff when they use the first name instead. It is a sign that this person is not well liked.

[the-tenure-track-prof]

I see your point and I think I agree. Thanks. That was helpful.

I'm more formal than most of my colleagues, in that I expect students to use my title and I refer to my colleagues by their title in the presence of all students (undergrad and grad).

But the staff? Come on. Staff are our peers (and in some cases, our moral superiors).

[Wahoo Redux]

The only places I've ever seen staff (or other faculty) address faculty by their titles is in the movies or on The Big Bang Theory.

[onthefringe]

I`ve graduated from a private research university on the East Coast and I`ve never heard a staff addresses a university professor by his/her first name. It sounds to me that this might be a common practice in other universities and parts in the US

What do you mean by "graduated" in this context? When I am talkng about my colleagues to undergraduate students, I refer to them using their titles (Professor or Dr for faculty colleagues and Mr or Ms for staff colleagues). That doesn't mean I use titles when I talk to faculty or staff colleagues in person though.

And I got BS and PhD degrees on the East coast and am faculty in the midwest. When I was a postdoc at an East coast Ivy, both faculty and staff referred to one another by their first name in my presence.

[ciao_yall]

At my CC everyone is on a first-name basis. Sometimes people are referred to in formal meetings by their titles (Chancellor X, President Y, Dean Z, Dr. A)  but I'm not sure why exactly that is.

[Parasaurolophus]

I tell my students that they can call me by my first name, but if they're intent on using a title, then they should use my proper title. So, never 'mister', but I do accept Dr. Lastname, Dr. [first initial of last name, because it's very hard], Professor Lastname, or Professor [first initial of last name]. I don't much care.

Staff can do the same as far as I'm concerned, but honestly, it would be weird if they didn't just use my first name. I have institutional power over the students, which is what makes a title relevant if they want to use it. I have no institutional power over the staff, so titles are irrelevant and pompous. And, frankly, they probably matter a lot more to the university than I do.

Personally, I prefer my subordinates to use m'lord.

I would accept that. But how do you then refer to your subordinates? Foul knave? Worm?

[pgher]

At my midwestern university, virtually all staff call virtually all professors "Dr. Pgher" (for example). I have tried to get staff to use my first name, to no avail. I think there are some profs who have strong feelings about their titles, and it's easier for staff to default to using the title rather than keeping track.

[Bede the Vulnerable]

At my midwestern university, virtually all staff call virtually all professors "Dr. Pgher" (for example). I have tried to get staff to use my first name, to no avail. I think there are some profs who have strong feelings about their titles, and it's easier for staff to default to using the title rather than keeping track.

What pghr said, although our undergrad assistants call me Dr. Vulnerable, and I don't correct them; I don't want them taking a class with me in the future and calling me Bede in front of the other kiddos.

We have three full-time staff.  One is from the Deep South, and refuses to call us by our names.  One calls me Dr. Vulnerable jokingly:  We're actually pretty tight.  The youngest calls me Bede—though he's been chastised by a colleague for calling him by first name.  I introduce myself to our custodial staff as Bede, and generally they adopt this.  I'm DUS in the Department, and so I deal with advising staff in the U on a regular basis.  I sign my notes to them "Bede."  Some will still call me "Professor Vulnerable" when they respond.  I don't push it.  I let staff know that they can call me by my first name, but I let them do what makes THEM comfortable.

Is there a gender issue here, however?  Female academics have told me that staff (and even undergrads!) are more likely to assume informality with them than with male colleagues.  I consider this quite problematic, since it's yet another sign that they are not accorded equal respect.

My doctoral student won't call me by my first name, and I've given up on that one.