Office Hours: Time to Talk

What do you love about teaching? Every semester, someone tells me how much they enjoy talking with their students and creating a personal connection. Yet, many instructors report that few students come to office hours, even when those students need help. In this blog post, we’ll explore some big picture strategies to help you and your students get what you want from your office hours.

What do your students think office hours are? The student handbook doesn’t mention office hours, and university policy gives little direction for students or faculty. The faculty handbook (§300. Teaching and Student Interaction > Specific Faculty Responsibilities > Office Hours) states, in brief, that you should

• have office hours,
• list them in your syllabus, and
• check whether your college or department has additional expectations.

Otherwise, your office hours are up to you!

This flexibility creates an obstacle for students who are intimidated by the unknown. Without guidance, students might look elsewhere, and searching the web for “office hours reddit” turns up a rant about “clingy students” who want to talk. This is not the voice your students need to hear if you want them to attend your office hours. Instead, you can step into the information void and tell students clearly and directly what office hours mean to you.

Not sure how to talk to students about office hours? You can use or adapt these existing, student-facing resources to introduce students generally to the what, why, and how of office hours:

• “What are office hours?” (PDF, Cornell University)
• “Reasons to attend office hours” (Duke University)
• “Using Office Hours Effectively” (UNC Chapel Hill)

The beginning of the semester is a great time to invite students to drop by to introduce themselves, discuss accessibility and other concerns, or pick your brain about research. Later in the semester, you might invite students to work through difficult problems with you one-on-one before a midterm or, at the end of the semester, to talk with you about their academic and professional goals. If you’d like to have a certain kind of conversation with your students, tell them outright that it’s an option. If you don’t, some person on the Internet might be telling your students they can’t discuss it with you.

There are many small changes you can make to improve your office hours, but some instructors burn out by offering standing office hours on late nights or weekends. There’s no perfect flexibility you can offer that will, by itself, pull your students through the door you’ve opened. If connecting with your students is important to you, focus on that core value of your teaching. If you can form that strong relationship, students will feel welcome enough and motivated enough to ask you about the “and by appointment” option you include in your syllabus.

Did you know that CETLOE’s learning designers are available for one-on-one consultations? We’re happy to talk with you about developing a communication strategy, revising an assignment, or reviewing an entire course. You can also have conversations with learning technologists, fellow faculty, and other CETLOE experts. We can tailor the scope of the consultation to meet your needs, so let’s start a conversation today.