by Deborah Hanuscin, Professor, SMATE and Elementary Education, WWU
As an undergraduate, I never went to office hours– not even once! As a first-generation college student, I had no idea what office hours were for. Thinking back now, while I feel a bit embarrassed by that, I also wonder, How was I supposed to know what office hours were all about? The syllabi of my courses always included when office hours were, but nothing really beyond that. Staying after class in K12 was a ‘punishment’– not something you chose to do!
Fast forward to my career as a professor. Who has office hours. And whose students do not often show up to them. Despite me suggesting how they might use office hours– to talk about questions they have, go over feedback from an assignment, get resources to learn more about a topic we’ve discussed, or review assignment instructions. And, despite indicating they could make office hours by appointment– not just the times listed. I thought about requiring office hours, but thought that might seem more like a hoop to jump through for students. After nearly two decades in academia, I had begun to just accept this as the status quo and interpret the situation as students not really feeling they needed to come to office hours (something I should acknowledge that others have found is not true). And then… the pandemic.
With the shift to virtual instruction, office hours also had to shift to being online as well. It was a time of learning to take advantage of many of the technological tools I hadn’t felt were necessary before. One of those was Microsoft Bookings– which was part of the suite of tools freely available to faculty that integrates with Outlook email and calendars. I decided to set that up so that students could use a direct link to book office hours. I wasn’t prepared for the impact that would have.
I ended up holding more office hours meetings with students during 2020-2022 than the entire two decades combined! While I knew students were going through a lot and were eager to feel connected, I suspected there was more to it than that, so I asked a few students about it. Some students told me they knew I was a busy person, and they were afraid of bothering me– so when they saw I had open spots on my calendar they were confident I had time to meet. Other students talked about the hassle of sending an email, waiting for a reply, then emailing back and forth to figure out a common time. The convenience of clicking a link, picking a time, and having it automatically generate a calendar event and Zoom link reduced a barrier to making office hours accessible that I didn’t even know existed for students!
While this might sound terrifying, as if my entire work day is filled with office hours, that’s not the case– I can set which timeframes and which days are available for students to book. For example, I typically reserve one day a week for reading, writing, and research. That day is not a booking option. If I have an event on my Outlook calendar, it is not available for booking, because it’s synced. If students can’t make the meeting as planned, there’s an option to cancel– and I get a notification/calendar update.
As we’ve returned to in-person instruction, I’ve continued this practice, and while the stream of meetings has let up a bit, there is still a steady flow. Students have indicated that they live outside of Bellingham, and weren’t on campus during my regular office hours, so that Zooming was the best option for them. Another barrier removed!
See also:
- Reclaiming and Diversifying College Office Hours – Rita Daniels, WWU
- Tips for Effective Office Hours – Duquesne University
Image Attributions: SAM Designs and Zach Bogart from the Noun Project (CC-BY)