The Challenge. Students and faculty agree: office hours are not well attended. How do we re-envision office hours in different places and at different times so that students feel comfortable asking for help, while creating a space for students and faculty to build mentoring relationships?

The Outcome. “Office” hours no longer take place only in faculty offices; they occur in student-oriented spaces including the lab, coffee shop, co-Rec, or over lunch. Interactions are less formal and more personal, and students feel comfortable approaching faculty for help. They focus on both academic help and other forms of mentoring (such as career advice). Office hours are viewed by students as the natural place to ask questions about class, academics, graduate school, research, and more.

Pathfinder Project 1:  Shift the location of office hours outside the faculty member’s office.

  • This PathfinderProject is underway.

Pathfinder Project 2:  Create ME Open Office  in which  larger groups of students – – 10 to 20 – – attend office hours that are held in larger rooms that encourage interaction among faculty and students.

  •  Peter Meckl has tested this idea and it looks promising.

An Example Success Metric. At least 50% of students in your class come to office hours at least once per semester, and each instructor builds a stronger relationship with 20% of the class via office hours.

Team members include: