Office Hours

From the ECU Faculty Manual   (FS Resolution #10-53, April 2010)

“In addition to teaching, each instructor must maintain office hours five hours during a work-week to be available to advisees and to campus and online students who wish to consult with him or her.

It is strongly recommended that the instructor be available either on campus or online at least one hour each day during the work-week.

Instructors who teach only face to face Courses:

Instructors must maintain office hours in a designated location for a minimum of five hours during the work-week to be available to counsel students or to answer email.

Instructors who teach only online courses:

Instructors must establish a time frame of a minimum of five hours during the work-week in which they are available to answer email from students who wish to consult with them.

Instructors who teach a hybrid online face to face course or a combination of online and face to face courses:

Instructors must maintain office hours in a designated location for a minimum of five hours during the work-week to be available to counsel students to answer the email of their online students.

Each Instructor is to submit to the unit administrator a schedule of their office hours and the unit administrator is to have a complete schedule of the office hours of all Instructors of the unit. The office hour availability schedule is to be posted on the Instructor’s office door and/or on the online course website.” (East Carolina University Faculty Manual Part VI, 2020)

(FS Resolution #10-53, April 2010)

http://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/fsonline/customcf/currentfacultymanual/manual.pdf

Tips:

• Use Web Conferencing Tools to give students more options for office hours. (This article from the University of Central Florida explains how.)
• Some faculty refer to office hours as student hours in an effort to create a more welcoming environment to engage learners in seeking out assistance when needed. (Harnish et al., 2011)
• Create an inviting tone to encourage students to utilize office hours:
  • “I am available for you anytime online by appointment. Because most of my graduate students work during the business day, I understand that you may need an evening appointment and that will be just fine. Send me an email and we will find a time that works within your schedule. The best time to email would be between 9AM and 2PM weekdays however please feel free to email anytime. We have a place to ask questions, the “Muddiest Points Discussion Board” set up in Blackboard (Bb) for you for each module assignment also so no worries, you will always have an opportunity to have your questions answered. This is a very interactive course!” (Tryon, 2018)

• Place office hours, along with other essential information, at the top of the page to ensure that it is seen and easy to find. (How to Create a Syllabus, 2018)

• Utilize humor and/or graphics to add interest

Examples:

(How to Create a Syllabus, 2018)

(Champlain College Syllabus | Visual.Ly, n.d.)

(Sigafoos, 2019)