What to do during office hours

Office hours often go unused, or at least not used for their stated purpose -- faculty/student interaction. When I was an instructor, I would require my students to meet with me at least twice per semester. These were structured meetings with a stated agenda. The first meeting generally happened very earlier in the semester, and the students and I would work together to make sure they were on the right track with the first assignment. The second meeting usually happened around midterm, and I would provide them with a progress report, as well as give them the opportunity to chat about their final research papers or projects, etc.

It's tempting to use office hours to catch up on our own class prep, to surf the Internet, or to sleep, but I strongly feel that we owe it to our students to get them into our offices at least once per semester. It's good to develop individual relationships outside of class, and it's amazing what a short 10-15 minute meeting can do to student morale (not to mention student retention).

The Cal Poly Pomona Faculty Center for Professional Development web site has a lot of good suggestions on how to use office hours more effectively. I know some of them might not be popular with faculty, but I would submit that faculty should give the suggestions some thought, implementing the ones that make sense.

http://www.csupomona.edu/~facultycenter/weekly_teaching_note_jan_28_2008.shtml

http://www.csupomona.edu/~facultycenter/weekly_teaching_note_feb_4_2008.shtml