Office Hours Guidelines for Faculty

FACULTY

These guidelines apply to Assistant Instructors, Lecturers, Sr. Lecturers, and all levels of Professors (even if the faculty member is teaching only one class).

  • Minimum requirement: All faculty are required to hold office hours every week at specific posted times. Recommended one office hour per course credit hour (i.e., if your class is 3 credit hours, hold 3 hours of office hours every week)While it’s okay to ask students to make appointments for specific times within those designated hours, office hours can not be listed exclusively “BY APPOINTMENT.”
  • Location: Office hours can be held either in person or virtually.
  • Syllabus: Faculty should list their office hours—and, when appropriate, those of their TAs—in the syllabus for each class.
  • Door signs: Faculty should list their designated office hours on their office doors. At the beginning of every semester, notify the office manager of your current office hours.

TEACHING ASSISTANTS

  • Teaching Assistants are not required to hold posted office hours, although they often do so when it is appropriate for the class. The supervising faculty member and the TA should together make decisions about the frequency and nature of the TA's office hours.