Kate Szumanski still remembers the note her professor wrote at the top of an essay in her senior
year: "This is a good argument ... Why don't you come visit me at office hours and we'll talk
about graduate school."
By all accounts this was a good note. Szumanski got an A on the paper – and she'd done well in
the political science class all semester. But that note terrified her. "I started to shake, my cheeks
turned bright red," she told me recently. In all four years of college, she'd never once gone to
office hours.
The next week, she mustered up the courage to climb the three flights of stairs to her professor's
office. The first time she got to his door, she kept walking. And the second. And the third.
Eventually, she just left.
"I never worked up the nerve to go in," she recalls. "I remember feeling just intimidated and
frightened; as if I'm an imposter and he's going to figure me out."
Ask just about any college student, and they'll tell you a similar story: Office hours are scary.
Commented [CB1]: Emotional connection and Personal
Narrative
Commented [CB2]: Is it the fear of the future or sitting
down one on one that scares her?
Commented [CB3]: Office hours maybe promote a lack of
self esteem in relation to the classroom? Or could it be the
opposite?
And so here's our guide to taking the fear out.
Let's start first with the mystery: Students often don't know what office hours are – or what
they're for, or how they're different from class time.
They're part of what some students say is a hidden curriculum – the set of rules on a college
campus that no one ever tells you about. And then, what students do know is that you have to
meet one-on-one with your professor, which in some cases means talking to the smartest, most
powerful person you know (remember, professors are the ones giving out the grades!).
I've had dozens of current college students describe office hours to me as "intimidating" or
"terrifying."
Commented [CB4]: Great definition that sums up the
unintentional expectation students may pick up on, that is
going to office hours.
Commented [CB5]: Relatable.
This fear is so universal that Arizona State University made a satirical video about it, spoofing a
pharmaceutical commercial. The diagnosis: Fear of Meeting One on One with My Professor, or
FMOOWMP. The suggested treatment: Faculty Office Hours, or FOH. But once students try
FOH: "Everything fell in to place," a smiling student tells the camera, "I knew how to study for
class. I'm hooked."
This video is definitely fun, but it also offers an important message: No matter how scary, office
hours are a huge factor in a student's success. Not only in college, but even after — in the
workforce and in life.
"Office hours are a way for your professor to get to know you," explains Anthony Abraham Jack,
a professor at Harvard University and the author of The Privileged Poor. "You gain access to
institutional resources, you gain access to a professor's network. You gain access to a professor's
support — for adventures and experiences that you may not even know about."
It's a valuable part of the college experience; a time when your professor can transform into an
adviser and ultimately a mentor. For students who don't know this – or are too nervous to take
part – they may be missing a crucial component of what they're paying for by enrolling in
college.
Commented [CB6]: Something that may be the
difference if a student is not engaged with the course
material. The personalization of the class can only be had if
a student goes to office hours.
"The students who are least likely to go to office hours are the students who would benefit from
them the most," explains Jack. He says colleges and professors need to do a lot more to make
office hours more accessible. A good place to start, he says, is to actually tell students what
office hours are — not just when they are.
Kate Szumanski, who did laps on the third floor to avoid meeting with her professor more than
25 years ago, now teaches college students at Villanova University, just outside Philadelphia.
She holds her office hours on the second floor of the library, with 20-year-old Kate in mind. "My
office travels to where students are. Office Hours on the road," she says. "That's my kind of
small way to say, 'Where are our students who need my services?' "
No matter how lovely a faculty office is decorated, she says, it's not a familiar space for students.
Moving office hours to a student-centered location like the library, a dorm or the food court can
make students feel more at ease. Szumanski thinks of her road show as a gateway to other office
hours, in more formal settings.
Professors have tried other strategies to demystify Office Hours, including changing the name to
"Hangout Hours" or "Student Hours."
Commented [CB7]: Needs to be explained further. Wat
kinds of students don't go to office hours? What benefits
will they be able to see? Too general.
Commented [CB8]: Bringing back the relatable
experience Kate and many other students share but now
with her success story.
Commented [CB9]: Students being able to enter a
familiar or a more relaxed atmosphere may help them
associate office hours as being less stressful compared to a
faculty office.
"There is a power dynamic that has to be acknowledged," says Monica McLemore, who teaches
nursing at the University of California, San Francisco, "I completely understand why students
avoid it." McLemore holds her office hours over video conferencing apps — like Zoom and
Facetime — since many of her students are commuters.
For students who are still wary, Harvard's Anthony Abraham Jack has this advice: "Never, ever,
be afraid to ask for help: It is not a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength."
Plus, he says, when you go to office hours, you're letting the professor do their job.
Commented [CB10]: Fear of looking stupid makes you
stupid.