Instructor Accessibility - Office Hours

Type

Policy

Category

Academics

Department

Academic Affairs

Primary Contact

Shelley Tinkham

Contact Email

Responsible Executive Authority

Vice President of Academic Affairs

Purpose

In order to assure that students have access to their instructors, this policy provides expectations for office hours for all instructors that teach credit classes.

Narrative

Contracted faculty will be generally available, e.g., responding to email, holding office hours, or otherwise communicating with students, whether in-person or online, every day of the work week. Instructors (contracted and Part-time) will have at least one scheduled office hour each week for each section taught, not to exceed 5 hours per week if more than five sections are taught. Instructors teaching less than 1.0 FTE (contracted and Part-time) will hold scheduled on-campus office hours no less than one day per week, unless teaching entirely online. Efforts shall be taken to schedule office hour/s at a time convenient for students enrolled in the class section, with consideration to program scheduling. Any exceptions to the above practices must be approved in writing each academic year by the division or department dean or director.

Definitions

An office hour is a pre-determined and published 50-minute time slot when an instructor is available to meet with students. An office hour may be held face-to-face or via synchronous online communication (including chat, video conference, etc.).

Date Adopted

Wednesday, June 9, 2021

Date Last Reviewed

Wednesday, June 9, 2021