Office hours are a constant and time-honored resource for students. Professors usually communicate their office hours in multiple ways at the beginning of each semester—during lectures, on syllabi, or through course portal pages—and strongly encourage students to come by during those times with any questions they might have. Still, students don't always take advantage of the opportunity.
 
Mechanical engineering major Julie Lee, Class of 2020, has been there.

"One thing about engineering, you kind of feel pressure to not go. It's like admitting you don't know, and I know for me ... I have a lot of pride. I was thinking, 'Am I letting my professors down?' " said Lee. 

Lee learned quickly that office hours can really help.

"I had skipped Calc I and Calc II because of my high school work, and found myself first semester, freshman year in Calc III, pulling a C," said Lee, clearly emphasizing that this was not going to work for her. "It made for a rough transition. In high school, it's easy to pace yourself. College is different.

"I was nervous, but I went ahead and went to the professor's office hours. And I ended up passing the class. I learned my lesson," she said. After that, her strategy became go and see any professors early on in the semester, even if for a quick visit. 

"Even though you might feel like you don't know anything yet ... You are setting up a pattern that says, 'Hey this is okay'," said Lee.

Temple professors say there is much to be gained, and students don't always realize it.  

"I can't tell you how many times students come in a bit nervous or sheepish, and then by the end they are really relieved and say, 'Wow that was really helpful!'," said Ann Valentine, vice chair of the Department of Chemistry in Temple's College of Science and Technology (CST).  "I get it. I was that student too," she laughs. 

"One of the things I absolutely love about Temple is how seriously we take that equity piece. Not every student comes to college feeling empowered to advocate for themselves," said Valentine. "Here we really make an effort to be sure they can feel that." 

CST instructors who teach First Year Seminar (FYS) courses assign their students to pick a professor, go visit them for 15 minutes, and write about the experience. All incoming students in CST are now required to take an FYS course and the school has worked extensively with faculty to structure how that class would look.

"At CST, we have worked quite hard to develop our First Year Seminar. What was evident from the research, was that students need to truly connect and feel a sense of belonging in college in order to thrive and succeed," said Evelyn Vleck, assistant dean of CST who has taught at Temple for 24 years. "Office Hours is one of those great ways to do that, to make those connections."
One of Valentine's colleagues in the Department of Chemistry schedules some of his office hours in the evening, conducting them via a video call from his kitchen table. Research has found that variety in the when and where that office hours take place can help different types of students access them.

Mansi Shah, assistant professor of instruction in the College of Liberal Arts' neuroscience program, "absolutely agrees" that students do not always realize how office hours can change their trajectory, and for a relatively low time investment.

"Sometimes it helps just to come in and have a professor quickly diagnose exactly what is overwhelming or conceptually lacking, and it immediately changes the student's entire perception of what they know," Shah said. Students can come to office hours thinking the problem on an exam was one specific thing, and after student and professor together look at the answers, they realize it was something completely different, she said.   

Clearing the air in person can be immeasurably valuable. "Sometimes studying on your own (or in a group) can feed that feeling of intensity of the material," said Shah. "I've had students—who have been working very hard but still not feeling confident they have it—spend just 15 minutes with me and say, 'Wait! That's it? I can't believe I didn't come sooner...'."

The stories are innately human and carry across the decades and disciplines at universities. But the impact of going, or not, can be sizable, and coming to these understandings as a student is important.

"We have so much research about the benefits for students who access office hours," said Stephanie Fiore, director of the Temple Center for the Advancement of Teaching. "Students [who access office hours] are more likely to stay in school, to stay in the major they chose, to get better grades, to complete their degrees.

[pull quote]"Students [ who access office hours ] are more likely to stay in school, to stay in the major they chose, to get better grades, to complete their degrees." —Stephanie Fiore, director of the Temple Center for the Advancement of Teaching

"But, we get it," said Fiore. "There is that intimidation factor. I experienced it myself. If you are a really good student you think: I should know this. I should figure this out on my own."

Students go to see professors, and it's not always about a biological pathway or a particularly complex text they are grappling with. Sometimes it's life outside classes that's hurting academics. That was the case for communication and social influence major Casey Tsou, Class of 2022.

"At first, I was really nervous," said Tsou. "It's my first year and I was having a pretty intense roommate conflict. It was affecting my academics, my concentration, my mental health.

"I talked to my resident director and to my RA," said Tsou. 

They talked to Tsou about offerings at Tuttleman Counseling Services and about the Student Success Center where peer tutoring can be found. They also suggested that Tsou talk to her professors. Tsou knew she needed some mental breathing room, so she emailed her professors to get on their schedules and talk about the need to be out for a few days and possibly have a few deadlines extended. 

"Every one of them—they were really prepared, they knew all the resources to tell me about that were available to me. They really listened," said Tsou. 

Tsou said the experience really stuck with her. And now in her sophomore year she wouldn't hesitate to go see a professor.

For Lee, the lesson has given her perhaps a lifelong friend in Laura Riggio, assistant professor of instruction in the College of Engineering. And she didn't expect that until after they met during office hours.

"The semester started out and it was like we didn't like each other, we even clashed," said Lee. "I went to see her. And I realized how much she cares about the work and cares about her students.

"Now, we talk all the time. We talk about life after college and things we might be grappling with personally. And I love that," said Lee. As vice president of the Society of Women Engineers, Lee mentors underclassmen a lot. "If I hear even a hint of struggle, I say, 'go to office hours, it will really help'."

—Corinna Boeck