Office Hours: What Every University Student Needs to Know

The university office hour interaction is new to everyone who attends a university. Not knowing what to do or when to go is not unique to international students. Office Hours: What Every University Student Needs to Know sets out to demystify the entire process of office hours—the purpose and goals of these meetings, how to plan for them, and even determining whether to visit the professor or send an email. Information about “group” office hours, which are becoming more common, is also included.

This task-based book also describes the five moves, or parts, of an office hour interaction and provides many examples and tasks to help guide students through this important communicative aspect of academic life. It seeks to ensure that every office hour interaction ends on a positive note.

Reflection questions for new teaching assistants are included throughout, making this ideal for TA workshops. Four analysis tasks are included to accompany the four videos that explore various student-professor interactions. The videos are available online at www.press.umich.edu/elt/compsite/officehours.