Virtual Office Hours Get More Students in the Door. Will They Be Here to Stay?

Now that the pandemic has pushed many of these meetings into virtual spaces, though, some faculty and staff are reporting that more of their students are showing up—remotely—to office hours and advising meetings.

That has some higher-ed leaders contemplating making virtual appointments a permanent option, even after the health crisis has passed.

“I’m absolutely going to do virtual office hours in the future,” says Mike Oaster, professor in the department of emergency medical services at Sinclair College, a community college in Dayton, Ohio.

He’s tried to make the system simple. Each week, he shares with students the links for the digital “rooms” he uses for his office hours. To participate, students don’t have to sign up or notify him in advance; they just pop in during the appointed times.

Pre-coronavirus, students didn’t show up to scheduled appointments with advisers about 16 percent of the time. Since March, the no-show figure has fallen to about 8 percent.

Source: EdSurge