Encouraging students to attend

• Be welcoming when students do come.
• During the first few weeks of the course, ask students to participate in the student hours — by just stopping by. They will learn how to access the hours or where your office is, and you will begin to know their names. Also, after your students have made that initial visit, they are much more likely to return.
• Please encourage students to contact you (it is a good idea to include communication protocol on your syllabus). Sometimes students are more comfortable initiating contact with you by email. Once they have begun an inquiry by email, they may decide to follow up during your student hours.
• Share the hours (day, time, location, or how to access) frequently in class, in announcements, and not just in the syllabus – talking about it on the first day of class. Additionally, let students know that they can make appointments with you if the hours are not convenient. 
• Invite specific students to see you during these hours if they show interest in exploring material outside the class’s scope or having difficulty with course material. You can do this after class, via email, or write a note of invitation on a returned assignment.
• If you use group work, ask the groups to sign up for specific appointment times early in the course.
• Briefly review essential topics at the end of the week or the end of every two weeks and suggest that students come in to see you if they do not understand any of those topics (instead of waiting until the day before the exam).
• Consider designating certain office hours as “study sessions” or “review periods” to help students get a better sense of what they might gain by coming to office hours.