College · College Success · Office hours

The office hours
you can
actually make.

Office hours are listed in every syllabus and missed by most first-year students, often because they clash with something. Type your week once and see exactly when you can walk in.

Find my timesWhat you get
$5one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $5

Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the College application season kit, $29 for 16 items.

The office hours planner

The worked example is a first-year fall schedule with four courses. Nothing you type leaves this browser.

Loading the calculator. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

College · College SuccessAlso for College · Family Resources$5

What you finish with
For every office-hours block, the windows your schedule leaves free, the minutes free each week and a list of instructors to email for another time. It prints as a plan and downloads as a spreadsheet.
Who it is for
First-year and dual-enrollment college students, and the families helping them get ready for college habits.
Format
Browser planner for a phone, tablet or computer, by touch or keyboard. Prints the plan; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); export and import a file.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the College application season kit ($29) and the Caveat Suite pass ($299). Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The College Success space in Caveat College; also listed for Family Resources (families helping a first-year student).
Support
Questions, a correction or a request: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Type each class, lab and work shift on its own line: days, time range, name.
  2. Set how long it takes you to walk across campus.
  3. Copy each course’s office hours from the syllabus.
  4. Read which windows are free; email the instructors you cannot reach.
  5. Put one visit per course on your calendar in the first three weeks.

Find my times

How the free windows are found

Subtract your week from each block, with time to walk.

The worked example: Wednesday’s calculus office hoursOffice hours12:30–1:30calculus, Wed− Class + walkto 12:25calculus ends 12:15− Shift − walkfrom 12:50library work at 1:00= You can go20 min12:30 to 12:50The worked example: Wednesday’s calculus office hoursOffice hours12:30–1:30calculus, Wed− Class + walkto 12:25calculus ends 12:15− Shift − walkfrom 12:50library work at 1:00= You can go20 min12:30 to 12:50
Each block loses whatever your own week takes, widened by the walk.

The arithmetic

Each office-hours block starts as one window. Every class, lab or shift on the same day is widened by the walking time on both sides and cut out of it. What remains, if it is at least as long as the shortest visit you set, is a time you can go.

Why go at all

Studies of college students find that many never attend office hours, often because they are unsure what the time is for. Students who do go report clearer expectations and more confidence with the material. A visit can be five minutes and one question.

Sources

  1. Smith, M., Chen, Y., Berndtson, R., Burson, K. M., and Griffin, W. (2017). “Office hours are kind of weird”: Reclaiming a resource to foster student-faculty interaction. InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching, 12, 14–29.
  2. Guerrero, M., and Rod, A. B. (2013). Engaging in office hours: A study of student-faculty interaction and academic performance. Journal of Political Science Education, 9(4), 403–416.
  3. Chickering, A. W., and Gamson, Z. F. (1987). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. AAHE Bulletin, 39(7), 3–7.
  4. U.S. Department of Education. Definition of a credit hour, 34 CFR 600.2 (ecfr.gov).

The worked example’s schedule and instructors are an example. Your entries stay in this browser. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.