The Instructional Support team often helps faculty and administrators schedule their in-person office hours and in person meetings. There are a few recommendations to consider before finalizing a reservation.
For example, many instructors and administrators have transformed their in-person meetings into virtual opportunities to collaborate with students and other school representatives by using Zoom. General feedback from students has been positive since online meetings are more flexible and convenient with regard to scheduling and traveling. Another option is to publish a Virtual Office using Canvas so students may collaborate with each other by asking questions or offering comments in an open forum so the rest of the cohort can learn. This is a great way to encourage long-term student engagement.
One reason why so many instructors have decided to leverage online technologies for their office hours is because of the unavoidable and extreme lack of space throughout the University.
However...
There will be times when you'll require in-person office hours and face to face meetings. The Instructional Support team will be happy to work with you, but please note space reservations may not always be accommodated.
If you are an administrator, please note there is a specific link designated for conference space to meet and utilize drop in space for on campus work. Please use the link here.
If you are faculty, the following is a list of recommended practices to review when submitting faculty office hour space requests via Instructional Support on our Zendesk platform:
- Space is reserved on a first come, first serve basis. There is a set limit of 2 hours per week, per course for in-person office hours.
- A very limited amount of space is available during the add/drop period of each term (which is approximately the first two weeks after classes begin). During this blackout period the CU Registrar's Office has priority for assigning rooms for courses. Instructional Support will place faculty office hour tickets on hold. Then once the blackout period has ended we'll have more flexibility to accommodate those requests.
- If a location is not used consecutively for two reservations, then the rest of the dates within the reservation will be canceled and the space will be released to SPS.
- Recurring, weekly reservations within a semester will end during the week when grades are due.
- If you need to cancel or reschedule a reservation, please kindly follow up on your initial ticket to let our team be aware of your update.
- Faculty are responsible for letting their students know about canceled and/or rescheduled office hour(s).
- It is recommended to schedule your faculty office hours later than traditional business times, such as after 5:00 pm.
- If there are people in the room you reserved, please refer them to your reservation made on your ticket.
- Some of the conference rooms can only accommodate 3 - 4 people so please let us know how many students you will be meeting with at the same time.
- Every conference room and classroom has the necessary tech equipment to host an online meeting (e.g., computer, monitor, webcam, internet connection).
- If you or an adjunct instructor needs to use a drop in space to work for a day (or half a day), please use this link here. Make sure to select the section under "Drop-in Spaces"
- If you are given a classroom space for office hour usage, please be mindful of the guidelines and rules set in that specific space.
We're always happy to help. We completely understand that emergencies happen, and every request is subject to review.
SPS Instructional Support Team
*Conference spaces are intended for office hours and in person meetings. Please be mindful of the limited space on campus, and remember that a conference space is not a working station.