Office hours, lecturers and your personal tutor

At school, teachers usually come to you. At university, you are expected to go to them. Lecturers set aside office hours, and most UK universities give you a personal tutor. Students who use them early tend to find university much less lonely and confusing.

What office hours are

• Office hours (sometimes called student hours or drop-in hours) are times when a lecturer or teaching assistant is available to talk to students about the course.
• Times are usually listed in the module handbook, on the VLE or on the lecturer's staff page. Some are drop-in; others need booking.
• Rutgers University's Learning Centers describe office hours as a way to build a positive and productive relationship with your professors, which can open up opportunities.
• You do not need to be struggling to go. Asking about an interesting idea from a lecture is a perfectly good reason.
• Office hours are also a good place to go through feedback. UCL suggests asking a lecturer to go through a topic again if it is unclear.

Preparing so the time is useful

• Rutgers says not to show up unprepared: bring a few questions in advance.
• For course content, mark the parts of the lecture or reading you found hardest.
• For problem sets or tests, pick two or three questions you struggled with and look at where you went wrong first.
• Useful questions: 'Could you walk me through this problem?' (suggested by Rutgers), 'Where should I start with this type of question?', 'What would you recommend reading to go further?', 'What is the best way to contact you?'
• Bring your notes and the specific piece of work, and write down what you are told.

Emailing a lecturer

• Rutgers suggests emailing with your full name and the class you are in, a short description of what you want from the meeting, and a request for a time or a confirmation that you will come to regular office hours.
• Use your university email account and a clear subject line, for example 'ECON101: question about week 3 problem set'.
• Example: 'Dear Dr Patel, I'm Omar Al Hashimi from your Tuesday ECON101 seminar. I'm stuck on question 4 of the week 3 problem set and would like to go through my working. Could I come to your office hours on Thursday at 2pm? Kind regards, Omar.'
• Allow two working days for a reply before following up politely. Lesson gt-03 covers emails to university staff in more detail.

Your personal tutor

• At King's College London, a personal tutor is an academic in your department who supports you throughout your studies, helps you think about future plans and points you to support services.
• King's advises new undergraduates to catch up with their tutor at least four times in the first year and around twice a year after that, and says these are minimums: you can reach out at any time.
• You can discuss grades and feedback, feeling overwhelmed or struggling to adjust, careers and internships, opportunities such as study abroad and societies, and personal circumstances affecting your studies (King's).
• If they cannot help directly, King's says they will point you to someone who can, such as wellbeing or disability services (lesson sb-06).
• In the US, the closest equivalent is usually an academic adviser, who helps with course choices and degree requirements. Names and roles vary, so check your own university.

Building a relationship that lasts

• King's notes that your personal tutor may write you a reference in the future, so stay in contact even when things are going well.
• Go to your first tutor meeting with three topics, for example: how you are settling in, one module you are finding hard, and something you are curious about (a society, study abroad, a career).
• King's advises getting in touch before problems build up, rather than waiting for a scheduled meeting.
• Be honest. Saying 'I'm finding it hard to keep up and I'm not sure why' is far more useful than 'Everything's fine'.
• Say thank you at the start and end of meetings, as Rutgers suggests. Small courtesies are remembered.