Successful students ask for help from their instructors. Often, students don’t ask because they don’t know how. As faculty and staff, we know that student hours — or office hours — are when instructors set time aside in their office to help students. But to students, many of whom are first-generation, those may be interpreted as hours that instructors are in their offices working and should not be bothered. You can help students feel more confident in asking for help from their instructors by explaining that office hours really mean student hours, which can be found and explained on their class syllabus.
