How to Rethink Office Hours So Students Actually Show Up Prepared

Aug 27, 2025

Too many office hours can lead to stress spikes, as students often wait until the day before a deadline or arrive unprepared. Themed office hours flip the script—helping students engage earlier while also allowing faculty members to better conserve their energy.

Higher education feels uncertain right now. From the rapid spread of AI to political attacks on academic freedom to the everyday exhaustion of teaching, many faculty members I know are asking the same question: How do I continue to show up for my students without burning out?

That very concern is shaping how I think about what it means to support faculty right now, and it’s at the core of the workshops I’m building.

It’s also at the heart of my new faculty development series, Rooted Teaching in Uncertain Times.

It’s a 3-part workshop series designed for faculty who want concrete tools for teaching in this moment of overwhelm and change. Each 60-minute session blends theory, examples, and practice in a small-group setting.

Here’s what we’re covering:

Burnout-Proof Pedagogy: Rhythms, Boundaries, and Planning for Sustainable Academic Work

Establish a teaching rhythm that protects your time, honors your body, and enables you to work from your values. You’ll leave with a personalized plan for managing your workload without sacrificing your well-being.

Teaching Through Crisis: Tools for Clarity, Connection, and Calm in Politicized Classrooms

Gain concrete strategies for navigating student tension, difficult discourse, and real-world stress—without burning out or shutting down. You’ll learn to create a classroom culture rooted in connection, mutual respect, and clear boundaries.

Teaching in the Age of AI: Ethical Guidelines, Assignment Design, and Human-Centered Strategies

Learn how to set clear AI expectations, foster digital literacy, and design assignments that prioritize critical thinking and human creativity. You’ll leave confident in your ability to adapt your teaching without compromising learning outcomes.

I’m currently piloting this series with a small Founder’s group before a full launch in September 2025. Interested in participating in the series when I launch it next month? You can join the waitlist here.

The Office Hours Example I Thought Was Simple

I began by discussing my Rooted Teaching series because during the Founder’s Run of my Burnout-Proof Pedagogy session on Monday afternoon, I used office hours as an example to model how to set boundaries in our teaching.

When I prepared the workshop materials, I specifically chose office hours because I thought I was addressing a universal pain point: students showing up unprepared, expecting professors to either re-deliver the lecture or do the work of diagnosing where they were confused.

But what happened during the session was different from what I expected. Though we were a small group, there was a range of office hour experiences that sparked a lively discussion:

Some faculty said, yes, their challenge is unprepared students.
Others said their students rarely come at all, even when they need it most.
And others said students would rather email than step into the office (or Zoom room).

What I thought was a straightforward example actually revealed how the challenges faculty members face today are driven by their specific context—not just by institution type, but also by size, region, and the particular students they serve.

Photo by Redd Francisco on Unsplash

That’s where the idea of themed office hours came in as a simple but powerful boundary reset.

A Small Shift: Themed Office Hours

Here’s one boundary-protective shift I introduced during the session: themed office hours.

Instead of leaving the topic of office hours open-ended, faculty instead give them focus:

“This week: thesis statements.”
“Thursday: reviewing Unit 1 concepts.”
“Next month: synthesizing theories of X.”

Using office hour themes lowers the barrier for students who need support but are unsure of what to ask.

At the same time, it can ease faculty workloads by creating a familiar and predictable place where students come and proactively address common issues that you know typically create problems and fuel those last-minute, anxiety-driven emails in your courses.

Instead of repeating the same draining conversations during crunch time, you create the space for students to gather at the same time and address these issues proactively in a group setting.

If many of your students commute or can’t attend at a set time, consider recording the session and posting it on your course site, ensuring equitable access for all students.

How About You?

Of course, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. That’s why I’d love to hear what office hours look like in your context.

Have you ever tried themed office hours?

If so, how did it go?

If not, could it work in your teaching context?

Leave a comment or reply directly to this email—I’d love to learn from your stories.

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