In Fall 2020, OUE began hosting Outdoor Office Hours for faculty and staff in order to have face to face engagement with students in a safe and socially distant manner. The outdoor event gained popularity and was featured on Georgia Tech’s twitter and in the Technique.
OUE staff and faculty would stage the OOH on the corner of Tech Green near Starbucks with signs advertising to student and would provide individual wrapped snacks and bottled water or sodas for refreshments. Additionally we provided gloves and hand sanitizer in order to make the meetings with faculty and staff enjoyable and safe. We advertised via printed signage to students and asked many of the members of OUE and beyond to participate. faculty to invite their students to come to the outdoor office hour.
Linda Green, Director of Tutoring and Academic Support for OUE; Chris Reaves, Director of the Center for Academic Enrichment; Cory Hopkins, Communications Program Manager for OUE; and Crystal Fowlers, Academic Coordinator for OUE, worked as a committee to create the outdoor office hours in response to the isolation and frustration reported being felt by the students during the semester as well as to give them reason and opportunity to come to campus and reconnect with Georgia Tech.
Over fifty people attended these meetings in the fall, speaking to members of the Office of Undergraduate Education, Enrollment Services, Office of International Education, and the Scheller College of Business, along with members of other units and departments on campus.
In Spring 2021, the program was modified to better fit faculty members’ schedules, allowing them to select a time and date that worked best for them. Following the scheduling of the meetings, OUE reserved an outdoor tent and provided refreshments for the office hours. An estimated 216 students attended these sessions over the course of the spring semester, with each outdoor office hour averaging about 7 attendees.
Featured in Georgia Tech’s Instagram, Twitter, and newspaper, the outdoor office hours received a very positive response, with both faculty and students expressing gratitude for a safe and convenient opportunity for in person engagement.
Faculty quotes:
"it is a nice option to be able to offer students given the constraints of covid."
"Thank you for this opportunity. I think that the students that did stop by enjoyed the event and would consider coming to another such event."
"I greatly appreciated this opportunity and I know the students did as well. It was very helpful to have an outdoor space to meet, with snacks to entice them."
"Thank you for providing this option. It was very useful."