Chancellor Albert Carnesale announced that he will increase his
Student Office Hours for the spring quarter from one hour per
quarter to three.
The announcement came early last week through e-mail to most of
the student community.
The 10-minute student appointments will take place in three
one-hour installments spread throughout the quarter.
Lawrence Lokman, a spokesman for the university, said the
increased hours are “reflective of (Carnesale’s) desire
to be as accessible as possible to students.”
The Student Office Hour creates an opportunity for members of
the student community to communicate one-on-one with the
chancellor.
Selina Hung, a second-year applied mathematics student, said she
thinks the effects of increase will be positive.
She said she felt the increase in the amount of appointments
will provide a greater diversity of opinions and will ultimately
prove beneficial to the student community.
Some students have little intention of submitting requests for
an appointment. Duncan Muir, a third-year anthropology student,
expressed no interest in meeting with the chancellor. He said even
if he were given the 10-minute appointment without having applied,
he “wouldn’t know what to say.”
Other students choose not to apply for an appointment for more
intentional reasons. Brad Ng, a third-year history and political
science student, said that he feels the appointments lack
purpose.
Ng worries that while the idea behind the increased Student
Office Hours may be admirable, the concrete results may have less
impact than the effort warrants.
“I think it’s great in principle,” Ng said.
“I just question its effectiveness.”
Like many students, Ng also has concerns over the short length
of the appointments. He questioned whether any student is able to
create meaningful communication with the chancellor in such a short
amount of time.
Ng wondered whether the chancellor would be better off giving
the time to an officer of a campus organization.
Though Hung believes the increased number of appointments is
important, she also said the amount of time per appointment is
crucial.
“What can you talk about in 10 minutes?” she asked.
“Once you start a conversation it will be the next
person’s turn.”
Ng also has concerns about the method employed to choose
participants. Students will be chosen for appointments via a random
lottery-style drawing.
He said he felt given the drastically limited amount of time
available, perhaps a group of students qualified to present the
institution’s problems should receive the time.
Students interested in participating in the chancellor’s
office hours should submit requests to the chancellor’s
office by noon on Wednesday.
This quarter’s Student Office Hours are set for April
22 from 10 ““ 11 a.m., May 3 from 3 ““ 4 p.m. and May 25
from 2 ““ 3 p.m.