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[eternal_adjunct]

I've run into this problem a few times, mostly with people taking compressed-format classes at my cc (although I did have another case of a student taking an online class who could not physically use a computer, but that's a different story altogether!).  They get their syllabi, a letter, etc, through the mail well before the class starts.  I say very explicitly that I only check the office voice mail when I'm on campus, and I'm only ever on campus when I teach (which is to say, generally, only on select weekends when my classes meet).  So if they want to contact me, they need to email me.  Then, on the first day of class, I explain to them that the real reason I don'tcheck my office voice mail from home is because I don't have land-line long distance, by the time my free minutes kick in, I have better things to do, and if they think I am going to use a daytime minute on my cell phone to listen to their silly excuses, they must be crazy.

Almost all of get it then (since it involves cell phone minutes)!

Those who do contact me by phone are those students who only pretend to live at their in-county address, so they had to go get my number through directories, etc, and the calls have almost always been utter non-sense (can you tell me when class starts? what books do we need?, etc), pay absolutely no attention when they do manage to show up to class, or operate under the mistaken assumption that time freezes because they made a phone call.

Unfortunately, as some others have posted, I have to give out a phone number, as per policies written before Al Gore invented the internet.  So far, not returning a call hasn't been a problem.  The last call was a student who had missed the first half of the class - yes, the whole half - wanting to know what room we were in.  I didn't return it, hoping she would realize that missing half of the class would make things difficult for her in that class in general.  Sadly, she did not come to this realization until after she got her final (failing) grade.

[fishbrains]

I appreciate all the suggestions. I give summer internet students my cell phone number because I don't have or want internet access at the house, and I want them to have a way to contact me for quick questions, instead of making them wait a day or two for my email responses. It's never been a problem.

I have never thought about just turning off the answering machine on the office phone. I'm not sure I can (we have a campus-wide phone system). I've always assumed it's like the telescreen in Orwell's 1984! I'm going to give it a try.

Thanks for pointing out the obvious to me. I think I have a project for tomorrow!

[dr_crankypants]

If you can't turn it off, you may be able to turn it to "announce only."  Then you can leave an announcement directing people to e-mail or cell. 

[avaya]

dr crankypants has a great idea ... I wonder if you could do call forwarding, so that all phone calls to your office number just ring to your cell.