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[biogeek]

My university does not have space for an office for me. Has anyone ever had to improvise an office? It seems that group study rooms in the library are not reservable in advance. I'd love some helpful advice on what is the next best alternative. I'd rather avoid sitting in a crowded food court all afternoon.

[untenured]

Any suggestions I offer might just be obvious, but here goes:

1. Faculty buildings have conference rooms, can you hold court there?

2. Can you share an office with another colleague with a schedule on different days than you? (This is what happened to me)

3. Can you see if a classroom is consistently empty and use that?

If you want space to work, any space in the library will do.  I assume though that you want to receive students, which makes life more difficult.

Sorry to hear about your situation!

Untenured

[dr_dre]

I've held office hours in the waiting area of the departmental office, campus coffee shop, lounge area of the library, and in the classroom after class. Best of luck with it.

[shrek]

Hold your office hours right outside the chair's office.

[larryc]

Are you adjuncting or are you tenure track? Are you looking for a place to meet students, or to do research, or to keep your stuff?

[miss_m]

I usually start the semester as an office-hour objector when I am told to hold office hours without any office at all (which has happened at only one place of employment).  However, I feel guilty because my contract usually requires a minimum number of hours per course.  My favorite strategy was to hold office hours for X number of minutes before and after each class meeting to total the required number.  I always offer students "by appointment" time, which allows me to say "Let's go find a good place to talk."  When I needed more than that, I would squat an empty classroom near my own (or my own at a convenient time before or after class for an hour or so, etc.).  This was at a place that also didn't have a lot of reservable space for adjuncts

I used my home office for research and the backseat of my car to "keep my stuff."  I suspect I am not the only one.

Good luck!

[grasshopper]

The only time I ever had a usable office, it was when I was a TA. Now I just use study rooms, empty classrooms, common lounge areas, and coffee shops on campus.

Nobody comes to office hours, anyway, except to complain on the day after exams/papers are handed back.

[history_grrrl]

Ah, yes, takes me back to my grad school days at Ivy U, where I held "office hours" either on the steps of the administration building (when it was nice out) or in the coffee shop in the basement of the building where my department was located (when it wasn't). In the coffee shop, we usually had to sit on the floor because it was so crowded.

The school isn't big on logic when it comes to distributing its substantial resources. But thank goodness there's a cappucino bar in the campus library now; how did we survive without that?

[oldassocprof]

Make sure to have a dedicated office in your home, and take a fat deduction on schedule C.  Percentage out the square feet and deduct proportionally.  Faculty can't usually do this, but you probably can.

This is actually outrageous.  Seriously, I'd look in another building, then start looking for another job. 

[oldadjunct]

Make sure to have a dedicated office in your home, and take a fat deduction on schedule C.  Percentage out the square feet and deduct proportionally.  Faculty can't usually do this, but you probably can.

This is actually outrageous.  Seriously, I'd look in another building, then start looking for another job. 

I am sorry, but this could not be worse advice.  The IRS rules on home offices have become so restrictive as to make the option all but unavailable.  Further, the home office deduction is among the biggest red flags for an audit.  There are a variety of reasons for my saying this, too many for me to detail here, but suffice it to say that no one should take the home office deduction without talking to a CPA.  Hardly anyone in a forum of this nature will qualify, or if they do, will it in the long run be worth it.

[grasshopper]

This is actually outrageous.  Seriously, I'd look in another building, then start looking for another job. 

Yes, and then tell them how much you intend to be paid for your adjunct work. If they won't pony up, just climb back on your unicorn and fly over the rainbow to the next job.

[bewildered]

Make sure to have a dedicated office in your home, and take a fat deduction on schedule C.  Percentage out the square feet and deduct proportionally.  Faculty can't usually do this, but you probably can.

This is actually outrageous.  Seriously, I'd look in another building, then start looking for another job. 

I am sorry, but this could not be worse advice.  The IRS rules on home offices have become so restrictive as to make the option all but unavailable.  Further, the home office deduction is among the biggest red flags for an audit.  There are a variety of reasons for my saying this, too many for me to detail here, but suffice it to say that no one should take the home office deduction without talking to a CPA.  Hardly anyone in a forum of this nature will qualify, or if they do, will it in the long run be worth it.

Check into it, though.  A red flag for an audit isn't the end of the world; if it's legit, you court the audit if necessary.

[lotsoquestions]

I looked into this a while ago -- and one of the restrictions is that you have to be able to prove that you use your home office ONLY for your business.  (In other words, if you have a computer in the study and the kids keep ANY files on it, and they use it in ANY way, or your spouse does, then you don't have a home office, you have a family study.)  Apparently, the single best way to prove that you have a dedicated home office used only for your business is to have a separate entrance to this room from outside the house.  I know very few people for whom this applies. 

[buglet]

I looked into this a while ago -- and one of the restrictions is that you have to be able to prove that you use your home office ONLY for your business.  (In other words, if you have a computer in the study and the kids keep ANY files on it, and they use it in ANY way, or your spouse does, then you don't have a home office, you have a family study.)  Apparently, the single best way to prove that you have a dedicated home office used only for your business is to have a separate entrance to this room from outside the house.  I know very few people for whom this applies. 

This is true, but having a home office is an entirely legitimate expense, particularly if you are an adjunct with discrete teaching contracts, or working hourly.   I took this deduction for years without a separate entrance to my office outside my home.  Get a separate computer, take pictures of your office for your records, measure it accurately, keep your file cabinet in there for your files, and keep the kids out. As long as you are honest and document thoroughly, don't let vague fear  keep you from deducting a legitimate expense.  This fear is what the IRS thrives on to keep folks from taking legitimate deductions. If you are worried about it, see campus legal and get some advice, or call on your local friendly teachers of accountancy on campus. 

[samspade]

My solution to this problem is that wherever I have adjuncted and have not gotten an office, I make office hours by appointment only. I then typically meet with students before or after class. I am adjuncting at a local CC right now besides my normal job, and when i didn't get an office, I simply listed my office hours at my real job.