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[slumdog]

I have a question for any graduate students or professors:

Is it unusual for a professor to offer home telephone "office hours" in the late evenings of the standard five-day work week?

If this is not unusual, then I will not reveal any other details about this professor that are rather strange.

[bijou]

I have had professors who will give out their home phone numbers in lieu of e-mail, should a student have urgent questions or concerns, yes.

Office hours over the phone?  Another story.  Is this person offering regular office hours as well?  If not, that would seem to be a problem, as students may need to meet with their professor in person to get a form signed, for example.

[sciencephd]

Oh come on, tell us the other strange details.  You know you want to.

[expatinuk]

Most of my graduate students work. Additionally, our field is not one that is normally 9-5.

I know that there are some things that cannot be discussed via email and therefore I try to accommodate my grad students as much as possible. I will arrange a meeting after 5:00 (I set aside one day a week that I can be available after 5:00) I do not give out my home phone number, but I do give my mobile number to my MA/MFA students working on their final project and all of my Ph.D. students.

I give out my Skype id to all of my grad students (I can control when I want to be visible). I also put a 'warning' on my syllabai that they are given that information as responsible grad students and are not to abuse it. If they do abuse it, I tell them that I will become invisible to them.

I've been doing this for over 15 years and have only once had to 'block' a student. I also get a lot of positive feedback about how available I am.

This policy has allowed me quite a lot of freedom. I don't sit in my office for hours waiting for students to show up during office hours.

I don't think that there is anything 'weird' about your professor offering home phone 'office hours' in the evening. He's trying to accommodate you, the student. Now, if he starts insisting that you go to his house for office hours in the evening, that's a different kettle of fish.

[polly_mer]

Is it unusual for a professor to offer home telephone "office hours" in the late evenings of the standard five-day work week?

In my field, offering any office hours by phone is strange.  However, giving one's home number with the instruction, "I will answer questions by phone during these limited hours" doesn't strike me as that unusual, depending on what the hours are.  Midnight to 0200 strikes me as strange.  2000 to 2200 on days that the professor won't be on campus and therefore is not available any other way seems like a reasonable compromise.

However, only offering office hours by phone at night is strange.

If this is not unusual, then I will not reveal any other details about this professor that are rather strange.

We don't have enough information to make that call.  Please give us some more details.

[helpful]

Grad students email me and ask me when I am available to talk on the phone at home. Provided they do this, this doesn't bother me.

[kamiakin]

I give my grad students my cell number. Sometimes they use it.

[msparticularity]

Is it unusual for a professor to offer home telephone "office hours" in the late evenings of the standard five-day work week?

My much-beloved doctoral advisor did something like this. He was the department chair, so having normal office hours tended not to work out well, since department members and administrative staff tended to invade them. He was available for in-office meetings by appointment, but his "drop in" time was by phone at his home number. He tried to set aside dinner time for his family, but he was (and still is, actually) a real night owl, so he told us that we were welcome to call him until midnight.

[punchnpie]

Oh come on, tell us the other strange details.  You know you want to.

Hee hee.

I teach in a grad-only program and will give my home number to students when necessary. Now that student records are all online, I don't see a reason to come into the office in 2' of snow to do non-problematic advising for the next term's registration. Other items can come up and between students living far from campus, work schedules, day care issues for students, and my schedule, sometimes it's just easier to talk by phone. Actually, students seem to be appreciative.

[mignon]

Why is this strange?  I sometimes hold phone office hours in addition to my regular office hours, so I can discuss paper topics or whatever with students. 

I'm baffled/surprised that this would be considered questionable and I wonder why it would be.  I thought I was being generous with my time and adapting to my students' needs, since many commute.

[dr_mcmom]

How is that different than "virtual" office hours?  My undergrads don't like to hike WAY across campus to my office, so they'll use blackboard to "chat" with me during my scheduled hours.  It works.

[georgiaprof]

I wouldn't.  I know people who have.  There are not usually any harmful side effects from this practice.