Changes to U. president's office hours spur greater attendance

22 students gathered in the Class of 1998 Rectangular Private Dining Room in Whitman College to converse and have lunch with University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83

According to the Office of the President’s website, “The purpose of these meetings is to give students an opportunity to discuss with the president issues that affect them and the University.” These “Conversations with the President,” as they are called, are hour-long informal meetings, and they are held at the residential colleges and also at the Graduate College.

Once per semester, the Office of the President also allows students to sign up for “individual meetings with the president during scheduled office hours” at Frist Campus Center, specifying that topics must be provided in advance.

“It’s best for the president to know the topic in advance so that he can gather relevant background and be prepared to have a substantive conversation with the student,” Daniel Day, the University’s assistant vice president for communications, explained. “It’s a courtesy and it is meant to ensure that the discussion is both on point and productive.”

However, the system as it exists came into its current formulation a short time ago, in December 2015. Before that, the president’s office hours took the form of individual meetings with students, all held in Nassau Hall, the dates and times of which were previously published in The Daily Princetonian. This was also the case for former University president Shirley Tilghman.

The old office hours system included many more specific times when students could meet with the president. There were 15 hour-long time slots available in the spring of 2013, when Tilghman was still in office. In the spring of 2015, two years after Eisgruber had taken office, there were 10 hour-long time slots available. This semester, there are four.

However, as Day explained, “There may be a lower number of specific dates but, overall, interaction with President Eisgruber has increased.”

Day explained that an important factor in the change was that the president’s previous office hours “were poorly attended.”

“There were multiple times each year in which no one at all showed up,” Day explained. Day did not provide exact numbers for before and after the change, but he explained that the new system allows for more attendees by facilitating larger group meetings. He did not specify office hour attendance rates under Tilghman’s administration.

For example, Day noted that were 22 students in attendance at the last office hours event in Whitman College. Last fall, a relatively large group of students was also in attendance at an office hours event in Rockefeller College.

“There was a sense that the president’s time, which is very precious, was not being used in the most effective way, and now, it is,” Day said.

The decision to move the location of president office hours to many different places was also motivated by specific reasons.

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“The sit-in was one factor in the decision to hold office hours outside of the president’s office,” said Day, referring to the November 2015 sit-in on racial injustice that was held in Eisgruber’s office. The Black Justice League, which held the sit-in, presented Eisgruber on that occasion with a list of demands for the University regarding fostering a more inclusive campus.

Today, the Office of the President is quite happy with the current state of affairs.

“Our sense right now is that the current structure and office hours are meeting student demand and also realizing the goals for office hours, which is to provide opportunities for students to interact with President Eisgruber on a range of topics that matter to them and the University,” Day said.

Chief Copy Editor Omkar Shende contribute reporting to this piece.