On a busy night of studying, Mustafa Al-ammar was chatting on instant messenger.
But the College junior was not procrastinating or making plans to go to a frat party: He was chatting about an upcoming assignment with a professor.
"I never go to office hours," Al-ammar said. "Discussion boards are good - so is e-mail. Office hours are a last resort."
And Al-ammar isn't the only one finding alternative means of communication to talk to teachers.
An increasing number of students and professors say that, with the advent of 24-hour e-mail service, office hours are no longer as necessary as they once were.
"In general, in [the Political Science] Department, very few students take advantage of office hours," said Chairman Avery Goldstein.
Students, in turn, prefer the convenience of firing off a quick e-mail.
"I've never been to office hours," said College freshman Jason Awad. "I e-mail professors when I have a problem. It's a lot easier because most professors check their e-mail twice a day."
Goldstein said that the rise of e-mail may contribute a bit to the lack of students, but he doesn't see that rise as all bad.
"More students who would never bother otherwise [to talk to professors] will e-mail," he said.
Though the University does not require professors to hold office hours, most departments require their professors to hold a certain number of open hours each week.
"We all have to have office hours," Arabic professor Emad Rushdie said of the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Department.
Still, students and professors say that there are times when office hours become more necessary and serve purposes that e-mails can't.
For Al-ammar, talking to a different professor in person became crucial when he was in a math class where equations were too complex to write in an e-mail.
Professors likewise often take advantage of e-mail to schedule meetings instead of having a set time each week to have open offices.
"I've done this myself during the years I am department chair, as it seems to work better than announcing hours that then need to be cancelled half the time," English Department Chairman Jim English wrote in an e-mail.
Political Science professor John DiIulio, who was unavailable for comment, takes the policy a step further.
He does not allow students to converse with him about his classes via e-mail; students must schedule in-person appointments with him via teaching assistants, according to a syllabus from one of DiIulio's political science classes last semester.
In the end, it seems, office hours aren't going anywhere anytime soon.
"I kind of prefer appointments, because if [office hours] are set, you may not be able to go," said College sophomore Bharat Moudgil.
