With the retirement of President Joanne Glasser arrives the end of her monthly office hours, where she invited students to have one-on-one chats on any subject matter they wanted to discuss.
However, a resolution to make these office hours mandatory for future presidents was passed by Student Senate Feb. 17 and will now move on to request the approval of the administration and the Board of Trustees.
According to Student Body Secretary of the Assembly Olga Krapivner, the resolution would require future presidents to hold monthly office hours open to all students, and also requests potential candidates for president be informed of the responsibility and agree to it before being hired.
“President Glasser chose to do office hours on her own,” the sophomore political science major said. “It wasn’t mandated by anyone, and it’s a very rare thing. It gives the campus a more inviting vibe.”
Junior learning behavior specialist major Rebecca Schwartz said she thinks the open office hours gave her a good way to get to know Glasser more personally.
“She already had a sense of who I was because we had talked before, and she knew my dad so it was fun to actually sit down and talk,” Schwartz said.
According to Schwartz, before having her one-on-one time with Glasser, the office secretary asked her questions.
“[It] was a little weird and made it seem like I was on an interview, and I didn’t really like that part,” Schwartz said. “But once I was in there and talking to her, it didn’t feel like an interview or anything anymore. She was really fun to talk to, and I’m glad I went. I will definitely go again before the end of next year.”
Senior hospitality major Hannah Koci said she went to office hours on behalf of her student organization.
“I visited President Glasser’s office hours when I was planning Brave Chef,” she said. “I asked her to be a guest judge.”
Sophomore accounting major Nicole Nudelman said she utilized the open hours last year to talk to Glasser about her housing situation. Although she said her issue was able to be resolved, there are improvements that could be made to better the office hours.
“The whole experience was just strange,” Nudelman said. “I didn’t know where her office was, it’s not very marketed and because she’s the president of the university, I didn’t know what I could and couldn’t talk to her about— I didn’t want to offend her.”
Krapivner also said she thinks the hours could be advertised more effectively, but she said she believes some students know how to make use of them.
“I know the students that really do need to speak to the president have utilized [the open hours], and they think it’s very helpful and resourceful,” Krapivner said.
Glasser’s office is Swords Hall room 200. The date and time for open office hours are posted on the Bradley website, but the next hours are yet to be determined.
