Office hours for the current term are scheduled as:
All office hours are held in SE 4063. Unless otherwise announced, I will be available during these hours to answer any course related questions or issues. Office hours may vary during exam weeks and study weeks (check course announcements), and will be cancelled on statutory holidays. If I am not in my office during these times, I will be returning shortly (probably in less than 5 minutes), so please wait.
If I'm available (and there's not a line of students waiting to ask course-related questions), I am also happy to discuss any issues related to computer science, other courses, university life, or anything else you want to discuss. You should always feel free to drop by and chat.
Appointments: If you cannot attend my scheduled office hours, please feel free to ask for an appointment. Send me an e-mail, ask in class, ask in the hall. Suggest a few times, and I'll let you know when I'm available. It helps to let me know how long you think things will take... if it's a short question that's easier in person or if you need help understanding a major part of the course (both are great reasons for coming to see me), it helps schedule around other committments for both of us.
If my door is open, I am usually available to talk. Feel free to introduce yourself, tell me what type of question you have, and if I can, I'll be happy to chat with you right then. If I'm busy, we can set up a time to talk later or set up an appointment.
Please send e-mail in plain text format. Plain ASCII text is the standard for electronic communication. Please do not send messages that include HTML or MIME (or Word attachments, etc.). Find out how to turn off HTML and MIME, as well as an explanation of why you should do it. (I use an automatic converter from HTML or MIME to text, so if you send it, I might not even see it.)
Identify yourself and the course, and what your query is regarding. Please always include the course number in your subject line, and sign your full name at the bottom of your messages. Please take the time to come up with a descriptive subject line; note that "a question about 373" is not descriptive because over 80% of e-mails instructors receive about the course are questions. At least be a little more specific: is it about an assignment, test, lecture material, etc.? It helps me prioritize messages, and avoids it from being misclassified as spam.
Use correct English. Saying things like "would u plz ..." or "r u going to ..." or "l8r" or "bye 4 now" may be fine for personal messages but they are not acceptable for other e-mail, particularly e-mail to your instructor. The same is true when you use all lower case letters, all upper case letters, or omit punctuation. You'll get faster, more positive responses to your questions (or for that matter, to your job applications and your official correspondence in general) if they are well-written with correct grammar and correct spelling and if you do not assume a familiarity with the recipient that is inappropriate (even if you feel that the familiarity is there, it shouldn't show up in your official correspondence).
Don't wait until the last minute to ask!
Please be patient: although I try to
respond to all messages promptly, it can take up to one (sometimes two)
business day(s) to answer, depending on how busy I am and how many e-mail
messages I'm receiving. Or maybe I need to look something up to properly
answer your question. Or maybe I'm away from e-mail for a couple days.
In particular, if you ask a question on the day
that an assignment is due (or even on the day before), you may not get
an answer in time.
I reserve the right to not answer any question on the day an assignment
is due.
Start early, so you have plenty of time to read and understand the assignment,
and have plenty of opportunity to ask for clarification or help.
Do not be discouraged from asking questions! In fact, University is all about asking questions. Try to answer your questions first yourself (thinking about them, looking in the textbook or notes, checkign online documentation, etc.), as you will probably learn even more doing so. Putting in your effort first will mean your question will be more precise, and you will get a better reply faster.
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