Born in East London, raised in council tenement and working since the age of 14, Chandres is a Senior Lecturer in Accounting at QMUL. Before joining QMUL, Chandres held the position at London Metropolitan University, over a fourteen-year tenure. At QMUL, and with over 25 years of experience in Higher Education he is Programme Director to the Business School’s largest course- BSc Business Management (Y1) with over 750 students from over 80 countries. He is also a Director at the Drapers’ MAT (Multi Academy Trust).

I am sure most colleagues can relate to the assertion that before Covid-19, most undergraduate students did not attend ‘office hour’. Post-pandemic, that number has declined, and the one’s that do attend, are mostly students performing well in class. So, are we doing enough to reach out to students, especially those struggling with academic work in silence? Is it good enough to think, well if they are not attending, they must be doing well? Then come the assessments, and the grades indicate otherwise.

Research around the ‘office hour’ (time allocated outside of formal classes, for one-to-one help or small group support sessions) is limited. Golden et al. (2023) find evidence that incentivising students – for example, with ‘brunch’ – can improve attendance. The ‘Brunch with…’ initiative aimed to remedy the decline in office hour student attendance, a challenge colleagues face at the School of Business & Management at Queen Mary University of London (SBM-QMUL).

By week 12, more than 150 students had attended 10 sessions, from an average of 8 between weeks 2-5, to 25 students in weeks 11 and 12. After the mid-semester break, the sessions became increasingly popular, the time extended from 11–12pm to 10.30–12pm, at the request of students. In week 8, I tested a new, mini seminar in open space as a form of additional contact time in preparation for the examinations for one of their modules that I taught. The attendance now exceeded 20 students.

Offer free food or drink, and students will attend. First-year students who attend and engage build lasting friendships, and benefit from improved networking and socialising opportunities, which post-Covid are often poor. Waiting for them are pastries, orange juice and hot chocolate (from in-house hospitality).

‘ “You don’t need to talk to me, if you don’t want to – just come for the free refreshments. We’re not strangers.” ’

As Programme Director, I invited my BSc Business Management Year 1 cohort to an open space for ‘Brunch with Chandres’. Students are informed that the session is informally shaped by them and a room nearby for one-to-one talks on sensitive matters is available. The mantra is echoed in lectures and seminars: ‘You don’t need to talk to me, if you don’t want to – just come for the free refreshments. We’re not strangers.’ I steered away from mere email communication to promote ‘The Brunch’. It was evident that students are inundated with emails from us. So, posters are displayed in classes, and taped to the walls of the main floor where Brunch is being held.

What materialised was quite interesting. Early on, some did come for the refreshments, some to interact with other students, while some wanted to ask me about university life and how to learn. It was on this latter point that I encouraged other students to contribute before me. Moreover, I brought in current themes, the most important being mental health and wellbeing. This led students to a fruitful discussion around the subject, and the resources available via student services. An evolution was happening in front of my eyes, the formation of a learning community. With a build-up of trust, a few students approached me to discuss personal issues in my office.

Students from low-income households and facing financial constraints (Skopeliti & Weale, 2024) will often skip breakfast and/or lunch. But while this was a motivating factor, I found that the main attraction was this thriving learning community.

I appreciate that many business schools face a challenging time. So, for colleagues concerned about the cost ramifications it’s more a reallocation of funds. We need to ask ourselves, are all the social activities needed; can one be combined with another to save costs, thereby freeing up funds to host the Brunch: Fundamentally, it is an investment in our students, conducive to learning and enhancing the student experience, and my students agree.

Student feedback to the ‘Brunch’ has been unanimously positive: ‘Brunch has assisted them to become part of university life.’ When asked via module evaluations ‘What are the best things about the module?’, comments include:  ‘“Brunch with Chandres” has been really helpful, dare I say extremely vital for this module as it allows us to get some extra contact time’; and ‘… there are good motivations for students, e.g. brunch …’

I believe, the success of Brunch is highly dependent on the willingness and commitment of module/programme leaders, as set-up time especially in the first few weeks can be a burden.

In essence, ‘The Brunch’ has captured the attention of colleagues in the School and I hope to share this model across QMUL and at conferences such as the Chartered Association of Business Schools – Learning, Teaching, and Student Experience (CABS-LTSE). Although there are no metrics to demonstrate impact, the quotes above and spoken sentiments by the students reflect a unanimously positive response.

I hope this blog post provides useful insights for colleagues interested in promoting greater community-driven student engagement. I would love to hear your thoughts or questions – let’s continue the conversation!

References

Golden, N., Fenn, E., & Reyes, L. (2023). The professor will see you now: how incentivizing office hours can increase student attendance. Journal of the Academy of Business Education, 23, 27–49.

Skopeliti, C., & Weale, S.(2024, June 13). ‘I once missed four weeks of one module’: The UK students working long hours. Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/education/article/2024/jun/13/i-once-missed-four-weeks-of-one-module-the-uk-students-working-long-hours