Undergraduates often complain that their professors are not accessible enough. But some faculty members say the problem lies with students, who they say seem uninterested in meeting them.

Still other professors join students in bemoaning what they perceive as an institutionalized lack of personal contact between students and faculty.

"I try to catch [my professors] before and after class and they're mobbed," says Elaine Foo '98, an Economics concentrator. "There's always a line at office hours."

But some professors, such as Andrew P. Metrick, head tutor in Economics, say students mistakenly perceive that faculty who teach large courses are remote.

"The truth is that [we] professors...like students and want to talk to students," Metrick says. "The people who teach the big [classes do it] because we like it; we have no intention of turning students away."

Concentration-Dependent

Foo says the Economics department, which has some of the largest undergraduate courses at Harvard, can be a hard place for students to meet professors.

Howard S. Hechler '98 also laments the rarityof personal interaction between students andprofessors in large concentrations.

Hechler switched from English, one of thelargest concentrations, to Near Eastern Languagesand Civilizations, one of the smallest.

"I found that for the most part the professorsare more willing to take time out with studentsand more willing to talk [in Near EasternLanguages]," he says. "I [felt] like one tinyperson in a sea of English majors."

Metrick says that while introductory coursescan be large and impersonal, students have morecontact with their professors in upper levelcourses.

"To the extent that the Economics departmenthas large classes at the introductory andintermediate levels, [lack of contact betweenstudents and faculty] can be an issue," he says."At the higher levels there's only one or twoclasses that have more than 100. The other 20courses that we offer are relatively small."

Students often avoid professors during thesemester, Metrick says, but they flock to officehours before finals, causing long lines.

"I understand how students feel [about waitingin line at office hours] but the answer is to justknock on doors," he says. "Ask if you can comeanother time. People will say yes."

Foo says she blames herself for not having madeuse of faculty office hours.

"[I haven't met professors] most of all becauseI've not made the effort," she says. "I onlysought them out when my TF was not available."