How to Create One-Off Availability and Drop-In Advising

Click Appointment Manager located in the lower-left corner of the screen.

Click the gear icon shown at the top-center of the window that appears.

You are now in Appointment Availability Settings. It is suggested that you configure appointment settings (length, advance notice, etc) before creating Availability. Information about how to do so can be found above.

Scroll down to the “Recurring Availability” heading. Note: We acknowledge that the use of the word “Recurring” is misleading here. You can create one-off and recurring Availability in this area.

Click the red New button found in the “Current and Future Availability” box.

Designate the type of Availability in the “Available For:” drop-down menu.

• Select “Available Appointment” if you are creating an Availability to allow students to schedule appointments with you during a designated time.

• Select “Drop-In Hours” to set aside time for Drop-In Advising. “Drop-In Hours” creates a block of time during which any student can come by for advising. When a student selects a time designated as “Drop-In Hours,” they are presented with an on-screen message directing them to your physical office location during that block of time. Because of this, the Drop-In Availability does not allow the student to schedule an appointment within those hours.

Give the Availability a subject. Note that having the word “FREE” appear anywhere in the subject will mean that your advising blocks will be treated as “Free” in your Google Calendar (if you are using calendar sync). If the time is not booked by an appointment, colleagues will be able to schedule other meetings with you during that time. An example is shown below. You might also use “Free In-Person Advising” or “Free Virtual Advising” to match your Location.

Select a topic(s) for the Availability in the Topic dropdown menu. We are in the process of creating campus-wide topic selections that are approved by the advising community.

Select a Location(s) from the Location dropdown menu. 

Complete the rest of this window according to when you want the Availability to be.

• For one-off Appointment Availability, make sure the event starts and ends on the same date (Start Tuesday May 18, 12pm; End Tuesday May 18, 2pm).

• Under “Recurrence”, you must enter a number for “REPEAT EVERY.” You can put “1” in that box. As long as the start and end dates are on the same day, this will not matter.

Click Save to save the Availability you just created. Be sure to also click Save at the bottom of the Appointment Availability Settings page.

Once you have created an Availability, you are able to clone it, edit it, or cancel it. Cloning Availability allows you to easily replicate multiple days of Availability.