Still, Marius, who is a former master of AdamsHouse, says faculty cannot change the minds ofstudents who do not want to interact with them.

"It's hard to know when you're intruding on astudent," he says. "I always enjoy my students,[but] I don't want them to say 'What's this oldfart doing when I want to have lunch with myfriends."

Students and faculty both say that e-mail makesit easier for them to communicate.

"A lot of my professors prefer [e-mail]; it'san easy way for you to phrase a question and theydon't feel harassed. I've gotten very detailedreplies [from professors]," Hechler says.

Marius says that giving out his e-mail addressand holding a "McDonald's Milkshake Seminar" makesit easier for his students to seek him out duringoffice hours.

Yet Levenson is wary of relying on e-mail.

"[Teaching] can't be done only throughelectronic devices or writing. Some involvementwith the personality and character of the[professor] is important," he says.

Difficult to Legislate

Metrick says it is up to individual facultymembers to decide how much contact to have withstudents.

"You can't really legislate an attitude towardstudents," he says.

Students say the amount of contact facultymembers have with undergraduates varies fromprofessor to professor.

"[Levenson] spends half his time with studentsat office hours, [but] another [of my professors]was late to class and hardly made it to officehours," Hechler says.

He says the amount of contact faculty have withstudents determines how successful they are asteachers.

"The professors that have a lot of office hourshave a better idea of what the students want andwho the students are," he says. "[Those thatdon't], they don't know what the students know andwhat we want to hear and they're condescending."

Levenson blames the University for notencouraging contact between students and faculty.