Over the years, a number of rules and regulations have been put forward with a view to informing students how they should go about consulting their lecturers, and universities have developed a number of ways to support students in obtaining help from their lecturers. At tertiary institutions and other learning institutions there is an ever-increasing problem of students failing to get the help they need because they have either not made an appointment with their lecturers or their lecturers are absent. These students suddenly appear on the campus or at the learning institution in order to consult with their lecturers without making an appointment beforehand and are disappointed when they do not get help – either because the lecturer is away or is engaged in other duties. In a school situation the problem could be gross absenteeism of lecturers. Indeed, this issue is now a thorn in the flesh of many an administrator. Needless to say, not making an appointment and the resultant lack of help delays students’ academic progress. This chapter explains why securing an appointment is so crucial for students’ academic development. This discussion provides a broad overview of the dilemmas facing lecturers and students in making appointments. The concepts of appointment and consultation are discussed below.

The meaning of ‘appointment’

An appointment may be a one-to-one meeting between the student and the lecturer. These meetings are there to help the student understand his/her assignments, develop and structure ideas, and develop learning strategies (English Student Subgroup Self-Assessment (ELSSA) 2007). It is therefore imperative that when students make appointments with their lecturers they know exactly what they want to ask their lecturers. Doing this will also help students deal constructively with their difficulties in class discussions.

The question that is normally asked is whether appointments should be compulsory? If a lecturer is dealing with a large number of students who are studying through distance education (DE), it is usually a good idea to have an appointment system. Walk-ins could also be accommodated especially in public ordinary learning institutions for the sake of service delivery (Bagby 1998). However, this is obviously not easy for the lecturers themselves, who usually have to plan virtually every minute of their day. From the student's point of view, it is likely to be extremely frustrating to walk in only to discover that the lecturer is already engaged in other duties.