Building Relationships with Faculty

What I found pleasantly surprising about Loyola was how easy it is to communicate with your professors. My professors have often ended lectures encouraging students to reach out if they have any concerns. In fact, during my first semester at Loyola, the professors regularly stuck around for 15 minutes after class to answer everyone’s questions. Never were we made to feel like our questions were an inconvenience.

Moreover, my professors have all been incredibly quick at responding to emails (and I would imagine communication via email is probably at an all-time high this year). For example, I emailed my Spring 2021 professors two days before the winter break was scheduled to begin to ask for a list of textbooks required for their courses. Admittedly, I left the sending of the email a bit late, and I was worried that I might have to wait until after winter break to receive a reply. It turns out that my worries were unwarranted, as I received a reply from all three professors on the same day I sent my email.

When it comes to non-email communications, my professors have been accommodating as well. As an LLM student attending the program from outside the United States, I am in a time zone nine hours ahead of Los Angeles, and I assumed that I might have to stay up late to schedule a meeting during office hours. Luckily, professors have made it clear that, should their office hours be at an inconvenient time, we need only reach out so that a mutually convenient one can be found.

Not only are Loyola’s professors readily available to answer questions and address concerns, but they actively encourage students to ask these questions and raise their concerns. In this way, Loyola has cultivated an environment where reaching out is easy, and approaching faculty is not at all daunting.