Pull up a chair: Chancellor Frenk opens the door even wider for student voices with Office Hours

UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk has made it clear: His leadership starts with listening. Having met with thousands of students over the past year, primarily in small-group settings, he has decided to take an even more personal approach with UCLA Connects: Chancellor's Office Hours.

The program, announced today, is designed to give individual students the chance to sit down with the chancellor in his office for one-on-one conversations. These meetings will take place regularly throughout the winter, spring and fall quarters, creating a consistent forum for students to share their experiences, concerns and ideas directly with the university's top leader.

"One of the many things I have come to appreciate about UCLA is the insight, creativity and lived experience that our students bring to campus," Frenk said. "Those perspectives - and the perspectives of all members of our community - help shape our institution and should play a meaningful role in the decisions we make."

Connecting with campus: Building on the Listening Exercise

The new office hours build on Frenk's extensive outreach since becoming chancellor. Last year, he launched the UCLA Connects: Listening Exercise, a sweeping series of 38 sessions that brought together more than 6,300 students, faculty staff and alumni and involved every school and unit across campus. Those conversations helped inform the shared vision of One UCLA, grounding the university' strategic goals in the voices of the Bruin community.

That engagement hasn't stopped. Frenk has continued to meet regularly with students across campus, including leaders from the Undergraduate Students Association Council and the Graduate Students Association, as well as members of student organizations representing a wide range of backgrounds and interests.

The new initiative is meant to widen that circle even further, creating space for students who may not typically find themselves in meetings with senior leadership. "These office hours will allow me to sit down with an even broader range of students," the chancellor said.

A powerful message: Students are valued and add value

The importance of that direct connection can't be overstated. For students, meeting face to face with the chancellor sends a clear signal that their voices matter - not just in theory but in practice. And for Frenk, these conversations will offer an unfiltered view of campus life, revealing challenges and opportunities that don't always surface through more formal channels.

Frenk has pledged to approach each meeting with "open ears and an open heart," taking notes and reflecting on what students share - a continuation of his Listening Exercise approach and an extension of his philosophy that great universities are shaped through consistent connection and dialogue, not distance.

Ultimately, the goal of UCLA Connects: Office Hours is simply that - connection. By sitting down together, students and the chancellor can better understand one another and, in the process, help mutually steer UCLA's future.

"Your voices matter deeply," Frenk said. "They help guide our ambitions, ground our decisions and keep us focused on our mission of teaching, research and service."