Creating Appointments in Google Calendar

Google Calendar can be used to create appointment sign-ups for office hours and advising appointments.

If you would like students to sign up for office hours or advising appointments, you can create appointment sign-ups in Google Calendar. Students will see only the available appointments, not your entire calendar.

Setting Up Appointment Slots

1. Go to Google Calendar.
2. Highlight a time slot to create a new meeting, but choose "Appointment Slots" instead of Event.                                          
3. Give a title to the Appointment Group (e.g., Office Hours). 
4. Click "Create."
5. The first time you create appointments, you will see additional information. In the information box, click "Get Started with Appointment Slots."
6. In the appointment screen, choose the calendar you want the appointments to appear on.
7. Choose either the whole time as an appointment block or break the time into slots of 30 minutes (or whatever duration you prefer).
8. Enter the location and a description.                                                                                     ​
9. Copy the URL for the appointment page from This Calendar's Appointment Page.
10. Click "Save" to save your appointment slots.

Distributing the Appointment Slots to Students

Paste the URL for the appointment page — from This Calendar's Appointment Page — into a Canvas page or assignment or an email to students.

Reserving an Appointment Slot

1. After clicking the link, students will see the available slots and click one to reserve it.                
2. The student will be prompted to save the appointment slot.
3. That appointment will then appear on both your Google Calendar and the student's calendar in Google.

More questions about creating appointment slots using Google Calendar? Find resources in Google's Help Center.