DAVID HARDEN/Arizona Daily Wildcat Theatre arts senior Bradley Lau and ASUA Sen. Kara Harris comb the Internet before Harris' office hours, last week in the ASUA office. Senators are working to draw more students to their office hours.

Almost every afternoon, students have the opportunity to voice concerns and questions to ASUA Sen. Morgan Kisler during her office hours.

But Kisler spends many of her afternoons alone because few students come to visit her.

Tired of waiting around, Kisler has decided to be more proactive in trying to find out what students have to say.

"If we sat around for people to visit, it wouldn't happen," Kisler said.

In an attempt to increase awareness, ASUA senators started holding senate meetings all around campus and offering their office hours on the UA Mall once a month.

By increasing awareness, senators hope to eventually get people into their offices.

"We encourage students to come to office hours, but there is not as many people as we want showing up," Sen. Kartikeya Kejriwal said.

Students gave many reasons as to why they don't visit their senators.

"I haven't visited them because I haven't been moved enough to do anything against any UA policy yet," said Jason Gooding, pre-business sophomore.

However, many other students said they stay away because they don't know what senators do.

"I have never visited the senators because I really don't know what they do anymore," said A.J. Thomas, pre-business sophomore.

Kisler said she is aware of this problem.

JACOB KONST/Arizona Daily Wildcat ASUA Sen. Morgan Kisler waits for students on the UA Mall Oct. 2. Senators started holding meetings and office hours on the Mall to reach out to students.

"They don't know we have office hours, and when they are in the ASUA office for other reasons, they still don't come back and see us," Kisler said.

According to ASUA bylaws, the senators must hold 10 office hours per week in order to be available to undergraduates who want to give input on various campus issues.

"They can come about issues concerning them; a lot come about club funding," Sen. Nick Bajema said. "We are always open to ideas. We are here for the students."

Students can come to senate office hours in order to get issues placed on the senate meeting agenda. They can then present their ideas at the senate meeting and ask senators to take action on it.

In previous years, senators have had meetings and office hours on the Mall, but with no real purpose or theme to them, Bajema said.

"It sucks that they vote us in office but don't know what we do. We don't want it to be that way," Bajema said. "Having senate meetings on campus is for people to see what we do."

Senators said they hope the new measures will increase students' awareness of ASUA because they make senators more visible.

Kisler said the measures have brought in a few more people to office hours so far, and she expects that eventually more students will be encouraged to come.

Gooding said that he supports the senators' attempts to be more accessible to students outside the ASUA office.

"I like that idea a lot. I would love for ASUA senators to be more accessible to the UA populace," Gooding said.

Senators said they make sure to keep busy in their offices, even without student visitors.

"Office hours are our time to organize our projects, figure out what we want to do in the committees and find out what everyone else is doing," Sen. Matthew Harris said.

Kejriwal said that senators use office hours to arrange meetings, network with people and develop their projects, but that they still highly encourage people to come in to visit.

Sometimes senators are away from their offices to work on their projects and other ASUA-related tasks, Kejriwal said.

Senators said they try to remain accessible to students even then.

"When we have to miss office hours, we put up a note saying we are gone and where we can be reached," Harris said. "If office hours are missed, then senators make them up later in the week, like on Friday afternoons."

Students can visit the senators Monday through Friday at the ASUA office, located above the UofA Bookstore. Senators will be holding their next senate meeting this Wednesday at the Integrated Learning Center at 4:45 p.m.