Approaching on foot, women off for term's opening lecture (7,2)
I believe the answer is:
talking to
'lecture' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'approaching on foot women off for term's opening' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'on' could be 'to' and 'to' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'talking' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for talking to that I've seen before include "criticism" , "carpeting" , "What lecture might be" , "Reproof" , "reprimand" .)