In my first month, I found how important it is to be honest with the student about #1 having relistic expectations of what the school can offer and #2 real expectations about what is expected from the student. Honesty is a must.

Lori, Thank you for mentioning FERPA. I agree. It is very relevant and so important to protect student privacy. Instructors and employees have to be very careful with student information. Sometimes you have to discuss student issues with other employees or instructors. When I was an instructor we always made sure that we discussed student issues behind closed doors or in a secure setting. Now that I am on the other side of education, I try to take the same care with student information and documents. I also like like that in our office our copier/printer requires a code to print documents for extra privacy.