• SITE
• HOMES
• MOTORS
• CAREERS
• STUFF

Q: My wife and I are driving our son to college. I want to drop him off at the gate but she wants to spend the day on campus. How do we find middle ground?

A. As hard as it is to hear, most colleges prefer parents to exit the scene as quickly as possible. Of course your son will need help carrying his television up four flights of stairs and maybe he’ll need help making his bed, but the sooner mom and dad leave the sooner the new student can get down to the business of making friends and participating in campus activities. Besides, how many people do you think can fit into a freshman dorm room?

Coastal Bend College will hold mandatory orientation for dorm and apartment students at 9 a.m. Aug. 28, said Roxanne Aguirre, student life coordinator at Coastal Bend College. Room keys will be given to students who provide proof of a payment plan, a driver’s license, insurance verification, and proof of registration for a minimum of 12 credit hours.Sports and community events, planned throughout the year, give parents many opportunities to be part of the CBC family.

Q: Can I call my daughter’s professor when she has academic problems?

A: No. A student’s academic progress is confidential by federal law. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act protects the privacy of student education records, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

Regardless of who is paying your daughter’s tuition, she (and only she) has access to information about her grades. Kelly Rea, a counselor at Coastal Bend College in Beeville, said that parents should open the lines of communication about academic standing early so that when a problem arises, students feel comfortable discussing it. Parents should remember that no student is perfect in every subject and students will sometimes struggle during their college years. Students should be encouraged to speak to their professors or work with tutors at the onset of a problem, not minutes before the final exam.

Q: What should I bring to the first day of class?

A: Bobbie Hill, who teaches math at Coastal Bend College in Beeville, suggests that each student bring a pencil, paper and unopened textbooks. Hill says she checks that all students have the correct books and if they don’t, the wrapped textbooks can be returned to the bookstore. She also wants students to come in with enthusiasm and desire to learn.

Hills said math classes start instruction on the first day. Not so, in all classes. In some cases, the first day consists of an introduction and discussion of the syllabus.

Regardless of how the first day goes, once you get the syllabus, you are expected to keep up without being told.

Adrian Jackson is Public Relations Officer at Coastal Bend College in Beeville. She can be reached at jackson@coastalbend.edu.