[adpiucf]

Great advice, 33. I agree, the friends thing is a fine line. But you do have to develop the trust.

I used to have a semesterly outing with my girls-- I advised between 5 and 10 officers and our "sisterhood socials" included lunch at the student union or going to the movies (I was advising when the Ya Ya Sisterhood movie came out-- it was the perfect outing!) And being outside the chapter house was when they could open up, ask questions and see me as their sister in addition to being their adviser. Not everyone could make it, and sometimes it was just me and 2 other girls. But they knew I was a stickler when it came to following policy and could be there for them, too, if they were experiencing any growing pains.

My first boss out of college was like this, too. She was a strict task master, but outside of the office we'd go to college football games, lunch on the weekend, etc--- the relationship was well-defined and I respected her as a supervisor but knew when was appropriate for her to wear her friend hat, too.

We haven't worked together in years, but she remains a close mentor and friend.