In reforming the Freshman advisory system Dean Leighton has done more than to offer recompense and to establish a minimum of time for advising. By reducing the number of advisers to about sixty the Board of Advisers has been compacted, which will not only make it easier to keep the members informed but also enable the holding of practical discussions throughout the year on policy and method. Even more necessary is the training of all advisers before they begin to counsel. Full-group sessions should be held in the fall to make each adviser familiar with the curriculum and outside activities, to talk over means of dealing with recurrent problems like discouragement over marks, and especially to teach all how to teach Freshmen to study.

For the most efficient system, coordination of effort between the Dean's Office, P.B.H., Hygiene Building, and advisers is essential. In formation about students should be pooled, and the confusion engendered by so many agencies eliminated by full cooperation and understanding. In view of the burden which Dean Leighton carries, the wisdom of appointing an assistant to handle only advisory matters is worth considering. Such a man, who must have plenty of time and interest, would perform general secretarial duties, such as correlating and distributing the data prepared by the various college agencies.

In his annual report President Conant said that Freshmen should be provided "with more accurate knowledge of their own inherent strengths and weaknesses." This can be done by giving Yardlings objective tests as soon as they enter Harvard. Besides aiding the Freshmen themselves, the results of these would supplement the information gathered from a student's life history and scholastic record and round out the adviser's understanding.

The relation between the advisory and tutorial systems should induce the University to step beyond efficiency. Now that the availability of the advisers has been insured by the requirement of two office hours a week and of at least five meetings a year, the final goal could well be the turning of advisorial into tutorial work. This is particularly feasible where both adviser and advisee are interested in the same field. Along with the transformation would go the extension of tutorial to Group IV Freshmen, so that as Sophomores the majority of the class might be on the road to honors. Such schemes seem like dreams, but from the value of the reforms already instituted by Dean Leighton they may some day prove realities.

(This is the fourth of seven editorials on Freshmen. The next one will be published Monday.)