"I don't feel that governance by University Hall would help houses because each house has different needs and different characteristics," he says.

For his part, Jewett says he is not likely to usurp the master's authority in the tutor hiring process.

"The process of the tutorial staff is not a University Hall problem," he says. "And it would be dangerous to generalize across the whole system."

A common problem with hiring academic tutors is that masters tend to elect tutors based on personal rather than scholarly qualities, according to Dingman.

On the other hand, tutors selected on the merit of departmental recommendations sometimes lack knowledge on undergraduate education requirements.

Either way, the system comes up short with academic advising, according to critics.

Defending the hiring process, masters say that students share responsibility for a tutor system that is less than ideal.

William H. Bossert '59, master of Lowell House, says student disinterest in house activities discourages many tutors from making an extra effort to forge bonds.

"The way to get more faculty/student contact is to have students show up for things," Bossert says, although he acknowledges that more personable and accessible tutors facilitate this process.