Epps says the students will be chosen by an application process in December, and the training program will begin in January.

The idea for a mediation service stemmed from a report Epps commissioned last spring from the Negotiations Project, a group of conflict resolution professional sponsored by the Law School. Epps says the report highlighted the College's problems in discussing issues of race and recommended the service as a means of addressing these problems.

Epps has also taken on the duties of former Assistant Dean of Race Relations and Minority Affairs, Hilda Hernandez-Gravelle, the first and only director of the Office of Race Relations.

Jewett says the resignation of Gravelle prompted Epps to reorganize the structure of the various race relations committees, linking the areas of race relations and the Dean of Students' Office.

"The areas are in fact naturally tied together since race relations among the students certainly concerns the dean of students' office," he says.

Another aspect of the new plan is a four-person council of clinicians which will aid Epps in dealing with specific racial situations that may arise. The council includes Assistant Dean of Students Sarah Flatley, the Assistant Director of the Office of Career Services Andrea Diaz, Bureau of Study Counsellor Niti Seth and Professor of Education Emeritus Kyo Morimoto.

Epps says he needs these clinicians to replace Gravelle, who resigned over the summer as director of the Office of Race Relations.

He has also appointed a Faculty Race Relations Advisory Committee to the Harvard Foundation. The committee makes the final decisions on proposals made by the Student Advisory Committee (SAC) of the Foundation.

The FRRAC has seven faculty members, including Foundation Director S. Allen Counter and Appiah.

Most of these faculty are former members of the Operations or Appiah committees, including Cabot Professor of the Natural Sciences John E. Dowling '57, Associate Minister of Memorial Church Preston B. Hannibal and Rabbi Sally Finestone of Harvard-Radcliffe Hillel.

Epps says he did not need authorization for the formation of this committee because "the [FRRAC] always existed, it was just called something else."

Counter says the addition of the new faculty members were discussed with him before they were added to the committee and he welcomes new participants.

Six students from the SAC are also members of the FRRAC, according to Epps. Two of the students are the SAC chairs Oswaldo A. Rubio '95 and Kimberly A. Patillo '96.

The first meeting of the FRRAC was last Friday, during which the committee approved the fall grants proposed by the SAC.

Although the Operations Committee has been discontinued, Epps says students and faculty on the FRRAC will still have the opportunity to discuss issues of race and "students will be involved in race relations decisions."