One of the major difficulties with the presentadvising system at Harvard, according to MatherHouse senior Tutor Mary Peckham and other tutors,is the overlap between the many advising systems,especially those of the houses and departments.

"Everyone can think that someone else is takingcare of the issue and some students can fallthrough the cracks," she says.

Adams House tutor Sarah Cusk says she feels theplethora of different tutors can cause confusionfor both the student seeking advice and the tutorsthemselves.

"It's confusing for most people," she says."They're not sure of the separate roles of thesophomore tutor, concentration tutor, and entrywaytutor."

But Cusk says that despite the excess ofadvisers, she finds the existing sophomore programto be very satisfactory.

She says she thinks the system will improve ifconcentration advisors "step in and take a moreactive role."

McCavana says he thinks the students "should begetting concentration advising from concentrationtutors and the department" and not from theirhouse advisers.

Catherine Patterson, a Dunster House tutor,says there may be some overlap, but that overallher role and those of the concentration advisorsserve distinct functions.

"Students will feel more comfortable with methan speaking with the head tutor in the historydepartment," she says. "There are specific kindsof questions they can ask me as an informaladviser."

Dunster House Senior Tutor Henriette L. Powersays she has always felt the house system was setup "to fill the lack of advising in theconcentrations."

McCavana and other senior tutors say adesignated tutor in their houses monitorssophomore advising to insure that all studentshave been contacted.

He says Kirkland House tries to providecontinuity in students' advising experiences bytrying to keep the same tutors advising the samestudents for all three years, "but there is acertain amount of turnover," he says.

Falling Through the Cracks

Man tutors say they are concerned that atroubled student could pass unnoticed through thehouse advising system.

McCavana says tutors try to make sure everystudent has contact with at least one member ofthe house staff. But he says it is possible forstudents with less noticeable problems to slipthrough the system.