As the search for a new director of Harvard Dining Services (HDS) enters its final phase, undergraduate members of the search committee are charging that they have been excluded in some ways from the process.

Rudd W. Coffey '97, one of three student members of the committee, said he was not even informed when the committee began interviewing finalists for the position late last month.

Furthermore, student members of the committee said that, unlike administrators, they were not provided with resumes and references of the candidates they did interview, putting them at a disadvantage when asking questions.

Vice President for Administration Nancy H. "Sally" Zeckhauser, who is charged with picking the new HDS director, said she was surprised that the student committee members had not received the applicants' resumes ahead of time, and indicated that a mistake may have been made.

"[The students] were intended to have as much information as we did going into the meetings," Zeckhauser said.

Those student committee members who were informed of the meetings said they were given only one working day's notice--they were informed on a Friday that the first interview was scheduled for the following Monday, according to student member Adam J. Rymer '97.

"They've done a pretty poor job with student involvement," Rymer said. "There was a while that...[Coffey and I] knew we were both on the committee, and we hadn't heard anything about when this was going to happen."

The student members of the committee also objected to not being given basic information about the candidates before the interviews.

Administrators had received resumes and letters of reference about each of the five candidates interviewed, while students did not.

Coffey said that Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 subsequently "humiliated" the students during the interview, addressing them in a condescending manner in front of one of the candidates when a student asked a question answered on the resume.

"I've been on this committee since probably exam period," Coffey said. "There's no reason I shouldn't have had my hands on [the resumes and recommendations]."

Coffey said he also wasn't even informed of the first two interviews because the schedule was sent to the wrong e-mail address.

He said that the e-mails intended for him were sent to the address ccoffey@fas, while his actual address is coffey@fas.

"I e-mailed Dean Lewis and let him know my e-mail and phone number, and and somehow the administration screwed up," Coffey said.

He said the mistakes are not excusable.

"My name is Rudd Coffey, it's in all the phone books, they can finger me...and also call Harvard information," he said. "All this about not getting in contact, I think that's a crock of shit."