"We want to be able to guarantee housing oncampus for all sophomores and new transferstudents," Dullea said.

Unlike Harvard, Cornell does not guaranteeon-campus housing for its upperclass students.

A committee is exploring different housingplans for the upperclass students on West campus.

The committee visited universities includingHarvard, Yale, Duke and Stanford to observedifferent housing systems, and a house systemsimilar to Harvard's is under discussion, Kiefersaid.

The other component of Rawlings' announcementinvolved undergraduate advising.

Mary J. Sansalone, a professor of structuralengineering, was appointed as vice provost, and"she has been asked by the president to giveparticular attention to strengthening advising,"Dullea said. "There is a strong feeling that[advising] can be improved through attention."

Although research universities have come undercriticism for a lack of attention toundergraduates, Dullea maintains that Cornell'srole as a research university also serves toenrich undergraduate life.

"The president is not in any way drawing adistinction between research and teaching," Dulleasaid. "The teaching here is infused by theexcellent quality of the research."

At Harvard, news of the Cornell announcementwas greeted with reserved admiration.

"I read of the Cornell plan with interest and,lacking details, can only applaud their emphasison the undergraduate experience," said Dean ofStudents Archie C. Epps III. "It's crucial thatmajor research institutions remember the centralrole of their colleges as nurturers of futureleaders in the professions and in academic fields.It grounds them in the importance of thedevelopment of the whole person.