"If you're going to have a House system, it's got to be more than a dorm. It should have a defined academic role," says Master of Lowell House William H. Bossert '59.

The House system, after all, is unique to Harvard. And the masters make that very clear.. "I am not a dorm parent," says Kristine L. Forsgard, co-master of Eliot House. "Every time I hear someone call this a dorm, I cringe."

Bossert and others say a key factor in improving House intellectual life is a stronger--and more friendly-relationship with many academic departments.

"The relationship between the Houses and [some] departments is not good," Bossert says. The goal is "having Faculty who feel an affinity to the House."

Yet enhancing the academic realm of House life--which includes strenghtening ties between the Senior Common Rooms and the student-residents--relies upon the question of location, location, location.

"I think we would be delighted to have junior or senior faculty members have their offices in the House. But I don't know where we'd put them," says Mather House Co-Master Leigh G. Hafrey '73. "The physical reality is we need some space."