Ware says the job of tutor is an all-encompassing one, ranging from their pre-professional, concentration and residential advising to throwing study breaks to disciplinary and administrative responsibilities.

The consensus among the Masters, however, is that the most important function of the tutors is simply to support the students—something that is not quantifiable.

“There should be a support for students here that students feel to be accessible, approachable and helpful,” says Pforzheimer House Master James J. McCarthy.

Since there are many possible ways to “support” students, some tutors and Masters are wary that surveys that aggregate information might tend to encourage cookie-cutter tutoring.

“My only concern would be that the people that are using the results from these tests are careful with the way they think about them and make allowances for how nebulous the role can be,” says Brian E. Delay, a resident tutor in Cabot House.

Ware says he understands that tutors have different styles—some attend Stein Club while others prefer counseling students privately.

“[Some Masters] worry an evaluation system might have built-in values,” Ware says. “Once you start scoring you encourage certain types of behavior.”

Others worry that formal tutor evaluations will bring with them what they see as negative effects of the CUE evaluations on courses, which some have criticized for encouraging professors to win high marks through easy grading.

“There’s always a bit of concern about it becoming a popularity contest,” McCarthy says. “The role of the tutor is not to make students happy. The role of the tutor is to provide essential services.”

Kate Holbrook, a Leverett resident tutor, says that the survey might encourage tutors to neglect some of their disciplinary duties, such as telling students to turn down their music.

Eck says one solution to these concerns might be a survey that addresses House life in general rather than tutors in particular—like the one Lowell House debuted at the end of last semester.

The Lowell survey was filled with qualitative questions about everything from what activities students attended to what they thought of their Masters.

“It was one way to do a tutor questionnaire that was broader,” Eck says. “We figured if people really had problems with an entryway tutor they would use this as an opportunity to do that.”

For the most part, there was little complaining in Lowell.

Eck says 90 percent of the respondents indicated they thought highly of their entryway tutor.