New Committee Opens Advisory Investigation

Provest Buck's brand new faculty Committee on Advising will gather for the first time today, its chairman, Dean Bender, announced Wednesday.

The opening meeting of the New ten-member group will decide on the procedure the committee will use to solve the three main problems put before it by Provost Buck when he announced its formation on November 8.

These are :1) How responsible is the faculty for the active direction of students? 2) How can all phases of advising be tied together to fulfill this responsibility? 3) What balance between "spoon feeding" and passive availability should advisors reach?

The committee will study all aspects of the problem, from freshman advising to social-psychiatric advice, including departmental and House tutorial.

In addition to Dean Bender, the committee includes Dean Kerby-Miller of Radcliffe; Professors John II. Finley and Gordon W. Allport; Associate Professors Charles R. Cherington, Albert Guerard, Hugh M. Raup, and Robert B. Woodward; and Assistant Dean Henry S. Dyer as secretary.

GE Is Inspiration

In announcing the formation of the committee two weeks ago, Provost Buck said that the General Education report, which listed advising as one of the main educational problems yet to be solved, was directly responsible for the new survey.

He also cited the"vast amount of experimentation in advising" carried out in the College in the last 25 years, and pointed out the need for moulding a concrete plan of action from this experience.

This is the first time in recent years that the faculty has undertaken a comprehensive investigation of advising. The decline of departmental tutorial and a partial, failure of "breakfast table education," as well as limited advisor student contact in most fields has helped bring about the move.