Moses Sees Approval of Counsellors

A student-proposed plan that would assign undergraduates to act as informal advisers for freshman is "very close" to gaining official University status, Henry C. Moses, dean of freshmen, said last week.

Moses said official approval of the plan hinges on the issue of how the plan would relate to existing advising programs, such as the Freshman Task Force and the Bureau of Study Counsel.

The proposed program, dubbed "Students Helping Students" (SHS), would select undergraduate advisers for groups of six to eight freshmen, depending on their proposed concentrations, Arthur J. Kyriazis '80, organizer of SHS, said last week.

Selective Process

Kyriazis said yesterday that SHS organizers are now selecting between 250 and 300 advisers from a group of more than 350 applicants. Kyriazis added that the large number of advisers will insure that every freshman will have an adviser.

He described SHS as a program giving informal, unofficial advice "to help the 40 to 50 per cent of freshmen who do not have a ready-made background adviser," such as a friend or relative in one of the upper classes.

No Conflict

A draft proposal for the SHS program states that "the SHS adviser-counsellor fills the role of a clearly defined peer counsellor."

Kyriasiz said the SHS program will not conflict with the role of freshman proctors or that of other existing advising programs. He said the unofficial, informal nature of SHS advisers sets the proposal apart from other advising programs.

SHS officials met yesterday with Archie C. Epps III, dean of students, to discuss plans for drawing up a constitution for the program.

In addition to the advisers, SHS will have a group of officers and a central board to administer the program, the SHS draft proposal states.

Faculty Adviser

Kyriazis said that Paul A. Walters, chief of the Mental Health Services at the University Health Services, has agreed to serve as a faculty adviser for the SHS program.

Moses said last week that the administration has not yet discussed the details of funding for the new program.