The search committee for a new assistant dean of public service and director of Phillips Brooks House (PBH) will likely make its choice in October, committee chair Daniel Steiner '54 said last week.

Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 must approve the committee's recommendation.

About 275 people applied for the position, which was advertised last spring in public service publications.

Over the summer, subgroups of the search committee met with about 15 candidates, Steiner said.

"We've been busy as bees," he said.

This month, as the second round of the search process begins, members of the committee will again interview some of the 15 candidates they spoke with during the summer.

Those involved in the search process say that PBH Director Greg A. Johnson '72 is in a strong position to make it into this fall's second round of interviews.

As Harvard search committees go, this one is unusual because it has on its rolls two student members, both heavily involved in public service.

"They've both participated strongly," Steiner said of Vincent Pan '95-'96, president of the Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA), and Jenna McNeill '95, former head of HAND.

Since McNeill has graduated, another student will replace her.

The new dean will revise the structure of Phillips Brooks House under a plan set forth last year by Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles.

However, some members of PBHA have said their organization is not broken and does not need fixing.