Several student organizations will join Academic Assistance Programs in a "Welcome Back Jam" at 9 tomorrow night at the Paul Robeson Cultural Center.

While providing a chance to socialize, the dance will also allow students to meet Academic Assistance Program counselors in an informal setting, said Elizabeth Walker, chapter president of the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

"A lot of students are intimidated (by counselors)," Walker said. "If we can party with (them), I think students might be more apt to go to them for academic counseling as well."

The opportunity to socialize will help counselors as well as students, added Rafael Luquiz, president of the Puerto Rican Student Association.

"Academic Assistance Programs will know more about the students and this way they can help them more," he said.

Marc Levey, head counselor for the organization, said tomorrow's dance, which is open to the public, will be "strictly fun and relaxation."

"(Counselors) are going to be there to dance and to jam and not to counsel," he said.

In addition to providing "centralized counseling for many of the minority and underrepresented students" on campus, Academic Assistance Programs is responsible for the learning centers and computer labs on campus, said Levey.

The office counsels more than 3,000 students, he added.

The event, sponsored by Academic Assistance Programs, has been partly coordinated by several student organizations including the NAACP, the Puerto Rican Student Association and the Caribbean Association, Luquiz said.