Former Washington Redskin Bryant J. Salter helped evacuate Americans from Grenada during his term as a U.S. Consul in a nearby Carribean Island. Before that, he was the first Black foreign service officer assigned to South Africa.

Joining the career diplomat are 253 other veteran civil servants and politicos who say they want to learn more about their jobs and role in society. They come annually to the Kennedy School of Government to study, "to network," and to earn a master's degree during the graduate school's yearlong mid-career program--the oldest and most successful of its kind.

Mid-career students, who average 37 years of age and 10 years of on-the-job experience, are allowed to take four or more courses of their choice from any Harvard school or area university. K-School economics, management, and leadership courses are generally the most popular choices, although program participants often follow very specific lines of study to reflect their varied interests.

"People are very serious and there is a high degree of intensity because they're anxious to accomplish in a short span of time," says Salter, who is taking six courses.

The mid-career tuition is the same as for the K-School's other degree-granting programs--$9840. One-third of the students cover this fee with sponsorship from their employers and scholarship-granting foundations, while another third receive financial aid from the school. Almost three-fourths of the 1000 who inquired about the mid-career program last year were weeded out through an semi-formal admissions process based on academics, work experience and leadership skills.

Admissions Standards

The applicants' professional experience plus high, realistic ambitions are often the determining factors in their admission. Program participants are selected "if they believe in their own potential and have some experience to back it up," says Velvet G. Miller, associate director of the program.

The real-life experiences of the participants from 40 states and 38 countries also keep K-School faculty members on their toes, sharpening their arguments and providing them with material for case studies, says Mary J. England, assistant dean and director of the mid-career program.

Harvard continues to offer the 50-year-old program in order to spread its academic wisdom directly into the real world. "Harvard is committed to prepare for leadership roles in the complex public sector and international world," says Miller.

The program boasts such famous alumni as San Antonio Mayor Henry G. Cisneros, President of Mexico Miguel de la Madrid, and former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Over the years one fourth of the cabinet ministers of Singapore have made the trek to Cambridge, Miller claims.

This Year's Crop

Not all of this year's class are office holders: some won their places in the program from their involvement in grassroots politics. Nancy R. Cuddihy came to the K-School in the wake of a experience that led the New York midwife out of the delivery room and into the state capitol. Cuddihy, who has a masters degree in midwifery and delivered over 1000 babies in the last 10 years, drafted successful legislation in 1982 to ensure the reimbursement and recognition of midwives.

"Ultimately every profession has a political context, and to translate work of my profession to the public I need the skills the Kennedy School can teach," she says.

Perhaps more typical is the case of Minnesota State Representative Robert L. Ellingson, who says that although he has held his government post for 10 years, he has never had formal training in making public policy decisions.

"I'm learning things about what I do in my job and I'm understanding them for the first time," says Ellingson. Ellingson says he is better able to appreciate what he's learning now than when he was in college and law school because he's more mature, has a family of his own, and has ten years of work experience under his belt.