One mid-career student from Maidstone, England, recently developed a new fingerprint coding method for the FBI in his spare time. Malcolm K. Sparrow, a British police officer whose hobby is working with fingerprints, says he hopes the program will help him prepare for his new appointment as Chief Inspector, and move him closer to his ultimate goal of attaining the highest position in the force.

One of Ellingston's colleague's in the Minnesota state legislature, 14-year veteran Representative Robert E. Vanasek, has already begun to put his K-School education to work in the political arena. His staff is now researching a proposal about farm credit based on a case study from one of his classes.

Vanasek says one of the highlights of the program is the way professors let students bring their outside lives into the classroom. Because of his political background, Vanasek was able to "fulfill his fantasy" when he was invited to act as speaker of the house in a simulation game for a class on legislature.

William J. O'Reilly, a news correspondent for Channel 5 in Boston, shared his media experience with his classmates when they viewed and critiqued a story he did for the evening news. "I can contribute a lot to a class like that and in return get feedback that I don't normally get," says O'Reilly. Issues discussed in class have also provided material for O'Reilly's column in the Boston Herald.

When one of Salter's classes studies something he has experienced as a diplomat, he tries to "bring realism to a situation and provide ingredients that others might be missing." Salter in turn gleans opinions from his fellow students on U.S. foreign policy. "As a diplomat overseas representing the American people I need to know what people think and what the trends are," he says.

Challenge for Teachers

Teaching mid-career students is a challenge for K-School professors. Ronald F. Ferguson, assistant professor of public policy, was initially intimidated with the prospect of teaching students his own age of older who had more practical experience than he did. But the government expert says he has learned to help his students transcend the limits of their experiences. "They've had narrow experiences and know a lot more about these narrow experiences. I bring partly theoretical and academic knowledge and train them how to think broadly," he says.

Ferguson's teaching has benefited from having experienced students in class. "My interaction with them over time shapes my teaching and a lot of material I teach from comes from student projects," he says. "In a teacher, experience accumulates and gives a big overview that no individual can have."

Program participants seem enthusiastic about their experiences here, which they unvaryingly describe with glowing praise. Venezuelan farmer Joaquin A. Perez says his contact with a Business School agribusiness specialist has been one of most rewarding aspects of his stay in Cambridge.

Perez--who has served as president of the Venezualan national farmers' organization and of the national sugar industry--says that he had read and admired the work of Ray A. Goldberg, Moffet Professor of Agriculture and Business. "When you're on the farm, isolated, and someone is concerned and writes about your problems you want to meet him," says Perez.

Perez has had more than the usual success in Goldberg's class. In a simulation investment game he more than doubled his play money and made the class's most lucrative investment, earning him a $1000 prize.

Networking

For some, the program acts as a stepping stone to other careers. After his stint at the K-School Bruce R. Theriault, a former general manager of a National Public Radio affiliate in Alaska, hopes to move on to "different and new challenges related to media and managing in the public sector." "I hope to be able to utilize the networking feature," says Theriault. "It works two ways--the contacts you develop and what you do for other people."

While Theriault and other participants eyeing the future contemplated studying public sector management for the first time, a town of 3500 almost had to give up its top bureaucrat for a year.

The city council in Oak Ridge, Oregon wondered whether or not their city's top administrator really needed Harvard educating. But by placating local residents with an experienced replacement and a contract of guaranteed service for at least one more year, Robert D. DeLong got leave for his Cambridge visit. In preparation for a career of managing progressively larger cities, DeLong is resisting "the temptation to take fascinating courses and is trying to concentrate on skills that will help me be a better city manager."