Role of Adults

Currently, students must have an idea approved first by Spruance, who consults only with the student president. The important role of Spruance, who is in her mid-40's, is the most ready example of the control placed on the students at HSA--an organization that bills itself as "a million-dollar corporation run by 20-year-olds."

At the present time there are eight full-time adult professionals who work at HSA. Their jobs range from general manager to data processors.

"The General Manager, the President, and the Operations Manager form a three-pronged team that supervises, plans and coordinates the various activities of the corporation," according to the HSA employee handbook.

An article in the Boston Globe this fall stated that these adult professionals have taken over the jobs students used to do and that students are no longer running the company. But, says Hunt, "That eight are by no means the dominant force."

HSA's managerial system is complicated because the agency is not just concerned with profit-making but with having a steady stream of jobs for students, said Stone Professor of International Trade Richard E. Caves.

College administrators say they rely on HSA's jobs to employ students on financial aid. "It provides a whole series and much wider range of term-time opportunities that would not exist if HSA itself did not exist," says Dean of Admissions William R. Fitzsimmons '67.

Says Dean Epps, HSA's "main purpose, after all, is to provide jobs for Harvard students and not to meet a profit margin."

Though some students, like Proudfit, say they are restricted in what they can do, others say they have a large amount of responsibility and that they need the adult professionals there to train them and provide continuity from year to year.

"You develop a large degree of professionalism," says Chris Wyett '89, a former assistant manager.

In addition to the position of president, there are seven positions for students on the 23-member Board of Directors (seven go to alumni, seven to members of the Harvard faculty and administration, and two to ex-general managers). There are 12 student managers in the company.

Ideas for new companies and new expenditures both come before the board; so does the vote for president.

Students say they work at HSA for a variety of reasons, including financial gain and an opportunity to obtain business experience. Some say they plan to pursue a career in business, while others have no idea what they will do.

Entrepreneurial Opportunities

Hunt says she feels that there is a place for those who want to fine-tune their management skills as well as those who want to be venturesome. The opportunity to be entrepreneurial is only as good as students make it, she says.