Mid-Career Program Takes off at K-School

More professionals have enrolled in the Kennedy School of Government's Mid-Career Program in the last two years than in any other comparable period, the program's director said this week.

The program's growth, more than 20 percent since 1987, marks it as an emerging training ground for a broad variety of rising professionals who take a year off to study public management.

Enrollment at the 50-year-old program has jumped from 240 to 290 since 1987, said Program Director Sarah S. Williamson.

Foreign diplomats, military officers, a CIA member, numerous state representatives and a prominent Japanese newscaster are members of this year's class, said Robert E. Ayres, who is the Program's project coordinator.

The diversity of enrollees sets the K-School's program apart, Williamson said. For instance, she said, it is not unusual to have an Israeli rooming with an Iranian all for the good of public health.

Students echoed that view.

"I expected the faculty to be good and I thought the student body would be good, but overall the experience has been more than enriching," said Meryl G. Libbey '77, a deputy commissioner for the city of New York and member of this year's program.

Enrollees must have at least five years' experience in their field, Ayres said. All told, this year's class represents more than 3700 years of professional experience, Williamson said.

Ayres said participants can tailor a flexible curriculum to meet their interests, and courses range from "Political Economy" to "The First Amendment and the Media."

Chance Program Starts Second Year in Schools

Although most Harvard students may have forgotten the formidable college admissions process, one group on campus is striving to help local high school students meet the application challenge.

Now in its second full year, the Committee on Help for the Advancement of Needy Children through Education (CHANCE) will sponsor weekly meals and classes for Cambridge Rindge and Latin School students this fall, according to Patrick G. Jackson '91, one of the organization's directors.

"We motivate them and show them that college is a viable alternative," Jackson said. "We try to dispell the myth that college is an ivory tower."

The 40 students who will enroll in the program sponsored by Phillips Brooks House will take two required courses--one on writing skills and one on a subject of their choice, organizers said.