STUDENTS

Working Class
Why do some staff members also enroll as students?

SARAH KRUSE QUESTIONS her sanity on a daily basis. Marc Cosentino spends every Sunday holed up in his office. Bill White saw less of his kids.

They are part of a small group of Kennedy School staff members who, for two years, pull double duty: they continue working full time at the school while also enrolled part time in the MPA Program.

Combining a rigorous graduate program with jobs that are equally as rigorous — Kruse is director of events in the External Affairs Office, Cosentino is the associate director of Career Services, and White is director of the Forum — has its obvious challenges. Long days, little down time, stress, and missed social activities both at home and school. Still, the positives definitely outweigh the negatives, they say.

“I’m having a ball. I’m looking at the school with a whole new perspective,” says Cosentino, who’s in his first year. “I’ve never felt closer to the school than I do this year.”

“It’s so stimulating,” White says of the program. He graduated in 2003. “An added advantage is having an inside view of the Kennedy School. You know who the professors are and which courses are good to take.”

For Kruse, who is also a live-in proctor in one of Harvard’s undergraduate houses and will graduate in the spring, one of the best perks is having an office on campus.

“It gives me a quiet place to work on papers on the weekend. Since I live in the dorm, it can be hard to concentrate,” she says. “Last year especially. I had a very small suite and lived on an active hallway, so between the noise and the interruptions, I wrote every paper in my office.”

Perhaps the most enticing reason to pull double duty is Harvard’s tuition assistance program: it covers 90 percent of the cost of classes.

“You almost put yourself at a disadvantage if you don’t get a degree here, with the tuition assistance,” White says.

So what advice does this trio have for other staff members considering the plunge?

“Don’t procrastinate! I was the classic student who wrote papers at 1 a.m. the night before they were due when I was in college,” Kruse says, “But that doesn’t work when you’re working and going to school.”

White says to make sure you look over the syllabus carefully. “If a course doesn’t excite you, it’s not the right one for you.”

“I’d say just do it,” says Cosentino. “It’s a life-changing event.”