Propagating the Red Dot Scare

Seventeen days ago, the first of about 12,000 Harvard-bound checks arrived at a local bank. With the begining of the new term Harvard receives tuition from students throughout the University--payments that will total more than $25 million by the end of today.

Fortunately for Harvard's term bill office, most of the manual work is done by Bay Bank Harvard Trust Co. When students or parents mail in money for the new academic season, the checks go directly to a strongbox at the bank and are credited to Harvard's account.

The work of term bill office, which during intersession keeps its nine employees working evenings and Saturdays, consists mainly in figuring out who hasn't paid up. Every morning during the past two weeks, Harvard Trust has delivered a computerized list of students who sent checks the previous day. The term bill office "reads" the bank's list into its own list of returning students, and then identifies the negligent.

On Monday morning, according to Stephen W. Homer '62, manager of the term bill office. Harvard printed out its final list of delinquent students and began the drudge work of "red dotting" registration packages.

The infamous red dot on a student's envelope is like a red light on a street corner--you can't go further until the color changes. To help the 600 to 800 students who each semester do not send payment by registration morning, the term bill office mans a table in Memorial Hall where undergraduates can settle up.

"Typically 10 to 12 percent aren't clear on registration day, but often those people are coming through the door with a check in their hand," Homer explains. "By the end of the day there are usually no more than 200 who haven't made their payment."

Because checks have come into Harvard Trust all week, Homer says a large part of the office's work has been "de-dotting people who are financially clear after Monday."

An otherwise simple bookkeeping task becomes complicated because so many students receive financial aid from Harvard or outside the University, like National Merit Scholarships.

Glut Theory

Although registration poses large problems, the office does not take on any extra help to deal with the flood of cash. Harvard Trust does the time-consuming work of opening and sorting 12.000 envelopes, and "it's fairly complicated when the money comes over--not the kind of stuff you can use Kelly Girls or Accountemps for." Homer says.

When the rush is over, the term bill office will return to its usual off-season business, mostly answering questions about bills and keeping up with changes in fees.