Pillar Society members John & Janice Urick share their passion for applied technology education. The hands-on approach served John well as a graduate of Williamsport Area Community College and now their intentional giving is empowering tomorrow's workforce.
After struggling at a traditional university, the hands-on approach, small class size and dedicated teachers at Penn College predecessor institution, Williamsport Area Community College, provided a conducive learning environment. While I enjoyed my time in the forestry program and learned a lot, jobs in forestry were scarce when I graduated. However, the forestry program’s year of surveying helped me secure a position with an engineering company as a surveyor/draftsman. I took advantage of the company’s tuition reimbursement program to eventually earn a BS degree in civil engineering.
As a highway engineer, my favorite project happens to be local to Penn College: the Central Susquehanna Valley Thruway (CSVT). The 13-mile, $670 million limited access freeway will separate trucks and through traffic from local traffic to improve safety, reduce congestion and accommodate growth in the area that includes Selinsgrove, Shamokin Dam, Sunbury, Northumberland and Lewisburg. The project also included widening 8 miles of PA 147 to improve safety on that section of the highway that connects the CSVT to I-80. I served as project engineer for the environmental impact studies/preliminary design of the project. The project was extremely complex with many design and environmental challenges.
For final design and construction, the project was split into two sections, Northern and Southern. I was the design team project manager for the Northern Section. In addition to its complexity, this part of the project was challenging because the project was PennDOT’s top priority project with an extremely tight schedule commitment made in order to secure the project funding. The Northern Section construction has since been completed, resulting in significant traffic reduction in Northumberland and Lewisburg. The project website provides a wealth of information on the history, design and construction of the project.
Always do your best. Learn as much as you can, even in subjects that are not in your major field of study. Writing and math skills become more important in any job as you work your way up the ladder. Keep current with evolving technology so that you do not become obsolete. Excellence on the job is usually recognized and rewarded. If not, seek other opportunities. Carefully consider opportunities that present themselves, even though unexpected; my career path was anything but a straight line. Faithfully guard your integrity. It is your most valuable asset.
A perfect example is my PennDOT counterpart for CSVT, project manager Maggie Jackson who is a Penn College civil engineering graduate. I coordinated with Maggie on nearly a daily basis. She is an excellent engineer and manager, essential to the project’s success.
We feel that Penn College’s role in education is becoming ever more important as the traditional college route is being deemphasized due to prohibitive cost and lack of available employment upon graduation. We find it amazing that, even though the campus has been rebuilt and expanded beyond recognition, the same atmosphere and values present fifty years ago are still evident on campus today. Penn College has had a great impact on my success, my son’s, three cousins’ and, most recently, my granddaughter’s. With the benefits provided to our family in mind, we wanted to give back to the college in a more significant way and take our support to the next level.
With students and parents alike experiencing the financial fallout of the devastating pandemic, a college alumnus - whose Williamsport Area Community College forestry degree was a crucial initial step toward a successful career in civil engineering - is leading by philanthropic example. John Urick, a 1974 graduate of Penn College's immediate successor institution, recently routed his stimulus deposit to an Emergency Scholarship Fund.
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