Rick Karsulavich ‘19SCE: The Degree That’s Helping Me Better Serve the City of Pawtucket
Rick Karsulavich has climbed the ranks in his career with the City of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. He’s even run for state senate several times. But he had never earned a bachelor’s degree. That changed in 2019 when he earned a BA in Liberal Studies at Providence College School of Continuing Education (PCSCE) – and he’s enjoyed a number of other positive changes since then as a result.
“I got my associate degree from CCRI in 2000 and that got me into a couple of different roles working for the city. But eventually my director at the time told me I really needed to go back to school to earn a bachelor’s degree if I wanted to progress. He pushed me on that for about three years.”
Finally in 2015, with the added benefit of some tuition reimbursement from The City of Pawtucket, Karsulavich decided he was ready to take the leap.
“I was leaning toward PC right away. I had always heard good things about the college, and then when they won the Men’s Hockey championship that year it put the idea of applying there in my mind.” he recalls. “I thought the cost was very reasonable too, especially for a bachelor’s degree at a well-recognized school.”
So, Karsulavich made an appointment to talk with PCSCE academic adviser Jennifer Andrews.
“I didn’t want to go anywhere else after speaking with her,” he says. “With her help, I decided to pursue a degree in Liberal Studies because it allowed me to transfer the most credits from my studies at CCRI. I also really liked that the program allowed me to get certificates in Business and Management at the same time as the degree, so it was like getting three credentials in one.”
Karsulavich enrolled right away and began his studies taking just one class during a compressed summer session.
“I really like that I was able to start out that way, taking just one class to get used to being back in school again. I was really impressed with the experience, so I took another class during the second summer session and then increased to two courses in the fall semester.”
Although he had some worries about returning to the classroom at first, Karsulavich says the biggest challenge he encountered was actually just making the decision to take that first class.
“It was my first time going to school in 15 years, but as soon as I got into the classroom and the instructor got started, it was great. Once I got familiar with the campus it was actually very easy and the fear was gone.”
He says the flexibility and accommodating nature of the professors was an important factor as well.
“They understood what our lives were like, that most of us were working full time along with meeting family responsibilities, and they were really good about working around everything. Not to mention that they were just great teachers.”
“I took a leadership class with Professor Sean Kenney, and that gave me such a great understanding of how to interact with people and handle situations. A lot of what I deal with in my job is interacting with customers, employees and elected officials, so that was really helpful. There are so many other examples like that. I really did not have one bad class.”
Karsulavich says his studies at PCSCE gave him a lot more confidence, which has enabled him to contribute at a higher level in his career and provide feedback and leadership in his department.
As proof, just a month before graduation, Karsulavich received a promotion at work and became the Public Works Business Manager for the City of Pawtucket. It’s a role he’s still enjoying today and that he’s looking forward to building upon.
“What I learned through the coursework at SCE absolutely contributed to my getting that promotion,” he says. “Next, I’m considering getting a master’s degree. In fact, I was just on an informational webinar about the graduate program at PC a few weeks ago. If I decide I’m not ready for that quite yet, I may decide to enroll in PCSCE’s Micro MBA program instead, to get started down that path.”
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