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40 years of growth

Thaddeus Stevens grads play vital role in leading architecture firm

Samuel Betancourt went to work at his first job about a day and a-half after removing his cap and gown from Thaddeus Stevens College’s 2014 commencement. After another 18 months, he took a new job at RLPS Architects, and he’s loved his career since then.

Samuel Bentancourt '14 

Samuel is not alone. He’s one in a long line of Stevens alumni—currently, he’s one of 14 on staff—to join the RLPS team.

“I can’t imagine what we would be, or who we would be if Thaddeus Stevens didn’t exist,” says Craig Kimmel, one of the partners who has been with RLPS since 1988. “It’s been a great relationship.”

Craig P. Kimmel, Partner, RLPS employee since 1986

The connection runs all the way back to George Lower, ’65, who started as a draftsperson with Haak & Kaufman and worked his way up to becoming partner by the time the firm changed its name to Reese, Lower, Patrick & Scott in 1982. He’s still the “L” in the RLPS, even though he’s retired and the firm is up to 14 partners.

“The quality hasn’t changed,” says Richard Dropik, another partner. “They can still be George Lower in 20 or 25 years.”

Dropik says Stevens graduates combine two key skills the firm is looking for: experience using Autodesk Revit, the industry standard software for modeling building designs in 3D, and a technical knowledge of how buildings are put together.

“I can’t think of anything that someone from Stevens doesn’t do for us,” Dropik says. And he would know—Dropik is the partner most responsible for building teams to execute the firm’s projects. Alumni provide detailed drafting services, produce computer-generated renderings, conduct in-field building surveys, as well as help with construction administration work.

Justin Martin '06

Take Justin Martin, ’06, for example. Colleagues say he’s one of the most accomplished Stevens grads at RLPS, and he’s done “a little bit of everything” for the firm, including drafting, Revit, IT, 3D technology and 3D printing. In fact, he developed a test the firm now gives to new employees to determine their proficiency with the firm’s software. He’s even done a few stints as an adjunct faculty back at his alma mater.

“I think the best part about Stevens was that It really prepared you and gave you a sense of everything the field has to offer,” he says. “We touched on everything—drafting, design history, code analysis It was a good eye opener for what we would face when we graduated.”

He describes the value of his Stevens degree as “fantastic,” setting him up for a career with no debt, and believes it can take him far in the industry. “I’m one of the people who wants to push that degree as far as I can take it. We have people here who all they want to do is draft, and that’s great. But me, I want to go farther than just drafting.”

Some grads, like Lisa Cowen, ’00, become registered architects, which today requires at least a five-year undergrad program or a master’s degree. Cowen spent seven years driving to Drexel University twice a week before earning her license.

Her license, combined with her experience in corporate architecture at Fulton Bank, makes her one of the firm’s top interior architects.

“I loved my two years at Stevens,” she says. “We had such a great class, and there was such support for each other. I’ve stayed in touch with some of the people, and they’re all in high-level positions, I would say.”

Samuel Betancourt is one of the younger employees at RLPS, but he’s already making a name for himself for his work in 3D modeling.

“I work with people who get hired with five year degrees from Penn State who know all the architectural stuff,” he says. “But when it comes to [Revit], there are just some things that they can’t do that I find easy and that I’ve done a million times before.”

In addition to technical training, Stevens also changed his life.

“I would not have gone to college—at all—if it hadn’t been for the Stevens Grant,” he admits. “I can’t say enough about how amazing that has been for me.”

RLPS has grown by a third since moving into its new facility almost five years ago, and it’s hiring now. The partners say Stevens will continue to be one of its top feeder schools.

“The bigger the projects that come through the office, the more need we have for technically-trained people,” Kimmel says. “Beyond the skill set, their ability to work hard, to understand what it means to work hard, to have a good head on their shoulders so they have growth potential.”

Dropik agrees. “The quality of the education—and the person—is top notch. We’ve seen that consistently; that’s the important thing. It started with George Lower 40 years ago, we have students from last year—and it’s no different.”

Thaddeus Stevens vs. ‘The Best’ Four-Year Colleges

One of the most important things Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology offers students is value. So we were particularly interested when the financial publication Kiplinger released its list of “Best College Values, 2018.” The full list is behind a paywall, so PennLive summarized the 19 colleges from Pennsylvania that made the list.

Unfortunately, the rankings only consider four-year colleges. That’s shortsighted, and I’ll show you why.

The rankings consider five key factors: acceptance rate, graduation rate, cost per year, debt per graduate and a student’s average salary 10 years after starting college.

The top PA schools are a who’s who of the Commonwealth’s internationally-acclaimed institutions, including Bucknell, Carnegie Mellon, Franklin & Marshall, Penn, Penn State, Swarthmore and Temple. It is proper to hold these institutions in high regard.

But we want you to know how Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology measures up. We calculated the average in each ranking factor for all 19 of the PA four-year colleges on the Kiplinger list.

Then we charted our own information in the same graph. Since we are a two-year college, we counted our two-year graduation rate (vs. four-year grad rate for the schools on the Kiplinger list) and our graduate's average salary after eight years of starting college (vs. 10 years for four-year students).

The most glaring difference: cost and debt! That’s what we mean when we talk about value.

Pennsylvania is blessed with some of the finest institutions of higher learning in the world, and students should be encouraged to pursue degrees at any of the 19 colleges on Kiplinger’s list—and many others across the commonwealth.

But their four-year degrees are not the only path to financial success, and they often do not represent the best value in higher education.

That’s why we need intelligent publications like Kiplinger to think beyond the bachelor’s degree. Students and parents need to know there are other ways to achieve success.

Here's an interactive graph to compare the results. Click and move the vertical slider left to reveal the Thaddeus Stevens graph:

Dr. Parker is the vice president of academic affairs.