For trustee chairman, YSU post is a labor of love

By CAITLIN COOK

The Ursuline High School graduate is excited about living and working in Youngstown.

YOUNGSTOWN — From his eighth-floor office at City Centre One building, Scott Schulick looks out his window to downtown Youngstown and the Youngstown State University campus. He has special affection and vision for both.

Schulick, who grew up on the city’s West Side and still lives there, is a vice president of Farmer’s Trust Co. and chairman of the YSU Board of Trustees.

Schulick, who will serve as a trustee until 2013, is in his second term on the board. As a student, Schulick served on the panel from 1993 to 1994 while earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

Schulick, who said he believes his job is to set an agenda for the board, is leading the search for YSU’s next president. Current President Dr. David Sweet will leave in May.

“By the time I’m off the board, I hope I can say I had a little part in making it [YSU] better than I found it. I love YSU — plain and simple,” Schulick said.

He added there is still tremendous work to be done as a trustee, and he welcomes the demanding schedule of his activities.

“I don’t sleep well. I’ve got to be busy. I think it’s my general restlessness,” Schulick said. “I get bored with things, and I have to have different outlets to use those energies. Because if I was focused in on one area, I would explode.”

He said he still approaches much of his life the same way he did when he was a student.

“There’s work to be done. You’ve got to be prepared for a meeting, for an activity, organize a fundraiser. It’s not that different than school in the sense if you’re going to succeed, you’ve got to prepare ahead of time. You’ve got to be able to get things organized,” Schulick said.

He said he believes he is organized and decisive.

“I think if you second-guess to a fault, you’ll never get anything done,” he said. “I think it’s wise to reflect on decisions made and especially after they’re implemented and determine whether that was the right or wrong decision.”

He said he cannot name too many decisions he has made as a member of the board that he has looked back on and regretted.

While YSU is one of his major passions, he also is active with several other community organizations, including the Rotary Club of Youngstown, the investment committee of the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley, Streetscape Project of the Downtown Youngstown Revitalization Committee, the Boys and Girls Club of Youngstown and the Penguin Club.

“I have plenty of time to do all the things I want — to travel, spend time with friends and family and to get all this stuff done,” he said.

Schulick plays in yearly boccie tournaments and attends YSU football tailgate parties with friends, family and guests on game day. He said he loves his life and would not want to live it in any other community.

“I like Youngstown, and I want to make it better. You can sit back and complain, you can call in to talk radio, you can write letters to editors, you can talk with your friends and family around dinner and say things are so bad here,” Schulick said. “Or you can choose to try and make things better. And I don’t care what anybody says, every community has the same problems.”

Schulick, who graduated from Ursuline High School, said he tries to live by a verse from the Gospel of Luke: “To those who much is given much is expected.”

Schulick said he has had many opportunities in his life, and “there’s an expectation and requirement that I give. I feel it’s important to do something in return.”