TESTIMONIALS
Jim Buck’s education program is among the best in the world. This has been proven time and time again as he continues to produce desirable students for IBM i companies. Jim’s passion for education coupled with years of business experience and a well-developed curriculum has helped make my career successful. His program is widely recognized as being effective and I strongly recommend it to anyone that is serious about learning the IBM i.
Ajay Gomez
Jim is a rare instructor; one you will not forget. I had the privilege of learning RPG programming from him, and though his knowledge is extensive, it wasn’t just technical elements that stuck; he cares about his students and works assiduously to see them succeed. I personally credit my highest levels of success to Jim and his tireless drive. Give Jim a pint and he’ll give you the Great Lakes.
Matthew Rossi
Jim Buck first taught me that RPG does not stand for Rocket Propelled Grenade, and I haven’t stopped learning since. I’ve been working for a company as a Programmer, then Programmer/Analyst, for nearly five years since graduating. I even met my current employer through WMCPA, which Jim was heavily involved in. I’ve had the opportunity to provide for my family using the knowledge that Jim helped me acquire.
When I was in school, Jim pushed us all to be better. He didn’t accept excuses because we were better than that. He knew we could work through the issues that we came across, and helped us get to those solutions rather than providing them for us. It was tough – He was tough. And he’s been the most influential person in my life because of his dedication and passion to the students he’s helped.
I will forever be grateful to Jim Buck for the support, motivation, and confidence that he has given me over the last six years.
Annie FahyJim Buck is probably the best instructor I’ve ever had. His knowledge base and real world experience is outstanding in the IBM i world. Renowned author of several textbooks, and his personal involvement with his pupils make him a great educator.
Jim’s knowledge in IBM languages such as CL, RPG, COBOL, and DB2 make the interaction of these programs with one another almost seamless in the programs I’ve built. Without his instructions and carefulness to make you adhere to properly constructing you program this would not be possible.
The way he instructs you to write programs with the new modernization techniques will have your programs running faster and more efficiently saving your company processor time.
Jeff (Red) KoonJim Buck, what can I say – he is truly an IBM i Champion. Jim started out as an Instructor of mine and over the years has become more of a brother to me. Jim cares about more than just filling seats and the numbers – he cares about the student being able to learn and utilize the knowledge that he is passing on.
I started the program at GTC in 2004. As an instructor at Gateway Technical College (GTC), Jim was tough. He had the highest standards. I am beyond grateful for Jim’s constant pushing to help me become better than ever. It was Jim’s strict standards and constant pushing that helped transform me into the person that I am today. Jim taught me much more than just RPG. He taught me how to think like a Software Developer, think about the impact of what I was doing, and think about the system as a whole.
Since graduating, I have been able to transfer the skills that I learned into the “real world” and utilize them to become very proficient at my role as a Senior Software Developer. I have always felt that I had the tools to do whatever needed to be done (future, present, and past). If there was a way to do it, I would be able to figure it out.
If you completed the program at GTC, the odds were very good that you would become employable in the field. Not because Jim was going to get you a job, but because you now have the skills necessary to earn a job in this field.
Jim is very involved in the IBM i community and I have had the pleasure of meeting some of the best through him – Dr. Frank Soltis, Steve Will, Tim Rowe, Alan Seiden, Mike Pavlak, Larry Bolhuis, Charlie Guarino, Aaron Bartell, Jon Paris, Susan Gantner, and the list goes on and on.
As a Gateway Technical College graduate, I had the honor of being mentored by Jim Buck. Under his mentorship, I gained the necessary skills to build a successful career in IT. It was under his guidance I became a programmer for an amazing company. Jim was the recipient of the 2007 IBM System i Innovation – Education Excellence Award. In 2012, 2016 & 2017, he was named an IBM Champion for Power for his influence and mentorship helping others make the best use of IBM software, solutions, and services. I attribute my success to his abilities as an instructor, and the expectations he has of his students. There is no one who I hold higher or more deservingly has my respect, trust, and admiration. Jim, thank you for your patience, determination, & enthusiasm as a teacher. You are truly one of a kind.
David Woolman
Jim Buck was my instructor for RPGLE at Gateway during the 2009-2010 academic year. As head of the IBM I program at Gateway, Jim took as many aspiring programmers as he could from classroom to the software industry.
He taught us not to simply copy other developer’s code, but to think about the best way to use RPG to write well-constructed, lasting and maintainable programs. He ushered students like me into the community by taking us to WMCPA meetings and introducing us to big names in the IBM i industry, like Scott Klement, John and Susan Paris and Mike Pavlak. Most of all, he posted job openings weekly and made it a priority to bring software company recruiters to us. If it were not for Jim, I would not have landed a job at Master’s Gallery in June of 2010.
Since my school years I have kept in contact with Jim attending WMCPA conferences, meetings and working on IBM i projects like the standardized certification for RPGLE that is now distributed at COMMON. I have never seen anyone in the industry more dedicated to the advancement and preservation of the IBM i platform.
Brian Lannoye
Without Jim Buck I would not be where I am today. When I first met Jim, I had just dropped out of high school. Now I have an excellent career in programming at a great company and I owe it to Jim. Jim is the the kind of teacher who pushes his students to succeed. He genuinely cares whether or not they are learning . He is one of the most knowledgeable iSeries administrators that I have ever met, and his relationship with so many iSeries shops in the Wisconsin area means that his lessons have a business focus that many lack.
Eric Kraft
I was a student at Gateway Technical College and took Jim’s RPG classes. He taught me everything I needed to know about RPG to successfully maintain and build source code as well as navigate the system. He is a big believer in modernization, so as a student I learned the most current form of RPG and embedded SQL. We also used the most current tools like Profound UI and Arcad. In his classes I successfully created programs that have the same logic that I use everyday at work now. Without Jim and the knowledge he has given me I would not be where I am today.
Kelly Mason
Jim Buck’s courses were the most important classes in my career. He wrote the book RPG and teaches the language from a business use-case scenario. Students are learning more than how to write a new language, some are learning how a business runs day to day from creating inventory reports to creating tools to manage inventory.
Over the years he has taught and helped students to become programmers where some go on to succeed to become business leaders.
Benjamin Leon