CCRI prepares to launch search for new permanent president

Students braves the cold on the first day of classes in the spring 2024 semester at the Community College of Rhode Island’s Knight Campus in Warwick. (Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)

A nine-member committee will lead the search for the next permanent president of the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI), with plans to install the new leader by the end of the spring semester, the Rhode Island Council on Postsecondary Education announced Tuesday.

“We’ve assembled a group of nine individuals, representing a variety of perspectives, who have accepted the responsibility of finding the person who will lead CCRI and position it for long-term academic excellence and student success,” David Caprio, who chairs the council, said in a statement Tuesday.

The council hired the same search firm that conducted the search for a permanent president for Rhode Island College (RIC) in 2024. AGB Search was selected after the firm responded to a request for proposals for the CCRI search. AGB received a $75,000 fixed sum for the Rhode Island College search last year, along with $21,000 for search expenses including travel and background checks. While the council’s office managed the search process, the school paid the firm’s costs. 

Beth Bailey, a spokesperson for the council, said via email Thursday that the contract for the CCRI search is still in negotiations, but that she would share details once it’s signed. The firm and search committee are expected to begin work as soon as the contract is finalized.

CCRI is currently headed by Interim President Rosemary Costigan, the first alum to hold the role. Costigan replaced Meghan Hughes, who served as president from February 2016 through August 2023. Hughes was the first woman to serve as president at CCRI, which is the state’s only community college, with four campuses and two satellites spread across the state.

Costigan had an annual salary of $285,000 in fiscal year 2024, which ended June 30, 2024. For the current fiscal year, 2025, Costigan has a salary of $299,999, according to the state’s transparency portal. 

Bailey wrote that the salary range for the eventual permanent president won’t be discussed until the postsecondary council’s Jan. 9 meeting. 

The search committee includes two chairs: Steve Smith, an educational consultant, and Elizabeth Ortiz, associate justice with the Rhode Island Family Court. The remainder of the search committee is comprised of:

• Three postsecondary council members: David Caprio, Michael Mello and Marcy Reyes.
• Kim M. Barker, president of the CCRI Foundation and executive vice president and chief legal officer of Bally’s Corporation, the gambling corporation which gave $5 million to CCRI in 2023 and has partnered with the school to offer a table game-dealing curriculum.
• Jude Tomasino, president of CCRI’s Professional Staff Association, and Mazin Adam, an art and design professor who serves as president of the CCRI Faculty Association.
• Alicia Anthony, an associate with law firm Howe & Garside, Ltd., which has offices in Lincoln and Newport.

While the makeup of the search committee is being made public, the public is unlikely to know more about the candidates for the presidency until the spring.

“The council will continue to share information with the Rhode Island community about the progress in the search while simultaneously protecting the privacy boundaries of the candidates,” Caprio wrote in his statement.

A touch of secrecy is common in executive searches at colleges, even public ones. The results of the RIC search were not announced until only three finalists remained in late January 2024. Jack Warner, who was already serving as interim president, was announced as president about two weeks later.   

Spokespeople for CCRI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Costigan.