CCRI President Hughes Announces Her Departure - Helped to Create Free-College Program
Thursday, March 16, 2023
Community College of Rhode Island President Meghan Hughes announced on Thursday she is leaving her post at the end of August.
Hughes has a Ph.D. from New York University and has led CCRI since 2016.
She was the community college’s fifth president.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAccording to the announcement, “Hughes has placed closing equity performance gaps at the center of her work. Under her leadership, the college achieved the highest graduation rates in more than 20 years, outpacing national two-and three-year graduation rates, and was named the 2019 two-year college of the year by Education Dive magazine.”
Under Hughes, the free college tuition program was adopted.
Since the program launched in 2017, the RI Promise Scholarship program has resulted in improvements in enrollment and graduation rates.
Hughes initially had a rocky relationship with the facility and unions.
“Led by Dr. Hughes, CCRI’s partnerships with government and industry have transformed the labor market landscape through the collaborative building of in-demand credentials that allow Rhode Islanders to receive the training needed to compete in today’s economy and provide a pipeline of qualified employees for businesses. CCRI’s Division of Workforce Partnerships trains more than 4,000 Rhode Island residents annually in short-term, labor-market-driven credentials and is the leading educational partner for General Dynamics Electric Boat for its submarine building facilities in New London, CT and Quonset, RI. CCRI is also poised to launch the state’s first GWO training program in support of multiple offshore wind farms expected to be constructed in the coming years,” said the announcement.
“We wish Meghan Hughes all the best in her future endeavors, and we are certain she will be successful based on her achievements while serving Rhode Islanders as the president of the Community College of Rhode Island,” said Shannon Gilkey, Ed.D., Rhode Island’s Commissioner of Postsecondary Education. “On behalf of the Council on Postsecondary Education, I thank Dr. Hughes for her years of valued service to public higher education in our state and share our deep appreciation for her leadership. Dr. Hughes has been a relentless champion of CCRI and it showed in everything she did as president. Immediately, the council will begin the process to fill the vacancy at the college’s helm and will seek candidates with high caliber academic and institutional management experience who will prepare Rhode Islanders with high quality degrees and certifications required to be successful in the modern economy.”
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