CCRI’s new president brings great work to the forefront

By Kelcy Dolan
Posted 5/19/16

“My job as president is to listen and be witness to all the great work being done at CCRI, and make sure to raise that work up and take it to scale,” said Meghan Hughes, president of the …

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CCRI’s new president brings great work to the forefront

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“My job as president is to listen and be witness to all the great work being done at CCRI, and make sure to raise that work up and take it to scale,” said Meghan Hughes, president of the Community College of Rhode Island.

Hughes has been on the job since February, having been selected by the Council on Postsecondary Education late last year to succeed former president Ray Di Pasquale.

In recnt interview, she said her experience so far with the school is better than she had expected.

“I get to spend a lot of time with students every day, listening to their stories and goals,” Hughes said. “There is just an endless supply of inspiring stories of how they want to improve their own lives and the lives of their families.”

For the past few months, she has been visiting all four campuses regularly, holding open forums with faculty and students to hear from the college community and for them to hear her plans moving forward.

In speaking with students, Hughes said she found that there were many with the “motivation and the drive” to graduate, but they were having trouble seeing a clear path to graduation. To help students better plan their time and classes to reach graduation in the most time-efficient way, in January 2017 the school will be launching master scheduling. This more elaborate system will allow students to see exactly what is required of them and when to reach graduation.

“This is not a new idea,” Hughes said. “This college has dedicated faculty and staff that have been working on this for years. To see this come to fruition, it just took that added commitment to push it across the finish line.”

Currently, CCRI’s graduation rate lingers around 13 percent, and Hughes wants to see “significant improvements” in that area, with the master scheduling expected to play a large part.

Hughes also wants to ensure students can “hit the ground running” with a better system for remediation and developmental courses. She said students can often be discouraged when they work through their scholarship or Pell Grant funding in non-credit developmental courses.

Although English and math are the “gateways” into the college, Hughes said many students don’t need an entire semester of remedial courses. Previous to Hughes, the school was using one measure, a placement test, to determine which courses students should take. Coming this fall, multiple measures – including GPA, transcripts and standardized test scores – will be implemented to get a picture of the whole student and their needs. Similarly, co-requisite mediation will be implemented; students will take the developmental course alongside a credit-bearing one to ensure they receive the necessary support.

This type of remediation has been seen in a few departments and has had “very promising results,” according to Hughes.

“CCRI has some very committed faculty,” she said. “What we need to do now is see this system broaden and transitioned across all departments and campuses.”

Although this initiative is predominantly used in English departments, Hughes says she also wants to find a comparable system for math, although she understands it won’t be identical.

Alongside improving the graduation rate, Hughes would like to increase the transfer rate as well. She said that most students who come to CCRI have aspirations to transfer to a four-year institution. She personally would like to strengthen the partnership with CCRI’s “sister schools,” Rhode Island College and the University of Rhode Island, to streamline the transfer process. She mentioned the Joint Admissions Agreement (JAA) is a good template, but there is always room for improvement.

Although CCRI may play a role in workforce development, Hughes said it is an “integral part” to the school’s mission to support the education of students who wish to pursue a four-year degree.

“We want to ensure that our graduates have a skill set to put into practice right away in whatever capacity they want, whether that’s to continue their education or enter the workforce,” Hughes said.

She also understands that most students at CCRI work throughout their schooling and wants to “advance the school’s business partnerships.” She would like to see more credentialed bearing work placements and internships, but notes if employers are smart they want to “build their human capital, to invest in their people” and see these kids in college furthering their education.

Hughes said, “What students learn in college is what will help them be successful in the workplace.”

Hughes will be hosting her official inauguration in September when she feels it can be a meaningful community event.

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