Rhode Island and CCRI are expected to keep Ray Di Pasquale and save about $400,000 to boot.

CCRI President since 2007, Di Pasquale was offered the job of president of the three-campus Suffolk County Community College (SCCC) on Long Island, N.Y., a position that would place him in charge of a larger system with an increase in salary.

Last week, in a move to keep Di Pasquale in Rhode Island and at CCRI, the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education announced plans to name Di Pasquale acting commissioner of higher education. Di Pasquale would hold both positions, enabling the board of governors to raise his salary from $203,000 to $265,000 while saving an estimated $400,000, according to board chair Frank Caprio.

News of the plan spread quickly when Caprio sought feedback from members of the General Assembly, the board of governors as well as the governor.

In a press release, Caprio said, “Ray Di Pasquale is an outstanding, nationally recognized higher education administrator who is greatly admired and highly respected at the Community College of Rhode Island and throughout Rhode Island.”

Caprio notes that when Di Pasquale was retained as CCRI interim president in 2006, the institution was embroiled in tumult and turmoil.

“In three years, Ray has worked tirelessly to build a culture and a climate of trust and cooperation. He has led CCRI through its first ever strategic planning process and ensured that this process was inclusive of all campus constituencies from day one. He has earned the confidence of the faculty, the administration and the students at CCRI and we are fortunate to be able to keep him in Rhode Island,” Caprio said.

“It’s creative thinking born of necessity,” said Steven J. Maurano, who has served as interim commissioner since July 1, 2009 after former commissioner Jack R. Warner left to take the top higher education job in South Dakota.

He said that the only reason Di Pasquale is being named “acting” commissioner is because statutory details that need to be worked out. He said such action would probably come after the General Assembly reconvenes.

Maurano said details of where Di Pasquale would work from and whether he might bounce from one office to the other have not been worked out. Also, he defended what could be seen as giving CCRI an inside track over the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College that likewise fall under the jurisdiction of the commissioner.

Maurano said the board has the final say on appropriations to the three institutions adding, “It’s not quite the conflict of interest it appears to be.”

As for the projected savings of $400,000, Maurano said search consultants costing as much as $100,000 would not be needed to find both the commissioner and Di Pasquale’s successor at CCRI. In addition, he said the savings in the commissioner’s pay plus any increases that would have been paid to attract good candidates to the two jobs would offset the additional money paid Di Pasquale.

“These economic times called for creative, out-of-the-box thinking on this issue. By naming Ray to both positions, we have allowed the state of Rhode Island to hang onto one of its most dedicated workers and one of its most effective advocates for public higher education,” Caprio said in a statement.

Di Pasquale is expected to begin his duties as acting commissioner of the Rhode Island public system of higher education shortly after the New Year.

Maurano will return to his previous position as the system’s associate commissioner of external affairs.