CCRI president gets new 3-year contract

PROVIDENCE (AP) State higher education officials have approved a new three-year contract for Community College of Rhode Island President Meghan Hughes despite opposition from the faculty union, which said it feels “disrespected” by her administration.

The Council of Post-Secondary Education unanimously approved the contract Tuesday evening after an hourlong meeting.

Council members praised Hughes for her leadership and her implementation of the Rhode Island Promise scholarship program that covers two years of tuition at the school.

Hughes, who has been at the school since 2016, is in line to make almost $277,000 this fiscal year. Details of the new contract will be negotiated by council chair Tim DelGuidice.

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Both the faculty union and support professionals issued a vote of no confidence in Hughes last year.

“Overall, we feel disrespected and unheard,” the unions wrote in a letter to the council last week, according to The Providence Journal. “The Hughes administration has shown no regard for the professional knowledge and expertise of the faculty and staff. Decisions are made impacting students without seeking the input of the individuals who interact with students daily.”

CCRI has campuses in Warwick, Lincoln, Providence and Newport and a satellite center in Westerly.