CCRI seeks local views on Newport campus

NEWPORT — As the planning process for the latest campus of the Community College of Rhode Island here accelerates, CCRI officials are seeking views and comments from area officials and residents. In one approach, officials are seeking comments from business representatives on the sorts of skills they are looking for in graduates, as well as the sorts of services and programs for businesses they would like to see on the campus. This information is being sought through surveys conducted by the Newport County and East Bay Chambers of Commerce. CCRI officials also hope to meet with area secondary school representatives, government officials and other community groups. The new campus, approved last fall by voters through the appropriation of $10.9 million for its construction, will be located on half of a 15-acre parcel donated to the city by the Navy last year. Plans call for a spring semester opening in 2003. Along with the nursing and health programs now offered at Newport Hospital, and the courses offered at Middletown High School and on the Navy Base, CCRI plans to offer programs in technology, hospitality and other areas that will support the local economy.