Voters continue support of higher education bonds

The state colleges and university had a good year, particularly enjoying
November when voters approved a $21 million bond to improve campus
facilities.
The bond will fund the renovation of long-neglected buildings at the
University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College and Community College
of Rhode Island.
URI will see $5.06 million worth of renovations to Independence Hall, a
38-year-old building that houses the university’s largest complement of
general assignment classrooms.
Also, the university will receive $4.98 million for the rehabilitation
of Lippitt Hall, a 36,852-square-foot, three-story granite building on
the URI Quadrangle that was built in 1897.
RIC is in line for $4.3 million to be used for the adaptive reuse of
former Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) buildings on
the East Campus. The development of the East Campus will relieve
overcrowding on RIC’s main campus.
More than $6.6 million will be heading to the Providence campus of CCRI.
The money will be used to add lecture and laboratory classrooms,
academic offices, additional parking and an on-site day care center.
Along with the victory at the polls of the bond referendum, the proposed
URI athletic/convocation center got a boost with the re-election of Gov.
Lincoln Almond, a supporter of the project.
Almond’s opponent in the election, Myrth York, had stated she did not
want to invest the state’s money on the arena project, expected to cost
$49 million.
The new 9,000-seat arena, a priority for Almond in his new term, would
replace the 45-year-old, 4,000-seat Keaney Gymnasium at URI.
Meanwhile, URI’s Ballentine Hall, the home of the business school, is
undergoing a fund-raising campaign to renovate that facility.
The cost of that project is expected to be more than $10 million. Voters
in 1996 approved funding $3.3 million while the remainder is being
raised through private donations.
URI has already raised $3.3 millions and expect to finish the campaign
by the summer of 1999.
Leading the fund-raising effort has been Edward M. Mazze, the newly
appointed dean of the business school. He replaced interim dean Frank
Budnick.
Mazze served most recently as Dean of the Belk College of Business of
the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He came to URI with the
goal of generating more involvement in the business community with the
university.
“The business community is so critical because they are our biggest
stakeholder,” he said. “It’s the business community that is supporting
the renovation of the business building at URI. It is the business
community that calls on (us for) training of employees. It is the
business community that calls on us for research.”
URI wasn’t the only organization with its eye on the business community
this year. The Providence School Department started using an army of
business volunteers, ranging from Textron to GTECH, whose expertise can
help make the school system run more effectively.
The Providence schools’ Business Advisory Council began in June with
seven senior executives and by fall 40 more were involved.
“It is not unique in large cities, because people understand that public
education has problems that must be solved by everyone,” said Richard J.
Hoag, president and CEO of Providence Washington Insurance and chairman
of the council.
“We are combining our own management experience on how the process
should run with the experiences of the school employees,” he added.