Battle Over RIC President Heats Up
Monday, November 30, 2015
A professor emerita at Rhode Island College (RIC) has come forth in support of President Dr. Nancy Carriuolo, following a no-confidence letter from over a dozen current and past RIC employees sent to the Chair of the RI Council on Post-Secondary Education, calling for an interim President to be appointed in Carriuolo’s place.
Carriuolo has been the President of RIC since July 2008, after being named the ninth head of the college by the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education. On November 19, fourteen individuals associated with RIC sent a letter to Council Chairman William Foulkes stating “collectively, over the past seven and one-half years, we have observed the College we care so much about deteriorate to such an extent that it barely resembles the spirited, student-focused, highly productive institution to which we always enjoyed coming to work – and to which members of the College community gave freely of their time and treasure.”
Now, a RIC professor emerita — along with others — are voicing their backing of Carriuolo's leadership in response.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST‘President Carriuolo’s strong leadership and 24/7 dedication to RIC over the past seven years are in no small measure the reason for the College’s advancement during her tenure as president,” wrote Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, PhD, Professor Emerita of Anthropology, in a separate letter to Foulkes. “This is most clearly evident in Rhode Island College having been featured as 'One of the Best Colleges' in the 'Regional Universities' category in the recent 2016 edition of the prestigious US News and World Report ranking of US Colleges and Universities. This has been a tremendous boost to the morale and pride in the institution."
"I write to you as Professor Emerita at RIC, as one who was awarded both the Thorp Distinguished Professor for scholarship and the Maixner Award for Teaching and most recently the 'Green Team' award for environmental contributions on behalf of the continuation of contact for President Nancy Carriuolo, the best president of Rhode Island College that I have the privilege of working with over the past 43 years," continued Fluehr-Lobban.
Fluehr-Lobban noted that another RIC professor was continuing to gather names of those in support of Carriuolo.
Dueling Views
The letter sent in opposition to Carriuolo’s leadership comes as her performance as President is due for review by the Council, and included the following statements:
We are faculty members, current and former administrators, professional staff, and line staff. We are union and non-union; tenured and untenured; short-term and career-long workers of RIC, all of whom share the following grave concerns:
* The president’s lack of attention to finances, enrollment and protecting the quality of services to students
* Her failure to observe even minimum standards of transparency or to consult and collaborate appropriately with relevant staff
* Her inability to develop a sound and stable organizational structure that is up to the task of running the College efficiently and effectively
* Her weakness in setting priorities and her inability to differentiate between strategic leadership and trivial exercises
* And in particular, her capricious hiring, transferring and firing of personnel with utter disregard for demonstrated employee competencies, the alignment of staff with appropriate duties, affirmative action policies, and equal opportunity standards
Fluehr-Lobban, who is also President of the World Affairs Council of Rhode Island, and Adjunct Professor of African Studies at the Naval War College, Newport, countered the allegations made against Carriuolo, included the following in her letter to Foulkes
"If you google “Beehives on University or College Campuses” the first and fourth entries among 368,000 entries are about the beehives that were installed at RIC in 2010 for the purposes of public education about bees, beekeeping, and the overriding issues of the environment. I was a key person in bringing this idea to the president, but it was Nancy Carriuolo that made this happen, despite the usual concerns that have kept universities, such as Brown University, from taking this innovative initiative. Since the two (now three) beehives were installed, RIC has become a center of beekeeping education with 150-200 persons taking the annual five week Bee School at RIC for the past two years at both the beginner and intermediate levels. It has developed a collaborative relationship with the RI Beekeepers Association (RIBA) which has expressed its public appreciation to President Carriuolo at one of its meetings in 2013. Indeed, RIC is the base university for a USDA two year grant to study the small hive beetle, the latest pest affecting honey bee health. The principle investigator of the grant is a RIC Biology professor in collaboration with the RI Stare Bee Inspector and the president of RIBA. This may seem like a small thing, but as a case study it addresses the spirit of innovation and collaboration with community organizations that Nancy Carriuolo has evidenced throughout her tenure as president. Were it not for Nancy’s “Green Initiative” I would not have approached her, and did not raise the idea with the previous RIC president," wrote Fluehr-Lobban.
"I also write to you as the current president of the World Affairs Council of RI (WACRI) , founded in 1933 and dedicated to public education and discussion of global affairs. Nancy Carriuolo and her husband Ralf have been faithful attendees and supporters of our monthly meetings for several years, mainly I believe, because key leaders of WACRI are from the RIC community, including besides myself, Board members Dr. Richard Lobban and Dr. Kevin DeJesus, a RIC graduate and faculty member at Johnson and Wales University," continued Fluehr-Lobban. "This case exemplifies what I have experienced and what many former graduates of the college have expressed to me that if there is a RIC connection to something happening in the community, President Carriuolo is there! She has been exemplary in this respect, honoring and respecting RIC graduates, most of whom remain in the state as productive citizens."
"Several of the students that I have in mind are representatives of Rhode Island’s minority communities, many of whom are children of recent migrants for whom RIC represents an excellent affordable education for a college education. They are also former students who are embarking on careers that are deeply influenced by a host of ‘minority’ concerns of justice and representation, including white graduates from working class backgrounds. For over three decades while I was a full-time faculty member in the Anthropology Department and a member of the faculty of the African and Afro-American Studies program (now Africana Studies) we had a consistently low enrollment of about 3-5% minorities at the college. After Nancy Carriuolo became president that number increased to 15% and now to 21% of the undergraduate population and 10% of its graduate students," she wrote. "This is both a significant and historic change in the composition of the student population that reflects demographic changes in the state and its institutions of public higher education, but is also a result of the leadership at the top office of president for making this happen."
Carriuolo declined to comment on the matter of her review, which is subject to the council.
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