CCRI Newport County Campus to open its doors in fall

Countdown is on in East Bay

“Yes,” Assistant Dean of Enrollment Services Elizabeth Mancini answers a student who asks about the CCRI Newport County Campus. “Classes will begin this fall at the new campus.”

Strategically located in Newport’s North End, the newest of CCRI’s four main campuses has undergone a tremendous transformation in the past several months in preparation for its September debut. Dean of Administration Stephen Marginson reports that the bulk of the work remaining on the $12.4 million construction project is focused on interior details, from painting walls and laying tile to installing communications wiring. “All voice and data lines should be ready in a week or two,” he says.

The opening of the campus has been eagerly awaited by the East Bay community since groundbreaking ceremonies took place in October 2003. The campus, located at the junction of Coddington Highway and John H. Chafee Boulevard, is anticipated to play a key role in the redevelopment of the North End of Newport, which currently houses the revamped Newport Heights housing project, the social services agency East Bay Community Action Program, and many Newport Naval Base facilities.

Designed with Newport’s Shingle Style architecture in mind, the campus is composed of three separate buildings—a student services wing, a classroom/laboratory wing and a 250-seat auditorium—connected by a two-story atrium that serves as a central gathering spot for the college community.

This fall, the Newport County Campus will offer courses in more than 30 fields of study, from geology to psychology, accounting to theatre. However, students wishing to complete an associate degree entirely at the Newport location can choose from programs in Liberal Arts, General Studies, Nursing or one of three Rehabilitative Health pathways. Officials at the campus expect the list of programs to expand as local enrollment grows. Although the building was designed to hold a student population of 2,000, CCRI officials expect about half that number to enroll during the campus’s first semester of operation.

While workers complete the finishing touches on the new building, CCRI employees will continue to operate out of their temporary location at the Newport Housing Authority located at the corner of York and Girard Avenues, just blocks from the CCRI campus site. Staff members working at the temporary office include Mancini, Admissions/Financial Aid Officer Deborah Watson, Coordinator of Advising and Counseling Millie Blessing, and several other Enrollment Services personnel.

Interested in touring the new campus in Newport?

Please join us for
Community Days
Friday, Aug. 19, 3-6 p.m.
and
Sat., Aug. 20, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
at the CCRI
Newport County Campus
One John H. Chafee Boulevard, Newport, RI

In addition to tours of the facility, CCRI staff will be available to answer questions and register new students.

To R.S.V.P., please call
(401) 825-2181.

“Because of the number of staff we have and the relatively small size of the campus, we are able to service potential students immediately,” says Mancini. When they walk in, she says, future students can apply for admission, submit financial aid forms or apply for aid online, and schedule their mandatory placement testing all at once.

Mancini adds that it rarely takes more than two weeks to honor a placement testing request. “During the time between when students request Accuplacer testing and when they take their placement tests, we can accept their applications to the college, so that we can schedule their classes the same day that they complete their testing,” she says.

CCRI officials hope that Mancini and her coworkers will be able to relocate to the new campus building mid-summer, pending approval by the Fire Marshal. While the classrooms will not be open until September, the student services office may be open as early as late July.

No one is more excited about the prospect of moving into the building than Associate Vice President Vincent DeSanctis, who serves as both academic and operational head of the new campus. “Opening access to the campus makes us real in the minds of many people,” he says. “It’s an affirmation of CCRI’s permanent presence in the East Bay.”

DeSanctis feels that the opening of the campus sends another important message to the community. “It says that it’s your campus, and that we’re partners in making this a successful learning environment,” he says.

Sports:

Countdown is on in East Bay

CCRI Newport County Campus to open its doors in fall