April 25, 2006 Statement Release

From Mission Initiative Committee Co-Chairs JoAnn Warren and Dennis Moore to the college community:

The expanded Mission Initiative Committee has continued its charge to update CCRI's mission statement and to remain on target to meet the submission deadline required by NEASC and RIBGHE.

The committee recently reconvened and created a series of "draft" statements at meetings on April 13, 17 and 24, working for about seven hours. Thirteen of the 18 committee members participated in at least one of the three meetings, although all were kept apprised of our progress after each meeting.

As you may recall, hundreds of faculty, staff and students have participated in the process, starting with the initial survey conducted in February 2005 and culminating in an enthusiastic, interactive meeting of more than 400 of us at Opening Day in September 2005.

On April 25, the newly-crafted draft mission statement was presented to the Accreditation Review Committee established by President DiPasquale and the mission committee was given the go-ahead to share the statement with the college community.

Please review the draft statement at the end of this communication, and e-mail your comments to mission@ccri.edu no later than Monday, May 8. The committee will then reconvene to try to incorporate your comments into a final statement.

This is an important milestone in CCRI's history: the development of a mission statement created by those that live it. Before reading the statement, here's a quick review of the revised criteria outlined by NEASC:

The Mission Statement:

Defines the distinctive character of the institution
Addresses the needs of society
Identifies students served
Reflects the institution's traditions and vision
Serves as a basis for identifying priorities, plans and evaluation
Is concise in outlining its purposes
Is accepted and widely understood
Provides direction to curricula and other activities

Thank you.

Mission of the Community College of Rhode Island

The Community College of Rhode Island is the state's only public comprehensive associate degree-granting institution and is the initial point of entry to higher education for many Rhode Islanders. Responding to the varied educational needs of a diverse community of learners, CCRI offers an array of career, transfer and lifelong learning programs at four campuses throughout the state. Building on its tradition of teaching excellence and student support, the College is committed to student success. The Community College of Rhode Island promotes academic excellence, fosters service learning, embraces diversity, responds to community needs, contributes to our state's economic development and builds our region's workforce. (Revised 4/25/06)

Again, please remember to forward your comments to mission@ccri.edu by Monday, May 8. Thank you.