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Newport Faculty HighlightsCongratulations and welcome to the five talented and seasoned faculty members who have recently agreed to serve as pioneering instructors at the Newport County Campus. All are existing faculty members at the college, have strong ties to the East Bay community, and are excited to contribute their time and expertise to this important and historic CCRI endeavor. Professor of Social Sciences David Carlin, a Newport resident, has spent more than two decades teaching sociology and philosophy at CCRI. For the past nine years, he has also served as a faculty advisor to the CCRI Philosophy Club. In his own community, he has been very active in the Newport Democratic Party, and is currently a member of that city’s school committee. Carlin holds a B.A. in history from Providence College, an M.A. in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame, and an M.A. in sociology from URI. He has also completed further graduate study at the University of Notre Dame, the University of Edinburg, and at the Brown University School of Education. Carlin has published numerous scholarly works, including a study of the Catholic Church in America and a forthcoming history of the Democratic Party. Assistant Professor of English Geraldine Levitre is also an Aquidneck Island resident, living with her family in Middletown. Since 2002, Levitre has taught CCRI courses in developmental reading and writing, as well as in study skills and world literature. At the college, she has taken an active role in developing curriculum in the area of developmental education. She is fond of integrating technology into her classroom to enhance her students understanding of skills. Levitre holds a B.A. in English and mass communications as well as an MA in teaching from Rhode Island College. In addition to her CCRI teaching experience, Levitre has also taught at Newport’s Cluny School, at Middletown’s Sylvan Learning Center, and as a volunteer in the Volunteers in Newport Education program. Professor Edward McEntee has served as a key member of CCRI’s Department of Psychology for more than 30 years. McEntee was one of the first full-time faculty members assigned to the Liston Campus in Providence when it first opened in 1990, and is known as a pioneer in teaching diverse student populations. He has also been on the forefront of innovative teaching methods, including project-based learning objectives, linked courses and learning communities. McEntee holds a B.A. in anthropology from Brown University, an M.Ed. in counseling psychology from Boston University, and a J.D. from Suffolk University. He has also completed additional graduate work at Salve Regina University. A Newport resident, McEntee has been a promoter of the non-profit Seaman’s Church Institute and an active participant in the local Friends of Ballroom Dancing Club. With a B.A. in political science and an M.L.S. from the University of Rhode Island, Christine Peterson first came to CCRI not as an instructor but as a student of computer programming. Now an associate professor, Peterson has worked at the CCRI Knight Campus Learning Resource Center since 1993, first as a reference librarian and more recently as an acquisition librarian. A former Teaching with Technology Fellow, Peterson has personally developed and maintained the CCRI library Web site. She was one of the first to teach the one-credit Introduction to Library Research on the Internet via WebCT. In addition to her higher education experience, she has 13 years of experience as a librarian in the defense industry. A Portsmouth resident who was raised in Middletown, Peterson will head up the library at the new campus. A proponent of technology in the classroom, Robyn Younkin has served as a CCRI associate professor of English for 12 years. For ten years prior, she served as the Flanagan Writing Center Coordinator, assisting CCRI students at all stages of the writing process. Among her national presentations are "Thinking Outside the Box: Using Technology to Enhance Learning" and "Going the Distance: Designing and Implementing an Online Composition Course." At CCRI she has been an active member of the Distance Learning Committee and the English Department Literature Committee, while in her own community, she has taught computer and language skills to kindergarteners as a Volunteer in the Providence Schools (VIPS). Younkin holds a B.A. in English from Rhode Island College and an M.A. in literature from the University of New Hampshire, and has completed further graduate studies in English at the University of Rhode Island. Now a Providence resident, Younkin was born and raised on Aquidneck Island. Newly appointed Associate Vice President for the Newport County Campus Vincent DeSanctis comments, "Clearly, we have five highly qualified individuals joining our team at CCRI’s newest campus. Not only are their credentials exciting, but their understanding and involvement with the East Bay community is a huge plus for all of us." Associate Professor Peterson anticipates that the community will embrace what she calls "the CCRI experience." She explains, "CCRI faculty members are the nicest group of people to work with. They help ease the transition to college for both high school students and adult learners returning to the classroom. Their students get the attention they need to succeed." Professor McEntee learned about the East Bay community in part through his teaching experience at the Newport satellite. "I’m aware that there is another side to Newport besides the Bellevue Mansions and the spectacular scenery…. Moving to the Newport County Campus is my opportunity to give back to the community." Professor Carlin adds that a Newport County Campus creates a critical opportunity for East Bay residents. "It will increase the educational opportunities, and indirectly, the occupational opportunities for the Newport area," he says. "CCRI’s focus will be entirely local, and that’s a great thing for the community to have a college specifically devoted to its needs. I expect all sorts of great things to come from this."
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