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In Memoriam of Dr. Robert J. McKenna

January 16, 2012

The entire AICU Rhode Island Membership mourns the loss of Dr. Robert J. McKenna, a tireless advocate of higher education, who served as the Association’s president (formerly Rhode Island Independent Higher Education Association) for 17 years, from 1985-2002.

Dr. McKenna served two terms in the House of Representatives followed by 12 years in the Rhode Island Senate. He was mayor of Newport from 1988 – 1993.

Dr. McKenna was also a professor of politics, director of community relations and assistant to the president at Salve Regina University from 1965-1995. In addition to serving on various boards and commissions, he was chairman of the American and Irish Cultural Exchange Commission, the Senate Finance Committee, The Rhode Island Higher Education Assistance Authority, and the Rhode Island Student Loan Authority, where he made higher education accessible and affordable to thousands of Rhode Islanders. Recognized for his work to support education and collaboration among all colleges and universities in the state, Dr. McKenna is also credited for establishing a program offering free SAT preparation courses to area high schools and overseeing more than 200,000 loans to help 100,000 students achieve their higher education goals.

He is survived by his wife Mary Jean McKenna ’79, and their seven children.

Calling hours are Friday, January 20 from 4:00-8:00 p.m. at Memorial Funeral Home on Broadway in Newport.

Services will be Saturday, January 21 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Joseph’s Church on Broadway in Newport.

‘Lifeline’ of public transit faces deep cuts in RI

By ERIKA NIEDOWSKI, Associated PressBRISTOL, R.I.—Nils Berg rides the No. 60 bus to work religiously. In summer, he takes it south from Bristol to Newport; in winter, he rides it north to Providence. Working in the state’s seasonal hospitality industry, the father of two often doesn’t get off work until midnight.But under a plan by Rhode Island’s public transit agency to reduce service to help close a multimillion-dollar budget hole, his bus would no longer operate after 10 p.m., including on both weekend days, starting in September. Any change, he says, would be devastating—not just because he’d be left stranded, but because businesses could lose some of the late-night clientele they rely on.

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For a Better Future

From the Opinion section of the Woonsocket Patch

By Caitlin Woods–July 24, 2011

Knowledge is power, and the fine folks at local farmers markets statewide plan to use this philosophy to bring greater health to our area. They, the Rhode Island Department of Health, and Johnson and Wales University have developed a program to not only provide low-income families with healthy, local produce, but, with recipes, demonstrations, free samples, and the know-how to use it all to best effect. At three weeks running, things seem to be going fine–and who knows? Maybe it’s the start of healthy things for a long time to come.

Read the original article in its entirety:

http://woonsocket.patch.com/articles/for-a-better-future#photo-7132269

Dormcubator 2011 End-of-Session Graduation

Please join AICU Rhode Island, RIBGHE and Cutler & Company for the

Dormcubator 2011 End-of-Session Graduation

Celebration & Student Presentations

Thursday, July 28, 2011

6:00 – 8:30 p.m.

The Yena Presentation Center

Johnson & Wales University – Library Building

(corner of Dorrance & Webosset Streets)

111 Dorrance Street, Providence RI 02903

Dormcubator 2011 is a student engagement pilot program, which was born out of the bRIdge project, an AICU Rhode Island-led economic development initiative aimed at knowledge retention and attraction by better-connecting academics, business and community. The overarching goal of bRIdge is to change the narrative for college students to one that identifies Providence, and Rhode Island, as a viable post-graduate destination for the 80,000+ students who attend colleges and universities in our state annually.

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RIC student selected for statewide entrepreneurship program

From the Rhode Island College website:

Twelve entrepreneurial-minded local college students are in the business of networking this summer in an on-campus pilot program called Dormcubator.

Rhode Island College student Katherine McPhillips, a senior communication major, was one of the students selected from the state’s 10 colleges and universities to participate in the six-week “live, work and learn” program.

Read the original article in its entirety:

http://www.ric.edu/whatsnews/details.php?News_ID=1415

Demand for health care jobs rising

From the May 30, 2011 edition

By Richard Asinof
Contributing Writer

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Occupational therapists are in big demand. The 2011 Compensation Data Healthcare survey results found the average base salary for occupational therapists has increased 6.3 percent to $69,700 in 2011 from $65,000 in 2009.

In Rhode Island, in 2010, a salary of $65,000 was the mean for a master’s-level occupational therapist, according to Rebecca Simon, the academic-fieldwork coordinator the New England Institute of Technology’s occupational therapy department.

New England Tech is now in its second year of offering a master of science in occupational therapy, the only master’s-level program at New England Tech, and the only master’s for occupational therapy in Rhode Island.

Read the original PBN article in its entirety:

http://www.pbn.com/Demand-for-health-care-jobs-on-rise-,58568

Chief of R.I. Emergency Management Agency to leave for Salve Regina University post

From the June 14, 2011 edition

By Richard C. Dujardin
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE — After serving three years as the executive director of the state Emergency Management Agency, J. David Smith plans to leave the post on July 30 to become the director of the Administration of Justice graduate program at Salve Regina University in Newport.

Read the original Providence Journal article in its entirety:

http://www.projo.com/news/content/SMITH_RESIGNS_06-14-11_L2OKSC1_v14.41217.html

Figures don’t support brain drain

From the June 14, 2011 edition

By Gina Macris

Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE — It has become gospel that Rhode Island suffers from a brain drain as newly minted college graduates depart for jobs elsewhere.

But for the first time, researchers have come up with data that suggests about one in three graduates stay in Rhode Island. That retention rate is better than college officials and business leaders anticipated, but not as good as they want it to be.

Read the original Providence Journal article in its entirety:

http://www.projo.com/education/content/KNOWLEDGE_RETENTION_06-14-11_4TOIJL6_v14.3b126.html

NEIT launches program on respiratory care

From the June 13, 2011 edition

PBN.com

WARWICK – The New England Institute of Technology is launching a new respiratory-care technology program.

The school is accepting applications for the associate degree program. Students will learn how to assess and treat patients with breathing problems and initiate, monitor and modify respiratory-care treatment plans. Training will take place on equipment used in the field.

Read the original PBN article in its entirety:

http://www.pbn.com/NEIT-launches-program-on-respiratory-care,58949

RISD graduation anything but traditional

From the June 5, 2011 edition

By C. Eugene Emery Jr.
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE — Covered from head to ankles with what appeared to be some type of grassy vegetation, four members of RISD’s landscape architecture department strolled down the aisle of the Convention Center Saturday, heading for their seats at the start of graduation.

Read the original Providence Journal article in its entirety:

http://www.projo.com/news/content/RISD_commencement_06-05-11_9SOEUUL_v19.31293af.html