The Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Rhode Islandwarmly welcomes Ryan Foster as the new Interim Communications, Policy, and Member Relations Assistant. The membership looks forward to his contributions to the Association’s efforts.
Prior to working at AICU Rhode Island, Ryan received a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and history from Suffolk University after spending a semester studying in Madrid, Spain. Born and raised in Rhode Island and a graduate of an independent institution of higher education, Ryan is passionate about the role our sector plays in his home state and looks forward to the work ahead.
Delta Dental of Rhode Island is the state’s leading dental insurer for more than 60 years. Based in Providence, they administer dental benefits for nearly 660,000 members, and boast a 92% customer satisfaction rating, with 92% also satisfied with dentist availability. Delta Dental Rhode Island is a part of the Delta Dental Plans Association, a not-for-profit organization that offers dental coverage in all fifty states and serves more than 80 million Americans.
Delta Dental provides insurance for every AICU Rhode Island member and we look forward to working with them in this continued partnership. You can learn more about Delta Dental here.
Please join us in calling on the General Assembly to increase funding to the Rhode Island Promise 1.0 Scholarship (Promise 1.0). Promise 1.0, created in 2015, is a state aid program aimed at supporting Rhode Islanders attending college in the state. Not only does it provide financial support to full-time students, it also incentivizes talented Rhode Islanders to remain in the state, as well as provide support to the higher education sector. The program is a crucial component of the State’s higher education policy, increasing access to education and supporting the long-term health of the State’s economy.
Key Facts:
From 2015 to 2020, independent institutions of higher education received $2 million annually. In 2020, State funding for the program was cut to $1.5 million.
Prior to 2015, state funding for student aid was much higher, with $16 million going to students in 2008. In today’s dollars, that would be the equivalent of funding the program at $21 million annually.
Since its inception, non-profit colleges and universities have matched state contributions dollar-for-dollar, resulting in $26 million in scholarship funds.
Nearly 80,000 students attend Rhode Island institutions of higher education. Many of these students remain in Rhode Island after graduation, applying their expertise to the Rhode Island economy.
Non-profit higher education is the second largest non-governmental sector in the state, after healthcare. The sector spends $4.6 billion in local communities and supports 30,000 jobs across the state.
Contact your legislators:
Please contact your legislators to voice your support for #Promise4All. Find your senator and representative HERE. For sample language in support of this increase, please click HERE.
AICU Rhode Island is delighted to welcome Crystal Williams as the new President of Rhode Island School of Design.
Williams most recently served as Boston University’s inaugural vice president and associate provost for community and inclusion since 2020. In this role, she provided vision and strategic direction for initiatives that support the development of strong communities and the promotion of diversity, inclusion, and equity on campus.
Prior to her work at Boston University, Williams held similar roles at Bates College (2013-17) and Reed College (as a faculty leader from 2000-11 and as Dean from 2011-13). It was at Reed where she began her academic career as a professor of English Professor, working with colleagues to create an infrastructure to support greater diversity, inclusion, and equity.
As a deeply collaborative leader, she has helped drive meaningful change in higher education through numerous roles, including as a member of the Oversight Committee for the Sloan Foundation-funded STEM Faculty Leadership program; the Executive Committee for the Creating Connections Consortium (C3), an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation-funded consortium of liberal arts colleges and research universities (including Bates, Connecticut College, Middlebury, Williams, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Chicago, Columbia University, and the University of Michigan); as co-chair of the Liberal Arts Diversity Officers; as a member of the steering committee for the Consortium for Faculty Diversity; and as a collaborator with senior members of the Mellon Northwest 5 Faculty Consortium.
Williams is also an award winning poet and essayist, with four published collections of poems. She is the recipient of several artistic fellowships, grants, and honors, including a fellowship the MacDowell Arts Colony, an appointment as the Distinguished Visiting Professor of University Writing at DePauw University, a Master Poet residency at Indiana University, the Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Prize, a Literary Arts fellowship, an Oregon Arts Commission individual artist grant and a Barbara Deming/Money for Women artist grant, among others.
The AICU Rhode Island board looks forward to President Williams’ collaboration and contribution to the Association’s advocacy and consortia efforts.
