The new permanent president of the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) is the same person who’s been leading the institution for the past two years.
The Rhode Island Council on Postsecondary Education voted unanimously Wednesday to confirm Rosemary Costigan as the sixth permanent president of the state’s only public community college. The council oversees public higher education in the Ocean State,
Costigan is the first CCRI graduate to lead the institution, and the second woman president following her predecessor, Meghan Hughes, who left the post in 2023, when Costigan was named interim president. She outpaced 43 other candidates and one other finalist to secure the permanent post after a roughly five-month search.
“Dr. Costigan is a deeply experienced administrator with decades of teaching experience who as interim president, has provided strong and visionary leadership through this difficult post-COVID era,” David Caprio, chair of the Postsecondary Council, said in a statement Wednesday. “The caliber of the candidates overall was impressive, but Dr. Costigan stood out as the best person suited to lead the college now.”
Gov. Dan McKee also congratulated Costigan on Wednesday.
“This is a great day for higher education in our state,” McKee said in a statement. “Dr. Costigan is a graduate of CCRI, taught nursing students for years, led the nursing department, and rose to the highest level as interim president. She knows CCRI inside and out, and I’m confident she will continue to elevate CCRI, its faculty and its students.”
In her 18 months of presidency, Costigan led the school through its once-in-a-decade accreditation process. She launched the CCRI Advantage program to help students with developmental needs complete math and English requirements, along with new course initiatives in hospitality, culinary arts and apprenticeship programs to help rebuild enrollment amid pandemic-era declines. During her leadership, the three-year graduation rate has doubled to 30%, and fall-to-spring retention rose from 80 to 85%.
Prior to her interim appointment, Costigan taught nursing at CCRI and the University of Rhode Island (URI). At CCRI, she advanced from an associate professor of nursing to nursing department chairperson, later assistant dean and finally vice president of academic affairs.
Costigan also worked as a full-time nurse at Memorial Hospital for 21 years.
Before becoming an educator, Costigan studied at each of Rhode Island’s public institutions of higher learning. She earned her Ph.D. and master’s degree in nursing from URI, while her bachelor’s in nursing came from Rhode Island College. Her associate’s degree in nursing came from CCRI.
Costigan’s contract, salary and official start date will be determined in the coming weeks, according to a CCRI news release.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
