Raymond M. Di Pasquale, the president of the Community College of Rhode Island, has accepted a position as acting commissioner of the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education. The Board of Governors runs three Rhode Island institutions: the University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College, and, well, the Community College of Rhode Island. Di Pasquale plans to continue in his position at CCRI. This means, as Inside Higher Ed points out, that Di Pasquale will now oversee himself.
Jennifer D. Jordan writes in the Providence Journal that having Di Pasquale in both jobs will be a thrifty move for Rhode Island:
By combining both jobs, the state will save hundreds of thousands of dollars — the salary and benefit package a new commissioner would have earned plus the $125,000 cost of a national search to fill the position. The Board of Governors would have also had to launch a search to fill the CCRI president’s position.
If the two jobs can easily be performed simultaneously by the same person, one wonders why the state originally had separate positions, with six-figure salaries attached. Rhode Island is a small state for sure, but no one knew it was that small.
