MARION DAVIS; Journal Staff Writer
January 19, 2001, Friday, All Editions
Copyright 2001 The Providence Journal Company
The Providence Journal-Bulletin
January 19, 2001, Friday, All Editions
(PROVIDENCE -- The Board of Governors for Higher Education voted unanimously yesterday to oppose arming the campus police at the state’s public colleges, and to send a message to legislators not to interfere.
The decision, made by a voice vote with no discussion, followed the advice of a special committee that had studied and held public hearings on the issue. It was also in line with the three college presidents’ wishes.
But the fight is expected to continue in the General Assembly, where a group of senators, led by Michael Damiani, D-East Providence, has already introduced a bill to require all campus police officers to carry guns.
Damiani’s proposal would override a law that now leaves the decision up to the governors. The senator did not return a call seeking comment last night, but he has said that he would keep pushing for guns regardless of the stance the board took, because he views this as a matter of public safety.
While many eyes were trained on the governors with regard to the gun question, another decision they made yesterday could have an even greater impact on higher education in Rhode Island.
By a 7-to-6 vote, the board rejected a proposal to allow for-profit institutions such as the Katharine Gibbs School, the Sawyer Schools and the University of Phoenix to grant academic degrees.
For-profits are the fastest-growing sector in higher education, and Rhode Island and Delaware appear to be the only states where such schools can’t grant at least associate’s degrees only certificates.
Delaware has never approved a degree program at a for-profit, but doesn’t forbid it by law. In Rhode Island, however, the law limits academic degrees to public or nonprofit private institutions.
Katharine Gibbs officials in particular have been lobbying to change the law, and, last month, after an in-depth review that included consultations with Brown University experts, the governors’ Academic Affairs Committee voted to support lifting the ban, as long as for-profits were tightly regulated.
The Office of Higher Education staff reviewed the offerings at some for-profits, compared them with the programs now available at the Community College of Rhode Island and at the New England Institute of Technology, and found that the for-profits could help to meet a high demand for degrees in several fast-growing areas, such as graphic design and computer-support services.
Based on that review and on extensive research about other states’ dealings with for-profits, Higher Education Commissioner William R. Holland also endorsed the proposal to let them grant degrees.
The plan was to change the law but impose special regulations on for-profits, above and beyond those for nonprofits, to address concerns about academic standards and financial issues.
But despite the precautions that were to be taken, several board members remained worried that for-profits would hurt education in Rhode Island. Officials from NEIT were vocal in their opposition and tried to raise concerns about the possible impact on CCRI. However, CCRI President Thomas D. Sepe wrote to the governors, saying he didn’t expect his college to be harmed, so long as the for-profits were held to the same standards as other schools.
Yesterday, reporting back to the full board, Academic Affairs Committee Chairman Elia Germani urged his fellow governors to give the for-profits a chance, assuring them that market forces would drive out any bad programs.
Michael F. Ryan, one of the governors, added that the proposal would give the board more regulatory power over for-profits than it has now, and that would help to protect the public. But Deborah A. Smith, another governor, said she was convinced that for-profits care mostly about the bottom line.
Board Chairwoman Sarah T. Dowling voted with the majority to oppose the plan. Asked what had driven her decision, she said only that the board believed it shouldn’t “make a change at this time.”
David J. Waldron, president of the Katharine Gibbs School in Rhode Island (there are campuses in several states), said he was “a little bit surprised, but not shocked,” and he vowed to keep trying.
“The stance of Katharine Gibbs is that this is a legal issue, and we will continue to pursue it at that level,” Waldron said. “We are confident that we will prevail, because it’s the right thing for the state.”
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