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It has been more than two years since Frank Sanchez announced he would be stepping away as president of Rhode Island College, and the search for his permanent successor appears to be winding down.
The state Council on Postsecondary Education has narrowed its list to three finalists and will interview all of them this week.
They are:
Jack Warner
Warner has been the interim president since June 1, 2022. He has a deep understanding of how Rhode Island government works, having served as postsecondary commissioner for seven years before running the public higher education system in South Dakota. Since taking over for Sanchez, he has balanced RIC’s budget while also pushing for the creation of a cybersecurity institute that is led by former US representative James Langevin, a RIC alum. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Vermont, a master’s degree from Springfield College, and a doctorate from Boston College.
Jeffrey M. Osborn
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The provost and vice president for academic affairs at The College of New Jersey, Osborn is scheduled to interview with the council today. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Texas State University, and a Ph.D. from Ohio State University. TCNJ and RIC are quite similar, so Osborn would be able to hit the ground running. They’re both considered teachers’ colleges that are a little overshadowed by larger public institutions in their states (Rutgers in New Jersey and URI here in Rhode Island).
Dean Libutti
Libutti is an associate vice president for enrollment management and student success at URI, and he’s been at the school since 1999. He appears to have deep experience with student recruiting and retention, which has always been a major challenge for RIC. Having strong knowledge of the state and region are also major assets. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Villanova University, a master’s from URI, and his doctorate from Johnson & Wales. He is scheduled for a final interview on Wednesday.
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The bigger picture: Warner is widely believed to be in the driver’s seat to be named the permanent president (full disclosure: I wrote that he deserves the job last year), but the search committee was quite impressed with Osborn and Libutti.
Once the RIC search is finished, the council will turn its attention to the Community College of Rhode Island presidential search. It’s possible that Osborn and Libutti could both get a look for that job as well.
This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, links to interesting stories, and more. If you’d like to receive it via email Monday through Friday, you can sign up here.
Dan McGowan can be reached at dan.mcgowan@globe.com. Follow him @danmcgowan.