University of Rhode Island President David M. Dooley dictates an answer to spokeswoman Linda Acciardo in the projo.com newsroom, where he answered questions from projo.com readers.

THE Providence Journal / Timothy Barmann

David M. Dooley, the new president of the University of Rhode Island, took part in an online chat on projo.com, The Providence Journal’s Web site, for more than an hour Wednesday morning, a week after the academic year began. He answered some 25 questions, ranging from the use of alcohol on campus to cuts in athletic programs to how URI can help attract jobs to the state. We’ve posted a full transcript of his responses on projo.com. Below are some excerpts from the exchange:

Q. courtjester: Each and every year URI graduates a large number of students with degrees in the sciences and engineering. Many — maybe even most — of these students end up leaving Rhode Island. This has been going on for decades. What can the university do, if anything, to help the state stem this brain drain? What suggestions would you have for the state in attempting to turn this trend around?

A. Dooley: This is a terrific question, jester. I have said several times that an important priority for URI as a research university should be the creation of new employers, not just well-trained workers. This must involve research and technology transfer — the generation of new and commercializable intellectual property. I want the university to do its part and we are prepared, I think, to do that, but there are other important pieces to the puzzle of creating a new knowledge-based economy in Rhode Island. We certainly intend to be at the table with our best minds to work on this problem for the state.

Q. alexandb: My daughter entered URI this fall as a freshman elementary education major, the Board of Regents of Higher Ed has listed that major as one to [be] eliminated unless enrollment is increased. URI was one of the five schools she was accepted to, and it was her decision to attend. What will happen if the elementary education major is eliminated before she is able to graduate? RIC is not an option because the course offerings at RIC force students to attend 5 or 6 years to graduate.

A. Dooley: We intend to make sure that all our currently enrolled students are able to complete their educations in the field in which they have entered. That said, my goal will be to increase enrollment in our teacher education programs and the quality of those programs because I believe Rhode Island and the nation need well-prepared dedicated teachers. The need is especially acute for teachers who are prepared to teach math and science at both the elementary and secondary levels, and I think this should be an important priority for URI.

Q. 1999 Engineering Alumni: With the recent changes to allow alcohol at football games, will there be any other changes to the alcohol policy at URI? Will alcohol be allowed to be served at basketball games? Will the Greek system be allowed to have official on-campus events with alcohol?

A. Dooley: We will be looking at many policies and practices at URI with the view to ensure that these policies and practices continue to be the best ones for the university. Our policies around the availability of alcoholic beverages are some of those that we are examining. The first step of reinstituting tailgating appears to be a great success. We will look at other practices and may make additional changes. However, we will continuously evaluate the outcomes of these changes and, if problems emerge, will not hesitate to make adjustments or to reverse course.

Q. knking: Do you have any specific plans related to technology for the university? URI has a rural main campus, removed from a lot, so technology is that much more important, but there isn’t much in the way of technical offerings. Some professors have online courses, but most of them have a hard time using e-mail. So many things have to still be done on paper, e-mail at URI is kind of a joke ... is it a priority to you to move URI ahead in the technology realm?

A. Dooley: We are actively pursuing a rapid expansion of Web-based and other distance-delivery mechanisms for courses and programs. This will be increasingly important, and our provost, working with the faculty, has initiated new programs to expand our offerings. We also want to upgrade the technologies in our classrooms to benefit the instructional experience. Yes, we do have challenges here and part of the rationale for a new planning and budgeting process that we have been developing on the campus is to enable us to make strategic investments and this and other areas important to the success of our students.

Q. Shelley: Hello President Dooley. What are the main changes you are trying to implement at this time?

A. Dooley: Thanks, Shelley, for the question. My main focus is in two areas. First, I want to engage the entire campus in efforts to improve and enhance our educational programs at both the graduate and the undergraduate levels. Second, and closely related, is to institute new planning and budgeting processes to enable the university to more closely and effectively link its priorities to the budgeting process. In addition, I will be working with the faculty and leadership of URI to continue the growth and development of our research and creative work on campus and to engage students more fully in these activities.

Q. Jato822: What plans do you have for increasing access to URI for low-income students?

A. Dooley: This is a challenging issue for us in the current economic climate. We must always seek the balance among access, affordability and quality. Currently, URI provides more than $60 million annually in financial aid, much of that going to Rhode Island students. We will be working with the state and our supporters to maintain our ability to provide adequate financial aid, but we certainly do struggle with the dramatic decrease in state funding to support the education of Rhode Islanders. This is a national problem for public higher education and we will be working on a variety of fronts to help craft solutions so that qualified students can benefit from an excellent education at a research-intensive university.

Q. Linder: I am curious as to why you have brought alcohol back to the campus for tailgating parties. What benefit do you see to it?

A. Dooley: As I mentioned earlier, the decision about tailgating came in the context of a thorough review of a number of policies and practices at URI. It just happened to be the first one that was announced. It won’t be the most important change that we make — the dramatic changes that I foresee in our research and educational programs will be far more important. That said, the primary motivation for changing our rules around tailgating was to improve the Saturday game-day experience for everyone who comes. College football Saturdays can be a lot of fun for fans, supporters and the university community and can help bring the members of our community together. We reviewed the practices of many of our peer institutions in New England and beyond, and nearly all of them have very similar policies and have found that they have had a positive impact. Our approach involves a carefully controlled and monitored tailgating experience and we will continue to evaluate it.

Q. carla: How do you see URI creating jobs in RI ?

A. Dooley: First of all, URI has had considerable success in this area. More than 800 of our alumni either own or serve as CEOs of businesses in Rhode Island. The heart of the matter is to create new intellectual property that can serve as the foundation for new businesses. This is one reasons why expanding the research activity of URI is so important. This will be a key priority for the University as we seek to work closely with the leadership of the state, the business community, and our delegation to Washington to expand URI’s research mission. We will also be working on expanding the support and consulting assistance that URI provides, and developing educational programs to produce more entrepreneurs.

For a full version of this transcript, go to: projo.com/education