The University of Rhode Island’s 11th president, David M. Dooley, says he will not hesitate to alter university policies and procedures that he believes have outlived their usefulness.

The Providence Journal / John Freidah

SOUTH KINGSTOWN — The University of Rhode Island’s 11th president, David M. Dooley, is still moving into his new life, unpacking boxes at home, hanging favorite paintings in his Green Hall office and finding his way around the Kingston campus.

Already, though, the new president is making changes, some of them significant, at the state’s flagship research institution. He’s converting the basement of the president’s house into a welcoming gathering spot for students. He has decided to put students on the university’s budget committee. And, most notably, he has already reversed a 15-year-old ban on alcohol at tailgating parties.

Dooley, 57, says he plans to review many of the university’s policies and procedures and will not hesitate to alter those he believes have outlived their usefulness.

His decision earlier this month to permit URI donors to bring and consume alcohol in designated parking lots before football games, and to allow football fans to purchase beer and wine in yet another area, marks a dramatic departure from the alcohol-free policies instituted by Dooley’s predecessor, Robert L. Carothers, when URI was proclaimed a top party school.

Since then, URI, which has 16,000 students, has refurbished its image and received national attention for its attempts to curb underage drinking. Carothers is considered a leader in the effort to crack down on alcohol abuse and received several awards during his presidency for his work in this area.

Now the Sept. 5 football game against Fordham will feature tailgating parties.

“I think President Carothers did the right thing at the time and I think he succeeded in his goals,” Dooley said. “The university does not have its old reputation. … But no decision, no matter how right at the time, should not be reconsidered. It’s very healthy for institutions to do that.”

Another priority of Carothers — to build a research and technology park in the woods across from Flagg Road on the campus’ north perimeter — will also come under closer scrutiny.

Dooley, a chemist and biologist who is credited with doubling research grants as provost at Montana State University, says URI must increase its research capacity, and that a research and technology park could help encourage spinoff companies that in turn will strengthen the state’s economy.

But the impact of the current recession forces a rethinking of the concept, first publicly promoted by Carothers in 2007.

In addition, the new president is aware that some faculty are concerned the park would disrupt a pristine 100-year forest that is valuable to environmentalists and biologists who use the woods for teaching.

“This fall we will have a serious look at the proposal,” Dooley said. “In this economic climate, we don’t want to start a venture without a very good chance of success. The university can’t afford to sink a lot of money into it and companies might be reluctant. It may be [the park] has to be a joint venture between the private sector, the university, and even the government.”

Other changes are taking shape on the Kingston campus, where classes begin Sept. 9.

Dooley and his wife, Lynn Baker-Dooley, 54, an American Baptist minister, have moved into the on-campus President’s House. The white Colonial was seldom used by Carothers in the second half of his 17-year presidency. Carothers moved out of the home several years ago, preferring a private residence in Saunderstown.

The Dooleys had the interior rooms repainted in a palate that reflects the Rhode Island landscape and URI’s Rhody spirit, with vivid sky blue dominating the living room and sun room and pale, sandy beige in the foyer.

They are sprucing up the basement and installing a handicapped bathroom so the large, paneled area can be used by various student organizations who will be invited throughout the year, said Baker-Dooley.

“I think during President [Edward D.] Eddy’s presidency, he had it remodeled so he could have students over,” she said. “It has beautiful wood paneling and a huge fireplace and a kitchen and a private entrance from the driveway. It’s a perfect space. You could have 30 to 40 people down there, sitting around the TV and fireplace.”

“We envision hosting Super Bowl parties and holding cookouts in the yard,” Baker-Dooley said. “We have to keep in mind that everything we do in higher education is about the students.”

The Dooleys’ focus on students extends to their personal life as well.

For over 20 years, the couple have invited students to live with them, first when Dooley was a professor at Amherst College and their son and daughter were young, and later, during the Dooleys’ 16 years in Montana.

“It started with the sons or daughters of friends, and then eventually it became friends of our children, who either needed a place to stay after a roommate moved out, or who needed some financial assistance, and staying with us made sense,” Baker-Dooley said.

The Dooleys’ two grown children, Christopher, 25, and Samantha, 22, won’t be around much. Christopher recently moved to Los Angeles hoping to enter the film industry. Samantha has applied to medical schools and will spend the fall studying Spanish in Costa Rica.

The family kept their home in Bozeman, Mont., and plan to meet there for family ski and hiking vacations, Baker-Dooley said.

The Dooleys brought Rhody, their new Australian shepherd, with them when they drove across the country this summer. They have been exploring the Narragansett coast and restaurants in Newport, Dooley said. The couple are looking forward to a New England fall, after a lapse of 16 years.

Dooley said he is considering expanding programs offered by URI’s downtown Providence campus.

“The Providence campus was an inspired idea,” Dooley said. “I think it’s very important for the University of Rhode Island to have a presence in Providence and help students who may not be able to come to Kingston and get the education that URI can provide. There may be other opportunities for URI to build more programs in the Providence-metro area.”

Dooley signed a three-year contract and earns $320,000 a year — about $100,000 more than Carothers — plus $20,000 in retirement contributions and has the use of a car and the house. An installation ceremony is scheduled for the spring.

He said he wants to expand URI’s global reach and influence through programs such as the international engineering program and foreign language programs. At the same time, Dooley wants to strengthen local partnerships, such as the URI collaboration with Central Falls High School.

“Part of the responsibility and historic mission of land grant institutions is to reach out and build stronger relationships in the community,” Dooley said. “I would certainly be open to [more collaborations], but I also realize that we may have more opportunities than resources.”

Dooley knows resources are a big problem. He takes over URI at a difficult moment financially. Tuition and fees have increased by about 10 percent a year in the past two years in an effort to address severe state cutbacks to the three state colleges — about $30 million in the last three years.

“We would have preferred for the resources to be more than they are,” Dooley said. “The university can play an important role in society, but we need resources.” He said URI has never been funded as generously as other public universities, a long-standing issue that may serve the university well.

“The good news is, the university is used to stretching every dollar,” Dooley said. “I see that as a positive attribute.”

jjordan@projo.com