Thomas D. Sepe will step down at the end of this year and return to teaching.

01:31 AM EST on Friday, December 9, 2005

BY JENNIFER D. JORDAN
Journal Staff Writer

Thomas D. Sepe, president of the Community College of Rhode Island since 2000, resigned yesterday, just days before a scheduled vote on whether to renew his contract.

The resignation, effective Dec. 31, was released jointly by Sepe and Frank Caprio, chairman of the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education. In a letter to CCRI's faculty, staff and students, Sepe said he made the decision "only after much consideration of the college and introspection about my own professional needs and interests." He said he was "extremely proud of all that we have accomplished together, in so many areas of the college."

As for his future, Sepe, 64, said he plans to return to teaching.

"I am anxious to begin this career transition and I will begin preparing right away," Sepe said in the statement. "I also intend to continue my involvement in the state's economic development activities."

Sepe said through a spokeswoman that he would have no further comment.

On Monday, the 12-member Board of Governors is expected to renew a three-year contract for the president of the University of Rhode Island, Robert L. Carothers. The board's personnel committee unanimously recommended renewal earlier this week.

But the committee declined to make a recommendation on Sepe's contract, leaving his future as president unclear.

Yesterday, Caprio highlighted several of Sepe's accomplishments, including reaching out to the state's business community and offering courses tied to work-force training, as well as his efforts to fundraise for the college. Caprio also praised Sepe's focus on support centers for struggling students and his role in opening the college's newest campus in Newport this fall.

The Board of Governors will honor the terms of Sepe's contract, which expires June 30, said Jack Warner, commissioner of higher education. Currently, Sepe earns $170,000, plus benefits, and is provided with a house at CCRI's Warwick campus and a car. He will continue to be paid his presidential salary and has the option of remaining in the house for the next six months, or receiving a "reasonable" monthly housing stipend if he chooses to move before July. But Sepe will be asked to reimburse the state for future use of the car, Warner said.

When the contract expires, Sepe, who was granted the rank of tenured professor when he was hired, will be paid 60 percent of his current salary, or $102,000 a year.

Sepe will use the next six months to "prepare for this transition," Warner said. However, it is unclear whether Sepe will start teaching next fall. He will probably request a paid sabbatical from the Board of Governors when his contract expires in July, an option extended to all tenured professors with six years of service in the state public college system, Warner said.

Sepe could request a semester-long sabbatical, where he would receive full pay, or a yearlong sabbatical at half pay, Warner said.

"The board would be receptive to such a request" for a paid sabbatical, Warner said.

The Board of Governors will now seek to hire an acting president for the spring semester, Warner said, while it prepares for a nationwide search to find a permanent replacement. Warner said he hopes to have an interim leader by Monday's Board of Governors' meeting.

"The board is grateful for the contribution [Sepe] has made and we wish him well in his future endeavors," Warner said. "The board also recognizes that many important changes need to happen at the community college, and we appreciate the fact that President Sepe has been a change agent."

As for the next president, Warner said the board will be looking for someone "who will work with faculty and staff to advance CCRI in many important ways."

SEPE'S RESIGNATION follows a tumultuous year for him and CCRI.

CCRI's faculty union took a no-confidence vote against Sepe early this year, the first such action in the college's history. The union also asked the Board of Governors to terminate Sepe's contract a year early. Union leaders criticized Sepe's leadership style as autocratic, and some faculty said he micromanaged the institution.

Supporters, including community and business leaders and some CCRI faculty, said Sepe was simply trying to improve the college. They pointed out that CCRI's previous president, Edward J. Liston, served for 22 years and granted departments a great deal of autonomy. In addition, about 72 percent of CCRI's unionized faculty has worked at the college for a decade or more.

The Board of Governors, aware of the growing bitterness at the college, decided in May to keep Sepe in office for the time being, but board members said they wanted to see his plan to heal the damaged relationships.

It appeared that little progress had been made by the end of the summer, when the 300-member faculty threatened to strike before classes began this fall over protracted contract negotiations. In the end, a strike was averted, but relations did not improve. In addition, a series of studies conducted by the Board of Governors and media reports exposed several weaknesses at CCRI. The problems included professors teaching more courses than their contract permits, low graduation rates and delays in awarding students financial aid.

This fall, the faculty union held another no-confidence vote and once again asked the Board of Governors to not renew Sepe's contract, saying he had created a "toxic" work environment.

Yesterday, the union thanked the board for its "careful, deliberative judgment."

"We look forward to better and brighter days here at CCRI," Marjorie Norquist, union president, said in a news release. "Faculty members are united with renewed enthusiasm, in moving forward and creating again an environment that is a productive, collegial place for teaching and learning."

SEPE'S SUPPORTERS said they were saddened by his resignation.

"It's very disappointing," said Ron Caniglia, president of the CCRI Foundation, which raises money for the college.

Caniglia had worked in recent months to gather letters of support for Sepe. "He got tremendous support for his leadership and professionalism and goals and vision, and the way he worried about the students and the economic development of the state," Caniglia said. "But it all went on deaf ears."

Sepe was a "breath of fresh air" who was making needed changes at the college, but perhaps his status as an outsider worked against him, Caniglia said.

Sepe was born in Newport and lived in Cumberland as boy before moving away. He came to CCRI in 2000, after eight years as president of Mercer Community College in New Jersey. Before that, he held various administrative positions at community colleges in Maryland and New Jersey, beginning in 1970.

"You know how difficult it is here, as an outsider, and how parochial Rhode Island can be," Caniglia said. "It's a shame because anyone who heard him talk about his goals and what he was trying to achieve was impressed by him."

Jose Brito, president of the Southside Merchants Association in Providence, said he will miss Sepe, because the president had reached out to the community and started free business training courses for South Side residents. More than 150 residents of the neighborhood took the free classes, offered at CCRI's Providence campus the past couple of years. Without Sepe, Brito is worried the training and support will disappear.

"Over here on the South Side, Mr. Sepe was the only president of CCRI to help us in growing the business community," Brito said. "He even came to our meetings."

Staff writer Jennifer D. Jordan can be reached at jjordan@projo.com