2025 -- S 1164

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

CONGRATULATING DR. ROSEMARY A. COSTIGAN, PH.D., RN, ON HER SELECTION

AS PRESIDENT OF THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF RHODE ISLAND

     Introduced By: Senators Tikoian, Burke, Ciccone, and Raptakis

     Date Introduced: June 20, 2025

     Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration

     WHEREAS, On June 18, 2025, Dr. Rosemary Costigan was unanimously selected by the

Rhode Island Council on Postsecondary Education to be the 6th President of the Community

College of Rhode Island. She holds the distinction of being the first alumna and second-ever

woman to serve as the College's President; and

     WHEREAS, Upon graduating from Pawtucket West High School, the Nursing Program

at CCRI, and Rhode Island College, Dr. Costigan began her career at the Community College of

RI teaching and mentoring nursing students as a faculty member and subsequently as Department

Chair; and

     WHEREAS, Dr. Costigan's career advanced as she was named Assistant Dean of Nursing

Education, soon followed by Vice President for Academic Affairs, and in September of 2023,

was named Interim President of CCRI. She currently holds an Associate Degree in Nursing from

CCRI, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Rhode Island College, and both a Master of

Science and Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing from the University of Rhode Island; and

     WHEREAS, Over the past two years, during Dr. Costigan's tenure serving as Interim

President, she is credited with leading the College through a period of growth and transformation,

earning a 10-year reaccreditation from the New England Commission of Higher Education, and

with securing the largest private donation for the College, to name but a few of her outstanding

achievements; and

     WHEREAS, Dr. Costigan's successes have not simply been the result of good fortune,

but have, moreover, been due to her commitment, talents, intellectual aptitude, and her focus on

advancing access, equity, and excellence in higher education; and

     WHEREAS, Earning the respect of her peers, Dr. Costigan has been recognized as a

"deeply experienced administrator with decades of teaching experience" whose long list of

accomplishments and lifelong commitment to CCRI are powerful assets; and

     WHEREAS, Dr. Costigan has been inducted into the CCRI Society of Knights in 2016,

named one of Providence Business News' Business Women of the Year in 2024, and received

both the Rosemary Wood Nursing Leadership Award and the Academic Excellence Award from

the Hospital Association of Rhode Island. She is truly a paradigm of the very best leadership

qualities and is eminently worthy of our praise and acknowledgement; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island hereby congratulates

Rosemary Costigan on her inauguration as President of the Community College of Rhode Island.

We furthermore wish her continued success, fulfillment, and good health; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Rosemary Costigan, Ph.D., RN.

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