Cautioning that plans are still preliminary, Di Pasquale on Jan. 11 said that school administrators will be seeking to construct a 200-bed residence hall at the Knight Campus in the coming years.

Di Pasquale told Providence Business News that he foresees nothing being built until 2012, but school officials already have put a dollar amount to the construction costs – $25 million – and have gained the approval of the R.I. Board of Higher Education to proceed with preliminaryly plans...

...Di Pasquale noted that contingents of educators from China and the Dominican Republic looking to build partnerships with U.S. schools recently visited CCRI. “But we’re at a disadvantage because we have no place to house them,” he said, referring to international students...

...Such partnerships could, in part, lead to a better college experience for local CCRI students, Di Pasquale said...“It would give them a flavor of the international world.”

Other community colleges nationwide have taken a similar step in recent years...Under CCRI’s plans, construction would be financed by a bond issue and would not require taxpayer contributions. Housing fees from students living in the dorm would pay off the bond, Di Pasquale said.