[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 6898]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                      TRIBUTE TO EDWARD J. LISTON

 Mr. REED. Mr. President, it is with great honor that I rise 
today to acknowledge a truly distinguished Rhode Islander, Edward J. 
Liston, who after having diligently served for 22 years will be 
retiring as the President of the Community College of Rhode Island on 
May 7th, 2000. President Liston currently resides in the town of 
Warwick, Rhode Island, with his wife Judith, where he is a proud father 
to six wonderful children: Christina, Edward, Jennifer, Judith, Mark, 
and Nancy.
  Throughout his tenure as President, Edward Liston worked hard to 
provide both educational and job training opportunities for Rhode 
Islanders of all walks of life. Upon his arrival on campus in 1978, to 
more accurately reflect his mission for the institution, President 
Liston immediately set out to change the name of what was then known as 
the Junior College of Rhode Island, to its present name of the 
Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI). In order to further expand 
CCRI's programs into the community, President Liston established a 
system of satellite campuses in various local high schools that would 
offer evening courses in such towns as Woonsocket, Westerly, and 
Middletown. In addition, he successfully made inroads to provide 
educational courses at the Adult Correctional Institution in Cranston.
  President Liston strongly believes that CCRI should have a presence 
in Rhode Island's inner city communities. In 1990, he opened a downtown 
Providence Campus which started with a total enrollment of 650 
students. Today, over 2,000 students are taking classes at that campus, 
and plans are underway for an expansion funded by a 1998 bond issue. To 
acknowledge this achievement, the state has renamed the Providence 
campus the Edward J. Liston Campus.
  Immediately after opening the Providence campus, President Liston 
worked to make CCRI the first higher education institution in Rhode 
Island to offer television courses through the public broadcasting 
system on Channel 36. To no surprise, this initiative also flourished, 
and has led to an increase in viewer enrollment from 100 students, to 
1,200 students per semester. In 1989, PBS ranked CCRI the number one 
school in the country for deliverance of telecourses. Still pushing 
forward, President Liston then worked to establish a series of 
partnerships with business and industry leaders to improve the Rhode 
Island workforce through customized training designed for a particular 
company. One of the first partnerships was with General Dynamics' 
Electric Boat Division. This initiative involved a combination of on 
the job apprenticeship training, and classroom instruction that 
resulted in an associate degree. This first step led to the creation of 
the Center for Business and Industrial Training, now a part of the 
college's Office of Workforce Development. This center was also 
directly responsible for the creation of the successful Dental Hygiene 
program at the college, due to its partnership with the Rhode Island 
Dental Association.
  On behalf of all Rhode Islanders, I would like to take this 
opportunity to personally extend my deepest thanks and gratitude to 
Edward Liston for his continued hard work and dedication over the years 
to improving the lives of so many Rhode Islanders and their 
families.

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