Arboretum Master Plan

Mission Statement

Rhode Island College is a 180-acre campus located in the city of Providence, Rhode Island. The mission of the Rhode Island College Arboretum is to provide a beautiful, welcoming outdoor space to the campus community and the general public.

Objectives

• to best maintain and sustain this wonderful campus and its trees
• to host events open to the students, faculty, and the public that celebrate trees
• to be home to a diverse number of trees and woody plants
• to have our trees be home to local animal life
• to use our trees as educational devices for student organizations and classes

Management

The trees on campus are maintained and cared for by the Department of Facilities and Operations under the direction of the Associate Director of Facilities and Operations, Business Management and Grounds. The Associate Director is a Rhode Island licensed arborist. He performs visual inspections of all the trees on campus and creates work orders for tree trimming and pruning if necessary and removal if warranted. The Associate Director will also select trees, purchase trees, determine planting location, and will oversee the preparation and planting of trees on campus. 

Historically, RIC spends in excess of $50,000 per year on tree care activities. The Highway & Landscaping line item in the Landscaping & Grounds budget for FY24 is $125,000 from which the $50,000 amount is accessed. Campus Groundskeepers perform small tree pruning and planting and that is included in the annual minimum of $50,000 spent on tree care on campus.

Documentation of Trees

A catalog of arboretum trees is available in Celebrating the Trees of RIC. The types of trees are listed and their locations are mapped.

Work Plan

The annual work plan is often developed during the summer months when campus activity is a bit slower. This allows groundskeepers to prune trees that may block road signage and raise the canopies over sidewalks to prevent injury to pedestrians. Tree maintenance contractors are hired to perform larger tree removals and trimming using a bucket truck. Removing dead limbs in an attempt to save a tree as long as possible is a common practice. 

All new building and parking lot construction has and will continue to include new trees. RIC always tries to preserve larger trees around construction sites but sometimes progress dooms a tree. RIC does plant more trees by quantity than it removes from construction projects. New tree types are recommended by the Associate Director.