MassBay Community College Interim President Leaving For Jersey

Massachusetts Bay Community College Interim President Dr. Yves Salomon-Fernandez has been named the seventh president of Cumberland County College in New Jersey.

She has an accepted an offer to become President of Vineyard, NJ college on July 1, overseeing 4,000 students in the college's 50th anniversary year. The official board of trustees vote is on March 17.

Appointed Interim President of Mass Bay in July, 2015, Salomon-Fernandez was the executive officer for the MassBay's Framingham campus, where she provided day-to-day management of the college's second-largest campus, which serves about 2,000 students at its Flagg Street location.

Massachusetts Bay Community College, with a main campus in Wellesley, is a state institution of 7,500 students with three physical campuses and a budget of nearly $40 million. The college employs about 600 faculty and staff.

Since her appointment as Interim President at MassBay, Salomon-Fernandez has led the development of the academic master plan, the strategic enrollment management and marketing plan, a multi-Year customer service plan, and is currently overseeing the completion of the comprehensive student retention plan.

She led the College’s 10-year accreditation and renewal process, collaborating with faculty and staff across academic divisions and administrative departments in the self-evaluation process.

Salomon-Fernandez helped facilitate a partnership with Boston College to bring more than $1 million from the National Science Foundation to create STEM pathways for local high school students.

She has also worked closely with Framingham State University leaders to secure a $500,000 grant to establish the MetroWest College Planning Center to create a college pipeline for underrepresented and underserved populations in the region.

In January 2016, MassBay and FSU announced the launch of a new partnership to offer a more affordable path to an associate’s and bachelor’s degree. Through FSU@MassBay, students can earn both an associate’s and bachelor’s degree in either liberal arts or business programs starting at $28,000, less than the cost of one year’s tuition at most private institutions across the country. She played a key role in the partnership.

And just last month, MassBay, Framingham State, the Commonwealth, along with Framingham High and Keefe Tech, announced a new program aimed at closing the achievement gap and getting 100 males into college.

Salomon-Fernandez has helped establish a professional mentoring program with Genzyme, a Sanofi company and the fifth largest international pharmaceutical company. The program, which launched in 2015, pairs MassBay students with scientists at Genzyme for mentorship, internship opportunities, and skills training.

She was working with the college’s entire legislative delegation to secure state funding for a new Framingham campus.

Salomon-Fernandez also currently sits on the Executive Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Network of the American Council on Education, the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce, the MetroWest/495 Corridor Partnership and is on the board of the local Workforce Investment Board.

Salomon-Fernandez earned her Ph.D. from Boston College, her Master’s degree from the London School of Economics, and her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts Boston.

She is fluent in four languages: English, French, Haitian Creole, and Spanish.

“Our eight-month search was an exhaustive one, but very rewarding,” Cumberland Trustees chair Pamela Sjogren said in the statement. “Our finalists were exceptional."