12 p.m. (EST) |
Join us for an inspiring and thought-provoking webinar, Breaking Barriers: Women Leading Change in Higher Education, a dynamic 75-minute panel discussion facilitated by Dr. Kristine Barnett.
This engaging session will feature accomplished women leaders sharing their personal leadership journeys, insights into overcoming challenges, and strategies for fostering gender equity in senior roles. Explore topics such as navigating biases, evolving leadership styles, mentoring the next generation, and achieving work-life balance. Gain actionable advice and inspiration to chart your own path or empower others to lead confidently in the ever-changing landscape of higher education. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from trailblazers redefining higher education leadership!
Our Facilitator:
Dr. Barnett is an experienced leader in higher education, both as a faculty member and as an academic administrator. She is the Provost at Columbia College (July 2022), in Columbia, South Carolina, overseeing all aspects of undergraduate and graduate education.
Dr. Barnett joined 国产哟哟 College in 2008 as an adjunct instructor, designing and teaching courses in the Masters in Higher Education online program. In 2010, she became a full-time administrator at 国产哟哟 as the Assistant Dean of the Graduate School, overseeing graduate programs in Higher Education Administration, Non-Profit Management and Strategic Fundraising and Philanthropy. As a graduate of a women’s college and as an advocate for women’s empowerment, Dr. Barnett’s position evolved as she co-led the design and development of the We Empower Learners and Leaders (WELL) program. Since 2011, she has held a variety of administrative leadership positions at 国产哟哟, serving as a leader in both Academic Affairs and 国产哟哟. Until 2021, she was the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Dean of Liberal Studies. Her responsibilities included oversight of the Communications and Liberal Studies programs, including the Performing Arts, the Honors program, WELL, and Academic Advising. As Vice Provost, she oversaw issues of compliance, accreditation, and assessment. She also served as the University’s Title IX Coordinator.
Previously, Dr. Barnett coordinated all aspects of the campus-wide writing portfolio program at the University of Saint Joseph. In this role, she trained faculty to assess and monitor portfolios and other assessment activities, counseled and advised students regarding their portfolios and program progress, tutored undergraduate and graduate students, served as a writing associate for many courses across the curriculum and developed and taught composition and professional communications courses.
Dr. Barnett has worked at Johnson and Wales University where she managed the Graduate School’s Professional Communication Center and served as an adjunct faculty member and graduate school tutor. She also developed and implemented programs within the Graduate School’s Professional Communications Center. Dr. Barnett also has extensive business experience having worked within the marketing communications area for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Connecticut and HealthRight, Inc.
Dr. Barnett is a frequent conference presenter on a variety of topics related to higher education leadership and is the co-author of Unlocking the Doors to College and Career Success and author of Leading College Writing Centers into the Future: Strategies for Survival and Sustainability. She received her bachelor of arts in English from Russell Sage College; master of arts in English from Central Connecticut State University; and her doctorate in Leadership in Higher Education from Johnson & Wales University.
Our Panelists:
DR. YVES SALOMON-FERNÁNDEZ
Dr. Yves Salomon-Fernández is the President of Urban College of Boston. She assumed the role in August 2023. Prior to joining Urban College, Dr. Salomon-Fernández served as Senior Vice President for Operations Planning at Southern New Hampshire University. Before SNHU, Yves led several community colleges as president in Massachusetts and New Jersey.
Dr. Salomon-Fernández is committed to service in her discipline and communities. She serves on the Accountability and Assistance Advisory Council for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. She is also a member of the Steering Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Inclusive Economies initiative that creates private-public partnerships to ensure full economic participation in urban and rural communities. She is a former member of the Federal Reserve Bank’s Community Development Advisory Council and a former Corporator of Greenfield Cooperative Bank. Dr. Salomon-Fernández periodically serves as a reviewer for the National Science Foundation and Johns Hopkins University Press. She is currently on the Editorial Board for Wiley’s New Directions for Community College journal.
Yves Salomon-Fernández is a current member of the Board of Directors at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). She also serves as the Board Chair of Mass Humanities and as a member of the Board of Double Edge Theater in rural western Massachusetts. She also serves on the Advisory Board of Eaglebrook School in Deerfield and Codman Academy located in Boston.
President Yves Salomon-Fernández understands first-hand the challenges and opportunities of college faculty. As an adjunct faculty member, Yves has taught at the undergraduate and graduate levels at Boston College, William and Mary, the University of Massachusetts—Amherst, and Salem State University, among others.
In January 2021, Yves received the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)-Cengage Inclusion Scholarship, recognizing her accomplishments as an inclusive leader in higher education whose efforts have reduced equity gaps, improved inclusion and belonging for minoritized students, and/or promoted diversity in hiring practices. In March 2018, Diverse Issues in Higher Education named her one of the Top 25 Women in Higher Education.
Dr. Salomon-Fernández emigrated with her family from Haiti and is a graduate of Boston Latin School. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts Boston and holds a certificate from the University of Oxford. Her master’s degree is from the London School of Economics, and her Ph.D. is from Boston College. In addition to English, Dr. Salomon-Fernández is fluent in Haitian Creole, French, and Spanish. Her personal website may be accessed here www.prezyves.org. Her social media handle is @PrezYves.
DR. SANDRA S. HARPER
Dr. Sandra S. Harper, a native of Dallas, Texas, served as the president of McMurry University in Abilene, Texas from October 1, 2013, until January 10, 2025, when she retired. Prior to her McMurry appointment, Harper served as the president of Our Lady of the Lake College (now named Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana from 2006-2013 and as the provost and vice president for academic affairs and professor of communication at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi from 1998-2006. Harper’s other administrative posts included serving as the vice president for academic affairs at Oklahoma City University and as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at McMurry University. Harper served as a faculty member in the communication and theatre department at McMurry University from 1985-1995.
Harper received her Bachelor of Science from Texas Tech University and her Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of North Texas. Harper also completed the Harvard Management Development Program and the Governor’s Executive Development Program at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin.
In 2011, Harper was named a Distinguished Alumna by the Texas Tech University College of Education. In 2020, she received the Carol Luthman Meritorious Service Award from the Southern Association of College and Schools Commission on Colleges. She is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who of American Women, and Who’s Who in American Education. Harper has received the Management Excellence Award from the Society for the Advancement of Management, the Y Women in Careers Award from the Corpus Christi YWCA, the Outstanding Faculty Award and the Outstanding Administrator Award from McMurry University, the American Association of University Women Abilene Branch Women of Outstanding Achievement, and the Women of Power and Purpose Award from the Regional Victim Crisis Center in Abilene.
While at McMurry as president, Harper guided the university’s two strategic plans, two fundraising campaigns, a SACSCOC reaffirmation, record enrollment growth, the celebration of the university’s centennial, a 40% increase in its endowment, and a change in intercollegiate athletics conferences.
She has been married to Dave Harper for fifty years. The couple has two adult sons, two daughters-in-law and six grandchildren.
DR. KARA KOLOMITZ
Dr. Kara Kolomitz joins The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University as the schools’ inaugural joint chief operating officer.
Kolomitz, who begins her new duties Feb. 6, has worked in Catholic higher education for more than 25 years, including as COO from 2016-22 at Regis College, a liberal arts institution in suburban Boston. She led all internal operations, units and staff at the school, which serves approximately 3,400 students, and was responsible for institutional, organizational and operational strategy, risk management, and financial aid budget and modeling.
“Dr. Kolomitz brings a deep passion for our mission,” said Brian Bruess, who became the inaugural president of both CSB and SJU last summer. “The search committee was impressed with her leadership qualities, her deep understanding of the challenges facing higher education and her proven ability to lead change.”
Kolomitz started at Regis College in 2001 as director of community and residential life and rose to become dean of students and vice president of student affairs and enrollment. In the latter role, she was credited with increasing enrollment and assisting in the implementation of a plan to address systemic racism that was recognized with Higher Education Excellence in Diversity awards. She helped increase athletic participation from 65% to 90% of roster capacity and under her direction, the school improved first-year retention and graduation rates by developing an early-warning tracking system to assess student progress and identify barriers and interventions. That infrastructure helped support students eligible for federal Pell grants to where they graduated from Regis College at a higher rate than those in four-year public institutions.
Kolomitz earned a doctorate in educational leadership from Johnson & Wales University in 2016 and completed a master’s degree in higher education at Providence College in 1997. She served at Providence in residential life and student affairs positions for eight years after her 1993 graduation from Regis University in Denver with a bachelor’s degree in communication arts and philosophy.
