Fernandez: I’m a proven president

Northern Marianas College president Dr. Carmen Fernandez said everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but she won’t allow the criticisms to get in the way of her doing her job.

She said this yesterday at the NMC campus in As Teo after being warmly welcomed by students, faculty, and staff.

“I am so honored and overjoyed to be back home at the college. I love the college so much and I’m so happy that God has given me this opportunity and the board has given me the trust and confidence to be able to come back and complete the dreams, priorities, and goals that I have for the college,” said Fernandez.

She also touched on the Board of Regents and said, “I think everyone would work well together. Once the board makes a decision, they need to be unified after the decision is made. So certainly I’m sure we’re going to have a good working relationship.”

A former president and now current president of the CNMI’s lone community college, Fernandez said that she was the most qualified candidate. “Actually I came out to be the highest qualified candidate. I did very well in terms of my qualifications as well as my interviews with the board, so I went through the process. Certainly, I’m a proven president,” she added.

Fernandez also reminded everyone of her past accomplishments, saying she is already looking forward to NMC’s future.

“I’m the president that led the college to reaffirmation in 2009, so there are many accomplishments. Now going forward, there’s much more work for the college to do, especially in regards to helping the training and development of the workforce. I really look forward to working with everyone, and every individual is entitled to their own opinion, so I respect that, but certainly if the people would give me a chance they’ll see all of the improvements that will occur here in the college.”

According to Fernandez, the main priority of NMC would be accreditation. “We’re having a special visit, so accreditation is absolutely the top priority. For accreditation, in order to be fully accredited, you must be compliant with standards at all times, so certainly we have to get ready. If the visiting team comes and finds something out of standard, then it could be a problem for us. So we really have to get ready for this special visit and it’s going to be a lot of time to make sure that we review everything, make sure we’re up to standard for everything, to make sure that we are well prepared for that visit,” said Fernandez.

Despite being criticized by Northern Marianas Trades Institution CEO Agnes McPhetres, Fernandez said that she still wants to maintain a healthy relationship with NMTI.

“I want to say that I look forward to working closely with NMTI and supporting NMTI with their initiatives. I intend to partner with them, and former NMC president McPhetres is entitled to her opinion as well, and I respect it, but that is not going to stop me from reaching out to NMTI and the college giving their support to NMTI,” said Fernandez.

Fernandez has a busy month ahead, moving back into office and even plans on meeting the government with regards to NMC’s future.

“Starting next week I will begin my external meetings. This week I’m focusing on the campus, students, faculty, and staff, so next week I’ll be going to Rota and Tinian to meet the people there, and so next week I intend to have meetings with NMTI, [Public School System], the Legislature, and of course the Executive Branch.”

Fernandez was offered the job after the Board of Regents meeting last Sept. 30 and started her first day in office last Tuesday, Oct. 4.