USMH leader retiring after decade on the job

A national search will be conducted this fall for the University System of Maryland at Hagerstown's next executive director, with Mark Halsey retiring this month after more than a decade on the job.

His last official day as executive director of the regional higher education center in downtown Hagerstown will be July 26, said Halsey, 67.

Halsey said it's time to retire and he wants to go out "on a high note."

"It has been a remarkable journey. I've enjoyed working with the community leaders and the parents and the students — many of whom are adult students — throughout the 10 years," Halsey said of his tenure.

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"We greatly appreciate his efforts, especially to expand the programs that are available out here," said Washington County Circuit Court Judge Brett Wilson, chairman of USMH's Advisory Committee.

Halsey did a "wonderful job making educational opportunities available" to many more people and helping to make educational opportunities more affordable, Wilson said. That includes raising money for scholarships, expanding program opportunities and overseeing partnering institutions offering regional rates for neighboring out-of-state counties.

USMH offers more than 20 programs, mostly degree programs but also some certificates, Halsey said. The supporting universities providing the programs are Frostburg, Towson University, Salisbury University, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), and the University of Maryland Global Campus, an online university.

"Everything I believed about the mission of the institution, of serving people here that cannot travel 90 minutes to a public university, that aim continues and will be successful," Halsey said.

Halsey has been working in higher education for more than 36 years. He took over as USMH's second executive director in May 2012, succeeding C. David Warner III. Halsey previously was director of finance and administration for distance learning for Virginia Tech University.

Frostburg State University will oversee the national search for his successor. Officials hope to name an interim executive director within a few weeks, according to an email from Frostburg State University spokeswoman Nicole McDonald.

Halsey said he and his wife, Kim, plan to continue living in the Hagerstown area. Kim works for Washington County Public School's Judy Center, which helps income-eligible children, up to kindergarten age, with school readiness.

USMH ups and downs

The university, like many other educational institutions and businesses, is still rebounding from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Not surprisingly, Halsey said the pandemic was the most difficult part of his tenure.

Like many schools, USMH resorted to virtual learning for a period. The pandemic hurt enrollment at USMH, like it did throughout the university system, and the local center has not yet recovered, he said.

On a more positive note, the fiscal year that began July 1 marks the full restoration of state budget cuts from several years ago, Halsey said. The state cuts, which Halsey addressed in a 2015 letter to the university community, reduced state funding by less than $1 million for USMH, while costing universities across the system millions of dollars, he said.

There were cuts in operations and staffing and at least some individual universities raised tuition to deal with the cuts, Halsey said.

As for USMH's future, Halsey said it's "very solid."

The university system is committed to the concept of regional higher education centers, he said.

Hagerstown's was the second, behind the one in Shady Grove in Montgomery County, Md. The University System of Maryland Southern Maryland in St. Mary's County, formerly known as the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center, became the third regional center in March 2019, according to university news releases.

Since USMH opened in 2005, 2,655 students have graduated, according to an email from spokeswoman Erin Harman.

Expanding University System of Maryland at Hagerstown opportunities

During Halsey's tenure, USMH expanded its off-site educational opportunities as well as partnered with the private sector in providing housing opportunities for students.

USMH leases space for a health sciences center, from Meritus Health at 24 N. Walnut St., that houses the master's degree in physician assistant program, a program created to address a growing shortage of health care providers in the region, as well as The Hub's original operation.

Fifty people have graduated from the physician's assistant program Frostburg started through USMH in May 2019.

The Hub is an early learning program that works with children ages 4 and younger as well as their families, to help prepare children for prekindergarten and kindergarten, said Jamey Tobery-Nystrom, a Frostburg associate professor who directs the program. The Hub, at its Hagerstown and Wolfsville, Md., locations, provides paid teaching assistant positions for teaching interns to sharpen their skills while finishing their undergraduate early childhood or elementary education or graduate teaching studies.

Halsey has been The Hub's "guardian angel" and was instrumental in getting the program space, which includes two classrooms, training space and a lending library, Tobery-Nystrom said.

The state grant-funded program is free to families and was started in response to Washington County ranking dead last among the state's 24 jurisdictions in kindergarten readiness, Tobery-Nystrom said. Now the county is in the middle of the pack, which is a "huge gain."

Halsey said there's more space available in the health sciences building in case the physician's assistant program grows or USMH offers another graduate health sciences program.

Also during Halsey's tenure, USMH opened a hospitality center across the street from its main campus, with the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, starting a hospitality and tourism management bachelor's program that had its first graduate in May, Halsey said.

In addition to adding educational programs during Halsey's tenure, USMH worked with private partners to create student housing. The first such project was the Patterson hotel near Hagerstown City Hall, followed by The Antietam on West Antietam Street.

The apartment buildings, which are not owned by USMH, give students the chance to live close to classes, Halsey said. They largely help USMH students who don't live locally, but the facilities are not limited to students, he said.

Shortly after Halsey took over as executive director, USMH also began using classroom and offices in a city-owned building, a former CVS, next to the main West Washington Street campus to accommodate the university's growing space needs.

That space, with University Plaza between it and the main building in the former Baldwin House complex, helped create a "sense of campus," Halsey said.

Halsey said he also helped put a Frostburg bachelor's degree program in psychology in place early in his tenure and a bachelor's degree program in public health through Salisbury University in place about three years ago.

There are other potential programs in the discussion stage, he said.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: University System of Maryland at Hagerstown leader retiring