Director of Safety and Security Jim Schumann left Hamline on November 1, and no replacement has been hired.

Schumann has served Hamline for four and a half years before it was announced that he would be leaving in November.

“He has another opportunity,” said Lowell Bromander, the director of Facilities Services who oversees the Safety and Security department.  Without further elaboration, Bromander said that this was the right move for Schumann.

Bromander stated that this was a joint decision, while Schumann said that the decision fell mostly with Bromander.

Although Bromander said he knew that Schumann would be leaving at the start of this school year, he did not post a job opening until late October and currently there is no one to fill the position.

Al Kramer, the assistant director will be serving as interim director until someone is hired. Bromander also said that Schumann will not be involved in the interview and hiring process for a new director although Schumann said he wished he could be more involved in selecting a new director.

Bromander has only recently started searching for a new director, and has not yet interviewed any candidates. He stated that he is looking for someone with leadership skills as well as someone who has experience in law enforcement and higher education.

“Higher education is such a different ball game,” Bromander stated, “You’ve got a 24 hour staff and have to be on call all of the time.”

Schumann feels that Hamline needs more than a great leader to fill the role. Hamline also needs a strong communicator who is willing to be active in the Hamline community and provide more services to students and faculty.

He also said that the new director has to be ready for all of the responsibilities that come with the position, such as supervising Hamline’s environmental health, hazardous waste, fire inspections and vehicle rentals.

“Many people come in thinking this is a retirement job,” he said. “This university is very alive, and I think people often get caught up in that idea.”

Bromander is confident that even though he has not yet hired a new director, the department is in good hands with Kramer. He also stated that while he wants the position filled as quickly as possible, he wants to make sure that he gets the right person for the job.

Schumann said that the most challenging aspects of the job that a new director will face include staying up to date with technology and meeting everyone’s needs with the current budget.  “We live in a world of decreasing budgets and increasing expectations,” Schumann said.  “We have so much to do and not enough money to do it all.”

Schumann’s advice to the incoming director is to be an open communicator and build connections. “This job is 95 percent service and five percent enforcement,” Schumann said. “You have to get to know the campus and the community.”

In his four years at Hamline, Shumann has improved Hamline’s relationship with the St. Paul Police Department, installed and updated 240 cameras on campus, and installed a new incident report program as well as worked closely with Information and Technology Services, improving lighting on campus, and expanding the card access system.