New USM chancellor discusses financial plans

The new chancellor of the University System of Maryland (USM), Robert Caret, visited Salisbury University on Wednesday to discuss what he hopes to bring into his new role.

Back in July, USM welcomed Caret as its fourth chancellor. According to Caret, the position is responsible for working with legislatures to bring in funds for higher education in Maryland.

Caret is no stranger to the state, having once served as president of Towson University. We spoke to him on Wednesday and he says with his experience, he’s confident in applying cost-saving initiatives to ensure college affordability in Maryland.

“I’ve had 29 years of history here. This is my third trip back to Maryland. I know a lot of people.” Explained Caret. “That gives you a quicker way to begin the dialogue and I feel very good that we will be able to achieve, you know, at least equitable if not better in the last few years.”

Caret says a specific goal for Salisbury University includes growth. He tells us campus officials are interested in enrollment growth, but that requires more staff and more housing. This is something he says he’ll be working closely with campus officials on in the upcoming months, along with growing the amount of available programs.

“Are there any programs that can be developed here in this region? Are there things we can do jointly as we’ve done with UMES? That kind of thing.” He says. “So we’re looking at the full range of possibilities but particularly the size of campus and the program mix.”

Prior to serving in higher education on the East Coast, Caret served as president of San Jose State University as part of the California State University System.

He is reportedly credited with bringing a vision for SJSU as the metropolitan university of Silicon Valley.