Josh Hartman, senior director of the Office of Residential Life and Learning, will step down from his position on Feb. 25 after nearly four years at Tufts. He will transition into a new role as director of immersive experiences for Hillel International.
During his time at Tufts, Hartman has been responsible for overseeing residential education, residential operations and fraternity and sorority life.
“I have deeply enjoyed my time at Tufts and serving in this role has been a true honor and privilege,” Hartman wrote in an email to the Daily. “I'm proud of the work our team has done and I am incredibly confident and hopeful for the future with such a wonderful group of folks in place.”
Hartman led the Office of Residential Life and Learning through the COVID-19 pandemic and was responsible for making a number of significant decisions regarding the university’s health and safety guidelines.
“After exploring dozens of options and dozens more permutations of each of those, Tufts decided on a few key elements - primary among them to dedensify our residential spaces where we could, add modular housing to accommodate isolation and quarantine students, implement a rigorous testing and [contact] tracing plan, and examine our policies to align them with COVID needs,” Hartman explained.
Describing ORLL’s policy during the COVID-19 pandemic, Hartman emphasized that the university’s approach was student focused.
“From the beginning we have strived to … support our students in an equitable fashion, accommodating for those with significantly stressful or extenuating circumstances,” Hartman wrote. “ORLL staff individually looked at all options in alignment with the institutional desire to reopen safely, and we found ourselves on the leading edge among our peer institutions in our plan for reopening and our constant handling of the journey that the pandemic has taken on campus.”
Tim Jordan, associate director for residential education, recalled Hartman’s dedication to ORLL throughout the pandemic.
“There were a lot of difficult challenges and decisions to make over the last two years and Josh handled it all with grace," Jordan wrote in an email to the Daily. "His positivity and leadership were key to keeping morale up during some of the more difficult times.”
Hartman discussed ORLL’s decision to house students at the Hyatt Place in Medford after facing higher than expected enrollment for the Class of 2025.
“Like many other universities across the country, Tufts found itself in a position where we had more incoming first year students than expected for fall of 2021,” he wrote. “Our team examined many options including a variety of hotels, and at the end of the exploratory process, the Hyatt Place provided the closest option to campus, which we prioritized as critical.“
While at Tufts, Hartman started the university's National Residence Hall Honorary chapter as well as its Hall Council Program. He also managed the development of Tufts Community Housing project and facilities renovations while growing the Residential Assistant program.
Jordan noted Hartman’s positive impact on ORLL.
“It is hard to overstate just how integral Josh’s presence has been in developing our residential program,” Jordan wrote.
One big change during Hartman’s time at Tufts was an increase in student and professional ORLL staff to better support students.
“We constantly look at our policies and processes and strive to ensure an equitable support of our student body,” Hartmanwrote. “We have drastically increased our staff presence, both in terms of student staff and professional staff, which provides more direct support for all of our students."
Associate Director of Residential Operations Angy Sosa, who began working at Tufts the same day as Hartman, reflected on his leadership over the years.
“In 2020, when our office had to unexpectedly run an earlier move out process, there were many changes that we needed to implement,” Sosa wrote in an email to the Daily. “Josh was instrumental in many of the changes within our office over the years, including ensuring that we could continue our mission as a department within the pandemic.”
Jordan also praised Hartman’s work and legacy.
“[Hartman] was a major reason I wanted to come and work at Tufts, as his vision for the department and drive to execute that vision made me feel comfortable moving halfway across the country to work in a growing department,” Jordan wrote. “His positivity, work ethic, and student-centered mindset have set the tone for our communities over the past four years.”
Hartman says that his decision to take the job at Hillel International reflects his interests and identity.
“I'm hopeful that my time at Tufts has resulted in some benefit for the University and ORLL," Hartman wrote. "I have worked hard alongside an outstanding staff team to continually try to improve and enhance the residential experience for Tufts students."
