SOUTH HADLEY - Paul L. Ominsky, director of public safety at Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith colleges, will leave the Valley in January to head up the public safety department at Princeton University.

Ominsky has been public safety director at Mount Holyoke College since 1992, taking on the leadership of safety departments at Hampshire and Smith colleges in 2008 and 2003 respectively. He oversees more than 100 full and part-time safety staff.

He will assume the Princeton position in New Jersey on Jan. 25. An interim public safety director will be chosen by the three colleges before Ominsky leaves, said Lauren A. Turner, director of human resources at Mount Holyoke College, after which a national search for a permanent replacement will be launched.

"I'm very excited about the opportunity at Princeton," Ominsky said. "At the same time I've enjoyed my time in the Valley. Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith have been wonderful places to work."

Ominsky has been a fixture on the Valley campus safety scene for 35 years. He began his career at the University of Massachusetts, reaching the rank of station commander, before departing to become director of public safety at Westfield State College, a position he held until 1992.

Most recently Ominsky oversaw the merging of public safety departments on the Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith campuses. In July, the move created a central dispatch center on the Mount Holyoke campus in South Hadley and put all officers on the same payroll. The merger, which was initially criticized by public safety officers as potentially unsafe, was intended to streamline operations and reduce spending.

Ominsky said he is particularly proud of working to make the public safety department at Mount Holyoke College the first college department in the state to be accredited by the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission. The department received accreditation in 2005.

Ominsky also created a prototype community-policing initiative and developed partnerships with the colleges' host community police forces.

"He set a high standard for work at Mount Holyoke and the colleges," Turner said. "We will miss him and we also, at the same time, wish him the best."

Turner said it's too early to know what qualifications the three colleges will look for in their next director of public safety. Now, the colleges are focused on finding an interim director.

"We want a smooth transition and continuity," Turner said. "That's our priority right now."

Ominsky said that his successor will likely be someone who can work closely with students, faculty and staff, and who has a knack for collaboration. "The department is in very good shape," said Ominsky. "In many ways a lot of work has been done, but with any kind of new collaboration there are always things that can be worked on, and these are the kinds of things the director can spend some time on."