‘What do we want to be known for?’: The search for a new Boise State President is now underway

Written by Olivia Brandon, Rylee Amick, and Spencer Rentfro

Since Boise State President Marlene Tromp announced her acceptance as the President at The University of Vermont, one question has been on everyone’s mind: Who will be Boise State’s next president? 

While no official list of candidates has been released, a committee comprised of members of the Idaho State Board of Education and other prominent Boise businesses and a subcommittee of Boise State alumni and faculty has been assembled.

The selection committee

Chair of the selection committee and Idaho State Board of Education member, David Turnbull, acknowledged the lack of information being released and expressed the committee is being diligent in the search process. 

“I recognize that the lack of information causes speculation, and oftentimes speculation goes off the rails,” Turnbull said. “I would like to assure the student body that we understand how important this decision is to them and we will go about it in a way that is thorough and responsive.”

Turnbull highlighted the variety of perspectives each member of the committee and subcommittee brings and how the broad range of individuals was intentional in establishing a well-rounded approach to the selection.

“We understand the gravity and the importance of this hire,” Turnbull shared. “It’s one of the most important hires we will make in quite some time. So we’re definitely focused on taking the time that is required to do it [and] doing it in a thoughtful and systematic way and gathering the best candidates that we can.”

Turnbull broke down what the application process and subsequent interview period will look like for the position. 

There will be a 35-day open application process, Turnbull explained, and at the end of those 35 days, the committee will review the candidates and see if it is time to begin the interview process.

The committee will then compile roughly three to five candidates that will be submitted to the Idaho State Board of Education, who will conduct further interviews.

Turnbull stated the candidate should be someone with strong leadership and communication skills who is able to form relationships with a broad range of people and organizations. 

With President Tromp planning to begin her new role on July 1, 2025, the committee has an important task, and not a lot of time to complete it.

“We don’t want that position to be vacant any longer than it has to be, but we don’t have a set timeline,” Turnbull said, adding the timeline has not been an issue. “We’ve had a variety of opinions on how long the process should take. We’ll continue to whittle that down. It’s going to be a flexible schedule. It’s all going to be dependent upon the application process and the quality of the candidates we get and how quickly we can vet them and whittle it down to some finalists.”

Dean of Extended Studies Mark Wheeler, a subcommittee member, explained his role of receiving input from campus regarding qualities and characteristics for a new president. 

“I think it’s very important [to get input],” Wheeler said. “I know that people in my group, administration and staff, care deeply about this university and want to have a voice in the type of leader that we have next and I’m sure faculty are [as] equally passionate as our students. This is the chance for each of those groups to speak up so the state board knows what each is looking for in a new president.” 

Wheeler explained he’s appointed a couple other representatives from both the university’s classified staff and professional staff to join the subcommittee to help compile feedback. The group is directed to set up listening sessions for administration and staff. 

“One of the board staff members told me ‘Hey, we don’t want to handcuff people. We want to hear what people have to say’,” Wheeler said. “I don’t think they wanted to define exactly what they want — the type of input that they want, but I think certainly included in the input needs to be, what kind of desired qualities do we want to have in our next president?” 

The feedback will be made into a report due back to the Idaho State Board of Education on May 5, 2025. 

“I’m sure they will read it and take it into consideration regarding the type of person that leads at the helm,” Wheeler said. “It’s in the state board’s best interest to make sure that they hire somebody that is embraced by the university as well as by other constituency groups.” 

The faculty subcommittee

Laurie Cavey, a professor and president of the faculty senate at Boise State University holds the chair position in the faculty subcommittee for the ongoing presidential search. Her committee represents one of the five subcommittees working to assist the search. 

As the chair, Cavey leads the groups’ effort in soliciting broad input from Boise State faculty members. Cavey, along with search committee members Lisa Bostaph and Bobbi-Jo Meuleman, is tasked with organizing faculty input into a summarized report. Cavey will then have the opportunity to attend a committee meeting where she would summarize findings and input gathered from faculty members. 

Although there isn’t a standard time frame for presidential searches or hirings, Cavey voiced an ideal process lasts for about a year with an interim in place, allowing ample time for vetting candidates. While the Idaho State Board of Education is hoping to make a hire as soon as possible, search members indicated to Cavey that the timeline remains flexible. 

If after 30 days the candidate pool is insufficient, the search will be extended into the fall. While this is a longer timeframe, it also provides an opportunity for more university members to be involved.  

“What I would really love to see for Boise State is that we bring in a president who is able to draw this community together and coalesce around a particular mission,” Cavey said. “I don’t know exactly what that mission might be, but I think most faculty, myself included, would say we are just feeling a lot of tension, like being pulled in a lot of different directions.” 

Cavey explained how the wide range of university goals and pressure on faculty members makes it difficult to narrow down a unified vision for Boise State. 

Among other things, Cavey highlighted the push for R-1 — a classification for colleges with high research spending — staying up on the latest technologies and considering how courses might be instructed online as prominent university goals. 

“What is it that we actually want to excel at? What do we want to be known for? If somebody could come in and help us coalesce around a particular vision for Boise State in the not too distant future, that would be refreshing,” Cavey said.

She explained that since institutions have unique missions, qualifications for a president are also distinct. Though the Idaho State Board of Education has the final say on who is hired, committees and board members have the opportunity to uphold and determine particular qualifications for an incoming president. 

Cavey highlighted Boise State’s model of shared governance, which allows faculty input on decisions affecting the university. A hire who is more versed in industry practices rather than those practiced within academia might clash with Boise State’s shared governance system. 

Ultimately, she expressed hopes for a president who is more communicative with faculty members and will continue to protect the tenets surrounding higher education. 

“I would hope they [the future president] would be able to find ways to regularly engage with faculty in an authentic way, and be willing to fight for the principles around higher education,” she said.

Student opinions

Bridget Gibson, a sophomore majoring in Political Science, said her vision for the next university president is someone who is inclusive. 

“I hope the next university president is somebody who still cares about inclusion and including all students and the well-being of all students at Boise State,” Gibson said. “There’s a lot of fears that with Tromp leaving — because she cared so much kind of about that inclusion aspect — that maybe Boise State will regress. I do think that a new president needs to focus on that inclusion so all students can feel equally represented.” 

Gibson said she’d like to see the Gender Equity Center, which was rebranded as the Student Success Center, reinstated under the next president. 

Ultimately, Gibson believed that Tromp did the best she could as president with the cards she was dealt.

“Tromp did a very good job overall. Ultimately, she was doing the best she could in the situation she was given because Boise State, being a public university, is very vulnerable to the Idaho legislature,” Gibson said. 

“A lot of what she’s done or not done came down to what she felt was in the best interest of getting funding for the school and having good relationships with Idaho legislature, which is very important,” Gibson continued. “But I do think that maybe somebody who could be more willing to stand up to the Idaho legislature could be good, or somebody more on the advocacy side.” 

Student athlete representative for the student subcommittee Sydney Leitch said a university president should advocate for student athletes and prioritize academics.

“I would say, as an athlete, we’re definitely looking for someone who prioritizes athletics along with the entire student body. We make up a great part of the student body,” Leitch said. 

Leitch expressed that she hopes the next president will “advocate for everybody” and be willing to hear every student’s concerns.

Freshman Biology major Natal Davis, says she hopes the next university president will be involved with the community — noting that President Tromp had great leadership and community skills with Boise State. 

“The biggest thing is connecting with students and making sure their values are heard,” Davis said. 

She credited Tromp’s ability to engage on campus with students, particularly at sporting events. 

Subcommittee meetings begin April 14 and will continue through April 23. These meetings are open to the public and can be accessed virtually as well on the Boise State presidential search website. 

With summer fast approaching, committee, subcommittee members and students alike are considering what initiatives and qualities they’d like to see brought forward from Tromp’s legacy and what aspects of the university need improvement.