More than 40 people have applied for the Boise State University president’s job, but the state will keep the search open.
Friday marked the end of a “priority” application period. The State Board of Education received 42 applications by that nonbinding deadline, spokeswoman Marissa Morrison said late Monday afternoon.
“The application period will remain open until the position is filled,” Morrison said in an email to Idaho Education News. “The search committee is pleased with the strength of the applicant pool and is continuing its work to carefully review and evaluate the candidates.”
At a June meeting, State Board member David Turnbull had said the search committee might close the application window at the close of the priority period. Turnbull is heading the board’s search committee.
No applicants’ names have been released — and none will be made public in the immediate future. Under state law, the State Board is required only to announce a field of five finalists. The only exception would occur if the search committee chooses fewer than five finalists; in that instance, all applicants’ names would be made public.
The search for a new Boise State president has unfolded largely behind closed doors.
An eight-member search committee has been meeting privately — operating under nondisclosure agreements. The State Board has said the NDAs are “standard practice” for presidential searches.
Once the search committee names its finalists, the eight-member State Board will pick a new president.
The search process began in March, days after the University of Vermont hired Marlene Tromp away from Idaho’s largest four-year university. Tromp left in May after nearly six years at Boise State.
The new president will inherit a university that has been improving its graduation rates, increasing enrollment and growing its research portfolio. Boise State also recently announced a record-setting fundraising year. But Boise State, and Tromp, have also been at the eye of a Statehouse storm for several years. In 2025, lawmakers cut budgets for Boise State and the University of Idaho by $2 million apiece, after voicing frustrations about the universities’ political leanings.
The new president will take over at a university in transition. Since Tromp’s departure, chief financial and operating officer Alicia Estey has followed Tromp to Vermont, while Provost John Buckwalter has taken a similar job at the University of Central Florida.
