Boise State University will soon begin searching to fill two high-level vacancies.

But the search for a provost, the university’s top academic officer, will remain on hold until Boise State has a new president.

“Certainly, if I were stepping into that role, that’s what I would want,” interim President Jeremiah Shinn told Idaho EdNews in a Thursday interview. “We want to be sure that the new president has an opportunity to make that choice.”

The state’s largest university is in the midst of a major leadership transition, which began in March when President Marlene Tromp took the president’s job at the University of Vermont. Shinn, Boise State’s vice president for student affairs and enrollment management, has been interim president since May.

The president’s search has run into delays, while Boise State is filing provost and other positions on a short-term basis.

In a memo to the campus community Thursday, Shinn said he will focus first on finding a new chief financial officer and a chief information officer. National searches for both positions will begin “in the coming weeks,” he said.

Shinn told EdNews that he hopes to have both positions filled by summer.

Last week, the State Board of Education and its search committee extended the president’s search indefinitely, which means Shinn will be president indefinitely. He said he’s prepared to stay in the role for as long as the State Board needs him.

“I understand that these processes take the time that they take, and I’m confident in the diligence that has guided this process,” Shinn told EdNews.

The State Board has said Shinn is not a candidate for the permanent position. And on Thursday, Shinn said he sees the presidency as a temporary assignment.

“I’m on the search committee … and my assumption is that I’ll return back to my previous role when a new president is selected,” he told EdNews.

In Thursday’s interview, Shinn discussed two other topics:

Budget cuts. Boise State will take a careful approach to making $4 million in ongoing budget cuts, he said. In August, Gov. Brad Little ordered midyear 3% budget cuts across most of state government, and in September, he made the cuts permanent.

Boise State will use a State Board-mandated process, known as program prioritization, to guide spending in the 2026-27 budget year, beginning July 1. “We know generally how we’re going to reduce, but specifically, we’re really going to lean into this process.”

Fundraising. Boise State’s Unbridled fundraising campaign will hit its $500 million target this academic year, ahead of its 2028 deadline.

“We’re going to finish strong and keep going,” Shinn said.

During his state of the university address in August, Shinn announced an add-on to Unbridled: a $150 million fundraising drive for need-based student scholarships. Announcing the campaign is a first step toward creating an endowment that would provide $2,000 apiece for 3,000 students.

“That’s really important for those 3,000 students, but it’s not every student with need, and it’s not their whole need,” he said. “But I think that’s a really important thing for us to focus on as we finish (the Unbridled) campaign.”