Scott Green, president-elect of the University of Idaho, said he plans to stay following UI’s announcement of his selection Thursday morning.
“I only know one fight song,” he said in his inaugural press conference. “This is my last stop.”
If Green stays on longer than five years, he would be the first UI president to do so since 2004. The three presidents who served since 2004 stayed four or five years each, according to previous reporting from The Argonaut.
ASUI President-elect Jacob Lockhart said he hopes Green will be in for the long haul.
“It’s not for me to say what will happen, but I’m optimistic that he will,” Lockhart said. “I hope that he will. That’s my honest hope. I think that what we need is consistency. We’ve had bouts of presidents who stay for only four years.”
Green also addressed stagnant enrollment, athletic competition and the hiring of a new athletic director at the press conference.
On increasing enrollment, Green said the university should focus on telling its story in order to attract those interest in attending the school.
He gave an example of how the computer science program is recognized by the National Security Agency as one of the initial seven centers of excellence in information assurance education.
On athletics’ competition, he said he will stress competitiveness within the Big Sky Conference before considering realignment. Green also said “we need to get our boosters on board, and they need to solve the problem” of a budget deficit.
As for a new athletic director, Green said he would begin the search immediately.
Green will take over as president with a three-year contract July 1 through June 30, 2022. His salary is set at $420,000. UI President Chuck Staben, who has been president since March 2014, will serve in his position until June 15. His current salary is roughly $385,000, public records show.
Green spoke to the UI campus shortly after being selected by the State Board on a unanimous vote Thursday morning.
“From serving as ASUI president to serving on the foundation board of directors, the future of the university has always held my interest,” Green said.
He also shared a heartfelt story about his grandfather’s journey to college as a small-town child.
“My story is like so many others who have walked this campus, except that it starts about 90 years ago,” Green said.
His grandfather, in the town of McCammon, Idaho, gained the recognition of a local shop owner. The shop owner took a liking to Green’s grandfather, whose family had recently lost their farm.
After his grandfather graduated high school, the shop owner told him he should attend college because of his work ethic.
The shop owner committed to financially assist Green’s grandfather through college, giving him payment for his first year.
Green also referred to the Memorial Gym as a place he frequented, referencing his grandfather’s time as UI athletic director.
Green said during his second year at UI, he “found himself facing the possibility of dropping out.” But after confiding with his friends and the university, they helped and gave him work and scholarships to continue school.
“Somewhere, somehow, someone was playing the Charlie card,” Green said, referring to his grandfather.
“I along, with my other search committee member colleagues, are excited that a new president has been named,” Sydney Freeman, a UI faculty member, said in an email. “I know that our campus community has been waiting to find out who our next leader would be for a while.”
Freeman, a member of the presidential search committee, also said he hopes Green will perform well in his new position.
“However, no one succeeds alone,” Freeman said. “He will need the Vandal family to work with him as partners to effectively move the university forward.”
Kyle Pfannenstiel can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @pfannyyy
A previous version of this story misstated Green’s father as a former UI athletic director.