On Dec. 4, University of Idaho President C. Scott Green announced Torrey Lawrence as UI’s next provost and executive vice president.
Green and 18 search advisory committee members came to this decision after reviewing dozens of applications from a national search for the position.
“There is no doubt Torrey Lawrence is the right choice for the University of Idaho,” Green said. “His leadership, commitment and vision are valuable as we look ahead to the future of our university.”
Lawrence will “lead the academic mission of the university and, therefore, a broad scope of areas including faculty matters, student success, budget management, strategic planning and academic programs,” in his time as provost and executive vice president, according to Green’s Dec. 4 email.
Lawrence served as the interim provost and executive vice president from May 4 until he was hired for the full position, in addition to serving as the UI vice provost for faculty for two years.
Lawrence has been a faculty member in the Lionel Hampton School of Music (LHSOM) since 1998, where he taught a variety of courses. He served as associate dean for Undergraduate Studies and Faculty Affairs in the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences as well as director and associate director of LHSOM.
He believes communication, organization, transparency, strong commitment to diversity, effective meeting leadership, a commitment to continuous improvement and effective collaboration and partnership on team initiatives are the most important skills for a provost to have. These skills are some of Lawrence’s strengths, he said.
“My immediate goals focus on spring semester,” Lawrence stated. “COVID-19 will continue to be a challenge, so we must continue to adapt to the situation. Beyond COVID-19, I look forward to working with the other vice presidents and university leaders on our priorities: student success, research activity and telling the Vandal story. We have a few deans to hire, a new budget model to develop and more work to get our financial house in order. Even with our challenges, this is an exciting time to be at UI.”
He said it’s also important to focus on high-impact areas by supporting programs with strong enrollment, offering new programs based on market need and sunsetting programs with a smaller impact.
“We can’t continue everything we do forever, especially if we expect to grow and shift to meet the needs of Idaho,” Lawrence said.
Valuable education delivers excellent quality at an affordable price, Lawrence said. Comprehensive education must include a strong focus on undergraduate education and research activity.
Lawrence said UI needed to work to increase the diversity of its student body and workforce. Recently, he worked with Green and others on developing funding for diversity research.
“There has been a lot of discussion recently about our research agenda and I think it’s quite exciting,” Lawrence said.
Since serving as interim provost, Lawrence found the university to be very Moscow-centric. He said it’s important to understand what is happening in Moscow, but to remember people come to UI from across the state.
“I am excited to be selected by President Green as the next provost and executive vice president,” Lawrence stated. “I have been in the position since April and am thrilled to continue. I have been at UI for over 22 years, so I see it as a great opportunity to serve our students, staff and faculty.”
Kim Stager can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @journalismgoals.