Vaccine mandate ‘significant issue’ for UI, provost says

MOSCOW — University of Idaho Provost and Executive Vice President Torrey Lawrence said the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees with federal contracts has been a significant issue for the institution.

During the semester’s final question and answer conversation for faculty and staff Tuesday afternoon, Lawrence reiterated the university’s position.

“We have a system set up and ready to deploy if needed where people could request exemptions and others would then just turn in their vaccination information,” Lawrence said. “But of course, we’ve got to know exactly what law we’re under and what the timeline is. It’s rather complicated.”

The mandate does not apply to students, although students working for the university, including resident assistants, teaching assistants and work study students, would likely be affected.

Lawrence said there are about 5,500 university employees on campus and across the state who could be affected by the order. He said noncompliance could put federal contracts at risk — a critical revenue stream for the university. UI has averaged around $22 million a year in federal contracts for the last few years.

“The actual impact of losing those (contracts) would probably be far more than $22 million,” he said. “So, it’s a significant issue for us.”

At a faculty senate meeting later in the afternoon, UI Faculty Senate Chair Russell Meeuf asked Lawrence whether Boise State University is taking steps to enforce Biden’s vaccine mandate.

In an email to employees Tuesday morning, BSU stated it plans to follow the executive order absent an opposing declaration from the court. The State Board of Education joined a federal lawsuit in early November to block the mandate.

Lawrence said the email caused confusion at UI, where employees have also wondered whether vaccination for COVID-19 will be enforced.

“It’s not technically a mandate,” he said. “They’re saying that if the lawsuit should not hold, they would move forward with a mandate.”

According to reporting from BSU’s student-run newspaper, The Arbiter, the university is currently finalizing a method for employees to confirm their vaccination status through the state’s immunization program or with staff at public health.

All university employees at BSU, including faculty, staff and certain students, are instructed to be fully vaccinated and submit proof or an exemption request by Jan. 4.

Regarding lawsuits opposing the federal mandate, Lawrence said a hearing is scheduled to take place Friday.

“We don’t know if we will have any resolution at that point,” he said. “They could rule from the bench right then, and we would move forward on whatever that might be and at least address what decision is made and figure out what happens next. Or they could have that hearing and the decision could come at a later date.”

Palermo can be reached at apalermo@dnews.com or on Twitter @apalermotweets.