After I retired from the presidency of Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) , I devoted one year to a not-for-profit organization I had helped create in 1994, the National Center for Environmental Education and Training (NEETC). Upon completing the NEETC year, I established a consulting entity, Lawrence K. Pettit, LLC, and accepted an initial contract from the Commission for Labor Cooperation, a component of the secretariat for NAFTA, located in Washington, D.C. 

For the CLC I created a network of experts from various universities and think tanks in the areas of trade economics, labor economics, labor law, worker health and safety, and immigration policy.

On completion of this initial project, I turned my attention to writing a book, and did not accept any further consulting assignments for the duration of that project. During this time I have also been a member of the Registry of Retired University Presidents, a membership which indicates willingness to accept an interim college or university presidency as time and circumstances permit. With completion of the first draft of the book, “If You Live By the Sword: Politics in the Making and Unmaking of the a University President,” I am once more open to consulting arrangements, and I remain on the Registry for interim presidencies. My most recent project was to write an analysis of the implications of the Virginia Tech tragedy for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.