Metropolitan State University in Minnesota is currently interviewing candidates for its vacant president position. One of the candidates is an official from Sacramento State.

Sac State’s Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Joseph Sheley is one of five candidates chosen to interview for the position.

The chosen candidate will likely begin his or her position as president by the new fiscal year, which is July 1 for Metropolitan State.

Sheley has had his position at Sac State since December 2006. He is in charge of the university’s seven academic colleges, Library and the College of Continuing Education. His responsibilities include managing curriculum and degree development, Student Affairs and enrollment services.

Sheley is also responsible for developing the Destination 2010 initiative and is in the process of developing a branch campus in Placer County.

Sheley was on campus last week in Minnesota for interviews where he met with Metropolitan State’s search committee, the chancellor and the university’s Board of Trustees.

“The search committee figures out the qualifications (of the candidates) for those individual institutions,” said Melinda Voss, public relations director for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities.

Chancellor James McCormick recommends the person he believes is best for the position to the Board of Trustees.

“The process moves pretty quickly once the five finalists have been on campus; usually it happens within a few days,” Voss said.

Sheley said 300 to 400 positions for president open up every year, and many provosts get nominated routinely. Whether or not each individual decides to interview is another matter.

Sheley’s main interest in interviewing for president at Metropolitan State is out of curiosity. When the Metropolitan State officials contacted him to tell him he was nominated, Sheley said he decided to go through with the application process because the university reminded him of Sac State.

“I was nominated then contacted by MSU,” Sheley said “This one caught my eye because it is a metropolitan institution, like ours.”

Regardless of what happens, the Sac State alumnus is happy in his position and is in no rush to leave.

“I have a real passion for Sac State. I love the institution and job because it gives me a chance to give back to the institution that launched my career,” Sheley said.

Sheley earned his bachelor’s degree in social science in 1969 and his master’s degree in sociology in 1971 at Sac State and completed a doctorate in sociology at the University of Massachusetts in 1975.

After receiving his doctorate, Sheley joined the faculty at Tulane University and served as chair of the sociology department from 1985 to 1991. Sheley held a number of positions at Tulane before returning to Sac State, where he most recently served as executive vice president before officially becoming provost.

As provost, Sheley said his job is twofold: raising the level of informal and formal consultation and advice between groups on campus and handling responsibilities that come his way.

“What I’ve been trying to do is work closely with as many groups on campus as I can to get past fairly isolated silos,” Sheley said. “I’ve tried to get as much information and data out to people as I can, so we can make informed decisions about curriculum, the budget and enrollment strategies.”

Sheley said the proposed budget cuts to Sac State are one of the most important issues that he is dealing with at the moment. He has been working with Sac State President Alexander Gonzalez on handling the proposed budget cuts and getting that information out to the public.

Gonzalez has been very supportive of him growing in his career, Sheley said.

“He is an exceptional mentor. He always encourages the people who work with him to develop the skills to be competitive. He’s very supportive of all of us developing professionally,” Sheley said about those who work closely with the president.

Journalism student Jennifer Lemos thinks it is a great example of the school’s leadership to have an official nominated for presidency.

“It makes me proud to know that one of our vice presidents is up for a presidential role,” Lemos said.

Other students on campus view this as a great opportunity for Sheley’s career.

The interviews for presidency began March 10 and will run through today.

Metropolitan State’s former president, Wilson Bradshaw, resigned to become the third president of Florida Gulf Coast University. Sheley was one of the top candidates for provost and vice president of Academic Affairs in 2004 and a candidate for president in 2007 for the Florida Gulf Coast University.

Isela Reyes can be reached at [email protected].