Sacramento State’s Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Joseph Sheley is one of five candidates chosen to interview for president of Metropolitan State University in Minnesota.

Sheley has been in his position as provost since December 2006 and is in charge of Sac State’s seven academic colleges, Library and the College of Continuing Education.

Sheley will be in Minnesota for interviews on March 17 and 18, where he will meet with Metropolitan State’s search committee, the chancellor and the university’s Board of Trustees.

“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, Sheley said he is happy in his position and is in no rush to leave Sac State.

“I like working here – I like my job,” Sheley said. “This (interview) is fairly casual. I will go there and they will learn more about me and I will learn more about them.”

The search committee at Metropolitan State is comprised of administrators, faculty, staff, students and the community. The committee will have a chance to ask the candidates questions during the on-campus interviews.

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

Voss said the ultimate decision of who will be the next president of Metropolitan State is in the hands of the Board of Trustees.

Metropolitan State has two main campuses in St. Paul and Minneapolis. The university had an enrollment level of nearly 10,000 students in the 2006-2007 academic year, according to the Metropolitan’s website.

The university’s former president, Wilson Bradshaw, left to become the third president of Florida Gulf Coast University.

Isela Reyes can be reached at [email protected].