UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz confirms he is 'weighing' MSU presidency

The chancellor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill confirmed Thursday he is weighing an opportunity to be president of Michigan State University.

But that is as far as UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz will go on questions about his candidacy for the top job at MSU.

"I am focused on serving the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a special place I have lived, worked, and loved for 28 years," Guskiewicz said in a Thursday statement. "I am very proud of what our university accomplishes every day as one of the best public universities in the country. Through the years, a variety of professional opportunities have been presented to me. My family and I must weigh each one, and we are weighing this one."

The statement confirmed that Guskiewicz is a finalist for the role, as The State News first reported Wednesday night.

MSU spokesperson Emily Guerrant and MSU Trustee Dennis Denno, who chairs the board's presidential search committee, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The MSU board has said it is near the end of a search for a permanent president and expects to name a new leader by Thanksgiving after MSU's interim president, Teresa Woodruff, took her name out of consideration for the post in August. The university's last permanent leader, Samuel Stanley, resigned a year ago, saying he had "lost confidence" in the board.

Last month, MSU Board Chair Rema Vassar was asked to step down amid allegations that she has bullied administrators and fellow board members, while Vassar has pushed back and called the controversy a "hit job."

The boardroom power struggle once again embroiled MSU in controversy on the heels of the firing of football coach Mel Tucker over an allegation of sexual misconduct. It also follows seven years of leadership issues and board divisions since the emergence of sex abuse scandal involving now-incarcerated sports doctor Larry Nassar.

In October, the head of the executive search firm hired by MSU to find its next president denied that the Tucker scandal would have an impact on the process.

"The recent developments will not affect the Michigan State University presidential search," Ericka Miller, president and CEO of Isaacson, Miller, told The Detroit News.

But the multiple crises the university has experienced are "absolutely" affecting the presidential search, said Alonzo DeCarlo, a Detroit native who is a senior consultant with Washington, D.C.-based Academic Search. It is affecting the prospective candidates and the search committee evaluating those candidates, he told The News.

"This is going to take a special kind of leader to cope with the fallout that the university has experienced," DeCarlo said. "This isn't an 'all-eyes on me' game. This is not something you can fly under the radar. It takes a person with a special ability and personality to be able to handle that for the long term."

jchambers@detroitnews.com