Columbia, Mo. ? A career college administrator with strong roots at the University of North Carolina and currently the president at Western Michigan University is a candidate to take the same job with the University of Missouri system.

But Elson S. Floyd said he had not made a decision, “nor has an offer been made.”

Officials in Missouri conducting a search for a new university president have not revealed the names of any candidates, saying only they have settled on a top choice. But a pair of officials at Western Michigan said Floyd is one of those under consideration.

“I know he has been contacted by them and they are considering him,” said Richard St. John, chairman of Western Michigan’s board.

That Missouri sought him out, said Western Michigan board Vice Chairwoman Birgit Klohs, should not come as a surprise.

“We have a superstar, and everyone wants him,” Klohs said.

Floyd, 46, declined to comment on Wednesday beyond a brief statement that called the University of Missouri a “world-class university.”

The president of the Missouri’s Board of Curators, John Mathes, said Wednesday he hoped to meet this week with the top candidate to replace Manuel T. Pacheco, the university’s current president who is retiring at year’s end. That candidate has confirmed his interest in the job .