Tim Caboni

University of Kansas vice chancellor for public affairs Tim Caboni has been named the preferred candidate to become the next president of Western Kentucky University.

The Western Kentucky Board of Regents made the announcement on Monday.

Caboni is scheduled to visit the university for a series of meetings and campus forums next week, on Jan. 25 and Jan. 26, according to the announcement. The Board will consider extending a formal offer to Caboni at its quarterly meeting on Jan. 27.

Board chair Frederick A. Higdon noted Caboni’s academic credentials and external relations experience, saying that if he is ultimately selected, his “talent, innovation and energy” would position Western Kentucky to embark on its next chapter.

“He possesses all the attributes the Board was seeking in our next president, including the ability to lead the University’s next capital campaign and guide the creation of a new strategic plan,” Higdon said in a statement. “He has been a member of the faculty and served in academic administration, where he led efforts to increase the number of graduate and professional students in the Peabody College of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University. His experience in legislative relations and as a communications professional has resulted in significant enhancements for the University of Kansas.”

Caboni would begin July 1 and succeed Gary A. Ransdell, who is retiring this summer after 20 years as Western Kentucky’s president, according to the Board’s announcement.

Western Kentucky has more than 20,000 students, with the main campus located in Bowling Green, according to the school’s website.

Caboni has been KU’s vice chancellor of public affairs since 2011. He also is an associate professor of educational leadership and policy in KU’s School of Education.

Originally from New Orleans, Caboni received his doctoral degree in higher education leadership and policy from Vanderbilt University, a master’s degree in corporate and organizational communication from Western Kentucky University, and his bachelor’s degree in speech communication and rhetoric from Louisiana State University, according to his KU profile. Prior to arriving at KU, he was associate dean of the Peabody College of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt.

This is at least the third university president job for which Caboni has been a publicly announced finalist in the past year. The other schools were Georgia Southern University and Valdosta State University.

Caboni did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, he tweeted on Wednesday that he was “humbled and honored” to be named the preferred candidate to lead Western Kentucky.

In another tweet, Caboni said he and his wife, Kacy Schmidt Caboni, who works for KU Endowment, looked forward to continuing Western Kentucky’s tremendous growth and leading it “to even greater national prominence.”