Kansas University Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Tim Caboni urges members of the Lawrence legislative delegation to fight for stable higher education funding in the upcoming session. Caboni was among several local business, government and education leaders who spoke at the Lawrence chamber of commerce's annual pre-session breakfast on Friday, Jan. 8, 2016

Kansas University’s vice chancellor for public affairs is one of four candidates to become president of Georgia Southern University.

Tim Caboni, a familiar face discussing KU matters at the Kansas Statehouse in recent sessions, has been KU’s vice chancellor of public affairs since 2011. In addition to coordinating the university’s legislative agenda, he leads public affairs across all KU campuses.

Caboni also is an associate professor of educational leadership and policy in KU’s School of Education.

Tim Caboni is Kansas University's vice chancellor of public affairs. Photo courtesy of KU.

Caboni traveled to Georgia Southern last week, the first of the four presidential candidates to visit, according to the university’s presidential search website. Candidates recommended by the campus search committee are expected to be interviewed by the Georgia Board of Regents this month, according to the site.

Caboni said he was honored to be chosen as a semi-finalist for the job and noted there’s a “long way” to go before the next president is ultimately selected.

“While humbled by the opportunity, I remain focused on the critical daily work we are doing at the University of Kansas to elevate our national stature,” he said in an email.

Caboni is a native southerner.

Originally from New Orleans, he received his doctorate 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.

Georgia Southern, a four-year university located in Statesboro, Ga., is home to more than 20,000 full-time students, according to the university’s website. The university’s most recent president, Brooks Keel, left last summer to become president of Georgia Regents University (now Augusta University).