Provost Robert Frank, along with 17 other candidates from across the country, applied for the presidential position at East Tennessee State University.

East Tennessee released a list last month of all candidates to replace its current president, Paul Stanton. Monica Greppin, communications director for the Tennessee Board of Regents, said the board’s search committee must review and choose which candidates to call back for the job by Oct. 17.

“The goal is to have somebody hired by the beginning of the calendar year when Dr. Stanton retires,” Greppin said.

Frank, who announced this summer that he is resigning from Kent State, is required to hold his job as provost at Kent State until May 2012, but Stanton leaves East Tennessee Jan. 14, 2012. Frank said if he is selected as Stanton’s replacement, he would explore the opportunity.

“That whole part would be worked out, and I would have to talk to (Stanton) about that,” Frank said. “This is hard to speculate on.”

East Tennessee is a medium-size university with about 15,000 students in Johnson City, Tenn., according to its website.

Frank said he applied for presidential positions at several other universities so far. He said he thinks he is ready for the added challenge of being president of a university.

“My whole career is about acquiring skills,” Frank said. “It will be challenging, but I am well prepared with the steps I have taken so far.”

However, Frank said the selection process when looking for a university president is very competitive. He said in an earlier interview that he plans to return to teaching at Kent State if he does not become a president next academic year.

Contact Megan Wilkinson at [email protected].