University of North Carolina Wilmington officials on Saturday confirmed reports that chancellor Gary Miller is on a short list for a job at a college in Youngstown, Ohio.

The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio reported that Miller was among the remaining six candidates for Youngstown State University's next president. The others, according to the newspaper, are: Mary Cullinan, president of Southern Oregon University; Gayle Ormiston, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost at Marshall University; D. Marshall Porterfield, director of Space Life and Physical Sciences Division at NASA headquarters; Steven Rothstein, president of the Perkins School for the Blind; and Jim Tressel, executive vice president of the University of Akron.

The Plain Dealer also reported that a search committee at Youngstown State is expected soon to narrow the list to three finalists.

Youngstown State officials initially said they hoped to have a new president in place by July 1. The school's previous president resigned in February after seven months in the post to take a job heading up Southern Illinois University.

"Chancellor Miller has been invited to explore other presidential opportunities in higher education," UNCW spokeswoman Janine Iamunno said in a statement Saturday. "The chancellor and Mrs. Miller continue to be dedicated to UNCW and this community, and respectfully request that this development not interfere with the celebration of our students' upcoming commencement ceremonies or the important endeavors of our faculty and staff,"

The news comes about a month after UNCW Cameron School of Business dean Larry Clark was named chancellor of Louisiana State University Shreveport. Last week, Rebecca Porterfield, the business school's graduate associate dean was named dean of the Haile/US Bank College of Business at the Northern Kentucky University. Both start their new jobs July 1.