University of Maine President Dale Lick is one of 11 finalists for the presidency of Florida State University in Tallahassee.

News of Lick’s status was released after a Florida State University presidential selection committee meeting this week.

Lick, in a brief statement released Friday, said, “I have been invited to be a candidate for the presidency at Florida State University and have allowed my name to be considered. Although it is flattering to be considered, I expect, unless something unusual happens, to remain as president of the University of Maine.”

Lick was out of town Friday and could not be reached by telephone.

The 11 candidates are expected to be on the Tallahassee campus next week for a round of interviews before the next cut is made to five or six candidates in early February.

The committee plans to choose a final candidate by early March to replace outgoing Florida State University President Bernard Sliger, who will retire Aug. 1 from a post that pays him $155,622 annually.

Lick’s finalist status brings to two the number of University of Maine administrators looking to the Sunshine State for employment opportunities. Kevin White, University of Maine athletic director, is a finalist for the athletic director’s post at the University of Miami.

Chancellor Robert Woodbury said Lick was an able administrator. News of Lick’s finalist status and White’s finalist status are tributes to the individuals and to Maine, Woodbury said.

Woodbury said Lick told him several days ago that he had been contacted by “several people” at Florida State University.

“I don’t know the degree of interest he has in the position,” Woodbury said. He said it’s not unusual for campus presidents to get nominated for other leadership positions.

The pool of people willing to assume campus presidencies is not as large as people may think, Woodbury said, adding it “doesn’t come as a surprise” that Lick would be nominated.

The average tenure of a university president is “not much more than four years,” said Woodbury, although his personal opinion is that “no one should stay less than five. When they get up to 10 years, they should ask themsleves if there’s something else they could contribute to the institution.”

Lick, 53, became University of Maine president in 1986 and earns $118,000 for heading the flagship of the state’s seven-campus public university system.

He has gained praise from campus faculty as an able administrator, but his term at the university has been marked with some controversy.

His cooperation with the University of Southern Maine in Portland-Gorham to enhance engineering programs there angered some legislators and faculty. They saw it as another gauntlet thrown in a north-south controversy about perceived attempts by southern Maine to steal Orono’s engineering programs.

Students rose up in protest over a $200 comprehensive fee approved by trustees and installed early in Lick’s administration. Two years ago, his comments on the athletic abilities of black athletes raised angry demands for his resignation.

His administration also was rocked by controversy over alleged coverup activities after a romantic relationship was disclosed between former women’s basketball coach Peter Gavett and a female member of the basketball team.

Lick is credited with enhancing campus development. Sports programs have attracted a lot of attention during his term, drawing contributions from some alumni, and criticism from others who decried a perceived overemphasis on sports.

Lick countered the criticism by pointing to a long-range plan to increase academic admission standards at the university, to enhance graduate programs and other academic initiatives.

The campus has aggressively developed a national image during Lick’s leadership and has attracted many high-quality faculty and students during his tenure.

Annette Day, media director at Florida State University, refused to speculate on Lick’s chances of selection, but said he had survived an initial applicant pool of 51 candidates and a nominee pool of several hundred.

Florida State University has 28,300 students and more than 1,400 faculty members. It is known for its research and performing-arts activities and has employed four Nobel prize winners on its science faculty. It is the alma mater of celebrity Burt Reynolds, who funded the first $600,000 “eminent scholar chair” position at the university.

The campus is the home of the Florida State University Seminoles football team, ranked fourth in the nation this year by the Associated Press.