Doug Blackburn

Democrat correspondent

Can you be named Florida State University's next president without coming to Tallahassee for a candidate forum or making it to town next Tuesday when the trustees meet with the finalists and decide on a new president?

Michael Martin, chancellor of the Colorado State University System and one of four finalists to be FSU's president, is about to find out.

Martin had been scheduled to be on campus Wednesday for a series of forums with FSU staff, faculty and students, but emergency surgery to repair a detached retina prevented him from flying here from Denver.

FSU Trustee Ed Burr, chair of the presidential search advisory committee, convinced Martin to participate in the forums Thursday via Skype.

It may not hinder Martin, based on what took place during the semifinal round of interviews last week. Richard Marchase, vice president for research at University of Alabama at Birmingham, is scheduled for the same set of forums on Friday. He did his interview last week by Skype from Japan, where he was trying to establish a partnership between UAB and a private company.

The search committee, charged with advancing at least three candidates to the trustees, will meet Monday to determine if any of the finalists should be eliminated. The FSU Board of Trustees is expected to hire a new president on Tuesday.

State Sen. John Thrasher and Michele Wheatly, former provost at West Virginia University, took part in candidate forums Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

Prior to taking the job of chancellor in Colorado, Martin was chancellor at Louisiana State University and, before that, president of New Mexico State University.

FSU began its quest for a new president in March, one month after Eric Barron accepted the same position at Penn State University. Provost Garnett Stokes has been serving as interim president.