The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh chancellor stated Monday he is a finalist for another position in Pennsylvania, making him the sixth possible UW System chancellor to leave his or her position in one year.

Chancellor Richard Wells said in an e-mail to students and staff at UW-Oshkosh he is one of three candidates for a chancellor position at the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.

“I regret any distractions that this news may cause,” Wells said. Two chancellors are retiring in the UW-System, but three have left or are leaving for other positions.

Jeanette De Diemar, a UW-Oshkosh spokesperson, said she could not comment on the announcement and Wells would be unavailable due to traveling obligations.

Kenn Marshall, spokesperson for PASSHE, said the final choice could be announced as soon as next week,. The hired candidate will take over the position in July. Wells, if chosen, would oversee 14 campuses and around 110,000 students.

The previous PASSHE chancellor received a salary of $327,718, Marshall said. Wells’ current salary is closer to $200,000, though the Board of Regents voted to increase chancellor salary ranges in February, according to the Board’s website.

UW System spokesperson David Giroux said he has not spoken to Wells or discussed his reasoning for considering the position.

Giroux said it is not surprising rival schools recruit many administrators in the UW System. He said even when the UW System could offer competitive salaries, other schools could also often give lucrative retirement or benefit packages in contracts.

“It’s often difficult for people to think of higher education as a competitive industry,” Giroux said. “We are dealing with a finite pool of qualified people and a … very aggressive marketplace.”

He said the UW System has not conducted five simultaneous chancellor searches in the past.

Martha Saunders, current president of the University of Southern Mississippi and chancellor of University of Wisconsin-Whitewater until May 2007, said money is not necessarily the main factor in deciding to leave a school.

She said she left UW-Whitewater because she graduated from USM and wanted to help the community after Hurricane Katrina.

However, she said the international reputation of the UW System was one of the main reasons she worked at UW-Whitewater, even if it paid less than a comparable position elsewhere.