NIU Provost Ray Alden will not head to the Sunshine State after all.

Alden has decided he is “here for the foreseeable future,” despite his recent nomination to become president of the newest university in Florida, Florida Gulf Coast University.

The presidency became unexpectedly available when the Florida Gulf Coast University president admitted to having an affair with a faculty member, according to naplesnews.com. For Alden, the nomination came at the wrong time.

“After a long discussion, I decided not to enter,” Alden said.

Alden said he was nominated because of his connections at Old Dominion University, where he served as director of the Applied Marine Research Laboratory for more than 15 years.

The former president of Old Dominion University, Jim Koch, helped start up Florida Gulf Coast University when it was established in 1991 and shortly after tried to recruit Alden. The NIU provost did not accept the proposal at the time but said he would consider it in the future.

When the presidential position became open, Alden said he was called on a regular basis and submitted a resume to look into the details of the nomination.

“I owed it to myself and family to at least look at the opportunity,” Alden said.

Because of its location in the wetlands, Florida Gulf Coast University is hugely involved with the environment, which happens to be Alden’s area of expertise. It is also his home state.

While Alden did travel to Florida for the initial interview, he could not stay for the rest of the week as the university wanted, due to his obligations at NIU.

Alden said he made his decision to drop out of the nomination race because of unusual internal politics.

“The major point is that I like what I’m doing,” Alden said.

When Alden came to NIU in May 2006, he said it was because he saw the kinds of opportunities that excited him.

“NIU has a long tradition of excellence in undergraduate education,” Alden said.

Alden also said he is not planning on leaving and is not currently on the job market despite recent rumors.

“These kinds of things get blown out of proportion,” Alden said.