The University of Wisconsin System is expected to announce the next chancellor for UW-La Crosse today.

The list of candidates includes Virginia Sapiro, associate vice chancellor for teaching and learning for UW-Madison. Sapiro also served as interim provost at UW-Madison before current Provost Patrick Farrell was hired for the job.

Regent Brent Smith, chairman of the search and screen committee for the Board of Regents, confirmed that an announcement is expected sometime today.

The Regents spent Wednesday interviewing the candidates, and Smith said a decision has been made and just hast to be announced.

Smith immediately acknowledged Sapiro as a qualified finalist and an "excellent candidate."

"She's been in leadership, advocacy and teaching," Smith said. "There's no doubt she's held in very high regards."

In addition, Smith praised Sapiro's "experience" and "temperament."

Sapiro did not return phone calls Thursday night, but told The Badger Herald right after she was announced as a finalist Oct. 20 that she was excited to be considered for the job.

"I was very pleased to hear I was a finalist," Sapiro said. "I'll just present my thoughts and credentials and let the board make their final decision."

Smith said Sapiro and all the other candidates were "very diverse" and extremely qualified.

"We continue to be impressed," Smith said.

The other candidates, in addition to Sapiro, include Royce Engstrom, provost for the University of South Dakota; Joe Gow, interim president at Nebraska Wesleyan University; Patrick McGhee, deputy vice chancellor at the University of Central Lancashire in the United Kingdom; and Beverly Schmoll, dean of the College of Pharmacy at Wayne State University in Detroit.

Sapiro has spent 30 years at UW-Madison, having chaired both the Political Science and Women's Studies Departments and serving as interim provost.
Earlier this year, Sapiro was named a finalist for provost positions at the University of Vermont and the University of Kansas.

Following tomorrow's announcement, the full Board of Regents will vote to accept the selection at their next meeting Nov. 9-10.

— Ben Perlman contributed to this report.