For George Ross, being the president of Alcorn State University would be like coming home.

But that’s not why the long-time educator is interested in the position. It’s just an added bonus, he said.

Ross, the “preferred candidate” chosen by the State College’s Board’s committees has a grueling Tuesday ahead of him.

He’ll arrive in the area tonight from Central Michigan University, where he is currently the vice president for Finance and Administrative Services.

At 9 a.m. Tuesday, Ross will start a day of interviews that won’t end until after 5 p.m. He’ll meet with ASU’s vice presidents, deans, department heads, students, alumni board, faculty, faculty senate, support staff, School of Agriculture, foundation board and area leaders.

The schedule doesn’t include more than a 5-minute break from start to finish, and he’ll be interviewed over lunch.

At 5:15 p.m., the state Board of Trustees will meet and decide if Ross is their man.

An announcement will be made minutes after the meeting ends. The board will either name Ross the new president of ASU, or say they will go back to the drawing board.

The position of president has been vacant since Clinton Bristow’s death in the fall.

Ross says he’s been through similar interviews in the past, and is ready for the day.

“It’s a good little mini-test,” he said. “In the role of president there will be lots of pressures.

“Tuesday will be a long day, but I imagine there will be many long days (if I get the job). I expect it will be a productive day and a fulfilling day.”

Ross is a Utica native, but hasn’t lived in Mississippi for some time. He’s been at CMU since 2002, and before that worked at Clark Atlanta University, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and Tuskegee University in Alabama.

The proximity to many relatives still living in Utica area would be great, Ross said, but he’s interested in Alcorn because he sees opportunity, he said.

“I saw it as an opportunity to really take some skills that I think I can lend to a successful university and hopefully make it more successful,” he said. “There are a lot of good things about ASU. And if we run into things that need improvement, I hope I can help there too.”

At CMU, Ross serves as the chief financial officer for the school of roughly 20,000 students. He is also responsible for managing financial services, budget and planning, human resources, facilities management, residences and auxiliary services, campus police, health services and university recreation.

He said the scope of his job is broad, and it wouldn’t be a stretch for him to assume responsibility of academic direction at Alcorn.

“My overall goal is to lend my talents to take a good school and help make it even better,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of listening and learning to do.

“I know a lot about higher education. I’ve got a lot to learn about Alcorn.”