Jeffery S. Allbritten, named the president of Macon State College just a year ago, is scheduled to interview for the presidency of Edison State College in Florida next week.

Allbritten is one of nine semifinalists for the top post at Edison State. That’s the college in Naples, Fla., that Allbritten left when he accepted the Macon State presidency.

At Edison State, Allbritten was president of the Collier County campus, a post he had held since 2003. He began his job at Macon State on July 1, 2011.

Allbritten said he sent in his application for the Edison job last week “after a lot of soul searching.”

Reaching that decision was a difficult one, he said, but if he gets the job, he would be closer to his family. His wife, Liz, still lives in Florida, where she is executive director of the Immokalee Foundation.

“I love this institution here, but life is a mixture of your personal and professional,” he said.

A search committee chose nine semifinalists for the Edison State presidency earlier this week, and each person is scheduled to come to Fort Myers Monday or Tuesday for interviews with the committee, according to the News-Press in Fort Myers, Fla.

Allbritten is scheduled for an hourlong meeting with Edison State College’s search advisory committee Monday.

From there, the committee will send the names of three to five people to Edison’s board of trustees. The board will bring the finalists back for more extensive interviews.

The board is expected to make its decision by June 1, Allbritten said.

Steve Kruger, the president of L.E. Schwartz & Son and a Macon State trustee, said Friday that it was “too soon to comment” about the prospect of Allbritten’s departure.

He added, “He’s doing a fine job” at Macon State.

Within the last year, Edison State faculty revolted against the school’s former president, Kenneth Walker, who accepted a $540,000 settlement last month to drop a legal challenge to his January termination, the New-Press reported.

Allbritten said he had already discussed the situation with officials at the Board of Regents, Macon State College trustees, school faculty and staff.

The timing is not ideal for Macon State, which is in the midst of preparing to consolidate with Middle Georgia College to create Middle Georgia State College in 2013. Allbritten said that even if he leaves, that initiative will have a positive impact on the midstate.

“It’s not about one person. I’m one piece of it. There are many people leading and running this,” he said.

Allbritten said he’s been proud to be a part of changes at Macon State within the past year, including starting a Center for International Education and moving forward with proposals to offer master’s degrees in the future.

“This is a tremendous institution,” he said. “It feels good to know you’re part of the evolution here.”

Staff writer Oby Brown contributed to this report. To contact writer Andrea Castillo, call 744-4331.