A veteran college president from Nevada will lead San Jose State University until a replacement is named for outgoing President Robert Caret, but will not seek the position permanently, he said Tuesday.

Joseph N. Crowley, 69, who was president of the University of Nevada-Reno for 22 years, will start in July. Caret is leaving after seven years to take the presidency at Towson University in suburban Baltimore, where he worked for two decades as a faculty member and administrator before coming to San Jose.

California State University system trustees Tuesday approved Crowley's interim appointment at an annual salary of $222,450. He said he expected to serve until January, the deadline by which his good friend CSU Chancellor Charles Reed told him the system hopes to have a new president in place.

It is very likely ``my first and last'' post-retirement presidency, Crowley said by telephone Tuesday from Reno.

He left the presidency about two years ago. Since then, he has taught a course each semester and coordinated legislative activities for the University and Community College Systems of Nevada. Crowley is scheduled to visit San Jose State two days next week.

As a relatively new president emeritus, Crowley said he was surprised when Reed asked him whether he would hold the fort in San Jose.

``I am very happy doing the work I am doing,'' Crowley said, adding that most of his children and grandchildren live in Reno.

Being an interim president is more than a caretaker's job, he said, ``because there are always problems to be resolved and opportunities to take advantage of.'' At the same time, he said, he's not sure how much he can do in six months.

Crowley said he has much to learn about the campus, ``but certainly the budget situation is something of a concern,'' he said of California's record deficit.

Crowley grew up in Oelwein, Iowa, and graduated from the University of Iowa after a four-year interruption to serve in the Air Force. He got his master's degree at California State University-Fresno, and his doctorate at the University of Washington, all in political science.

A University of Nevada-Reno faculty member since 1966, he has written several books about the role of university presidents.

In the 1990s, he served six years as president of the NCAA. Crowley said he is a longtime advocate for reforming collegiate athletics by requiring strong academic standards.

Diane Barone, an education professor who worked closely with Crowley as president of Reno's faculty senate, said San Jose is getting a good catch.

``He is faculty-friendly,'' she said, and advocated effectively for the university system before the Legislature. ``He knew everyone on the campus by name,'' she said. ``If I had an issue or question, he would find time for me, and you never felt rushed talking to him.''

He is credited with raising the university's profile and boosting its fundraising efforts.