SAN MARCOS ---- A former university president who hails from Florida and has worked closely with the California State University chancellor will take the reins at Cal State San Marcos on July 1.

Roy McTarnaghan, 69, was named interim president of the nearly 14-year-old university Tuesday by CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed and the board of trustees. McTarnaghan will be paid an annual salary of $208,000 until a permanent replacement for outgoing CSUSM President Alexander Gonzalez is named.

Gonzalez is leaving in July to become president of Cal State Sacramento.

Reed said Tuesday that McTarnaghan was chosen because of "his experience and his experience starting a new institution."

McTarnaghan helped start Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers and served as president there from 1993 to 1999. Reed said that more than a decade ago he worked as chancellor for the Florida University System while McTarnaghan served as executive vice chancellor and vice chancellor for the state university system of Florida. Since retiring, McTarnaghan has served as a consultant for the CSU system.

While university employees are often tapped for interim positions, Reed said that hiring an outsider had its advantages. McTarnaghan will bring a fresh perspective and an outsider's view to campus, Reed said. There will also be "no suspicion about him wanting the job," Reed said.

A national search for a permanent new president that could take around six to eight months began this week.

Reached at his Fort Myers home, McTarnaghan said he met Gonzalez on two occasions in the last four years and is familiar with the CSU system.

"I'm very pleased to be able to step in," said McTarnaghan, who also served as the interim president of the University of North Florida from 1988 to 1989.

His job won't be to shake things up at the university, but to provide for a smooth transition, McTarnaghan said. "I think things are going well at the university," he said.

"The big challenge will be financial issues and how to maintain enrollment," he said.

Public universities are feeling the pinch from a cash-strapped state. Fees were hiked by 10 percent for the spring semester and trustees delayed a vote scheduled for this week on increasing fees again by as much as 25 percent, saying the increase may need to be larger to deal with state cuts.

McTarnaghan will visit Cal State San Marcos in late May and plans to move to the area in June.

McTarnaghan has also held administrative and academic positions at the West Virginia College of Graduate Studies, the State Council of Higher Education of Virginia and the State University of New York Geneseo, where he received his bachelor's degree.

He has a doctorate in speech communications from Michigan State University and a master's in speech communications from The Ohio State University.

Gonzalez was in Long Beach for a meeting of the CSU board of trustees Tuesday and could not be reached for comment. Several professors and students at Cal State San Marcos did not return calls for comment.