ORONO — The search for the next president of the University of Maine has been narrowed to two candidates.

An 11-member search committee recommended Tuesday that either Deborah Stanley, interim president of the State University of New York at Oswego, or Peter Hoff, senior adviser to the chancellor of the California State University System, be chosen to head the Orono campus.

The final decision rests with University of Maine System Chancellor Terrence MacTaggart. The chancellor said he will take about two weeks to scrutinize Stanley and Hoff more closely before making a recommendation to the system’s board of trustees. He plans to travel to New York and California to talk with those who work with Hoff and Stanley.

Jim Caron, a UMS trustee and chairman of the search committee, said it is common for a chancellor who must work closely with a campus president to want to do his own research.

“The process is moving along fine,” Caron said. “We’re comfortable that the process is where it should be at this time.”

He said there may be a need for a short-term interim president to fill in when Frederick Hutchinson retires on June 30.

UM Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Judith Bailey was also a finalist for the president’s post. Last week, she accepted the presidency at Northern Michigan University.

The fourth finalist was Scott McNall, provost and vice president for academic affairs at California State University-Chico.

Stanley is one of four finalists for the presidency at SUNY-Oswego, where she has worked as a professor and administrator for 20 years. The search committee on that campus met Tuesday and recommended to the College Council, the campus governing board, a candidate whose name was not released.

That board was expected to make a decision Tuesday that would be forwarded to the system board in Albany for its approval. The College Council, however, decided to continue its deliberation and likely will not have reached a decision before May 28, when the systemwide board meets, said Julie Blissert, a SUNY-Oswego spokeswoman.

In addition to Caron, the UM presidential search committee consists of two other trustees, three faculty members, an academic administrator, a classified employee, a professional employee, a student and an alumni representative.