COLUMBIA, S.C. - When former Gov. Carroll Campbell asked Fred Carter to join his staff in 1987, he wasn't sure he wanted to leave a comfortable job as head of the political science department at the College of Charleston.

But Harry Lightsey, then-president of the college, told Carter it would be valuable experience to get while he was on sabbatical.

"The only bad part was I never got him to come back to the college," Lightsey says.

Since then, Carter has moved back and forth between the worlds of academia and politics, rising to become Gov. Mark Sanford's chief of staff earlier this year.

Carter, 52, served as senior executive assistant to Campbell for five years before becoming executive director of the South Carolina Budget and Control Board for eight years. And in 1999, he took what he called his "best job," president at Francis Marion University.

But Sanford's job offer lured him back into politics, and his position as chief of staff takes on even greater importance as the governor attends Air Force Reserves training for two weeks in Alabama.

During Sanford's absence, which started this past weekend, Carter will coordinate staff activities and make sure the state can keep in touch with the governor at all times. Sanford will have nightly conference calls with Carter to discuss the state's daily business.

Carter normally handles a variety of administrative, policy and procedural issues for the governor. But Carter says his role is different from past chiefs of staff because Sanford is a different type of governor.

"Mark Sanford is his own person. He'll never be managed or handled by anyone, but everybody is free to raise ideas," Carter said. "It's so easy to get into discussions with him and forget you're talking with the governor.

"It's like sitting in a political science office with a colleague," he said.

Lightsey says Carter has served the state well in his various positions, but it's apparent academia is in Carter's blood.

"I think he found that he did enjoy it and that he could make a contribution. But I think all along, he always had a desire to return to higher education and I think he always will," Lightsey said.

Carter's colleagues at the state jobs he has worked before also praise his leadership.

While with the Budget and Control Board, Carter initiated new programs such as mentoring for younger employees, established a sister-state relationship with Germany and led a study on women in state government, said Steve Osborne, the board's chief of staff.

Carter's academic and practical background made him a leader who was "very creative, very innovative to finding solutions," said Osborne, who has worked with the board 23 years.

All the service for South Carolina is fine, but Carter says he does look forward to a return to academic life. He has promised to serve as chief of staff for Sanford for one year and then return to Francis Marion.

"It's much easier to deal with the theory than the practice," Carter laughs. But still, "I think the practice has made me a better teacher."

Francis Marion also is eager to have Carter return. Since Carter took over the university in 1999, enrollment has increased, faculty morale is up despite painful state budget cuts and the university's first fund-raising campaign is underway, said Provost Richard Chapman.

"This university is headed in the right direction and it's really a tribute to Fred Carter," Chapman said. "We love the fact that he's up in the governor's office, but we miss him and we want him back at Francis Marion when his stint is done."

In the meantime, Carter is focusing on serving the governor he describes as "an unorthodox thinker," who seems to share some "professorial tendencies."

"All I know is I really like the guy. I like the way he thinks," Carter said. "I think if we're ever going to change in a non-incremental mode in this state, it will be under a governor like this."