It’s been almost six months since Chancellor DePaolo announced her retirement. After spending all those months searching for a new chancellor, the search committee’s job is finally done. On Tuesday, April 12, the committee recommended three finalists to UNC President Thomas Ross after the list was approved by the UNCW Board of Trustees.

For confidentiality reasons, the names of the three finalists have not been released.

Now the pressure falls on Ross to find a final candidate to recommend to the UNC Board of Governors for final approval. Ross and members of the UNC leadership team will interview the three finalists and choose one final candidate.

The announcement of the new UNCW chancellor should be made sometime in May.

“While we do not yet know who will take on this exciting and challenging role, let me assure you that I and the members of the search committee feel confident that any of the three recommended candidates have the skills, experiences, knowledge and leadership qualities to take UNCW to its next level of achievement,” said Wendy Murphy, chairwoman of the UNCW chancellor search committee and Board of Trustees in a press release.

The three finalists were chosen from a group of candidates that the committee interviewed in Chapel Hill in March. The top five were chosen from that group and were invited to the UNCW campus to visit and interact with some members of the student body, faculty and staff.

The new UNCW chancellor will begin work in July, following the retirement of current chancellor, Rosemary DePaolo. DePaolo is in her eighth year as UNCW chancellor. Her last day will be June 30.