The University of Hawaii presidential committee completed its work and will send a shortlist of names to the full Board of Regents on April 28, according to a UH news release.

The final report of the committee contains fewer than five names, the release said. The names of the finalists were not released and the committee did not say how many people are finalists.

The Board of Regents is expected to select three finalists from the search committee’s shortlist, and UH has said their names will be made public.

Some candidates chose to withdraw from consideration because of the public nature of the selection process, the committee said.

“The response from the public was critical,” committee chairman Carl Carlson said in the news release. “This was an opportunity to hear from the community about what it wanted in a public university and to re-establish and rebuild a sense of trust that had been severely damaged. I believe we made progress in the dozens of public meetings with hundreds and hundreds of individuals.” 

UH’s longtime chief information officer, David Lassner, has been serving as interim president since September, when former President M.R.C. Greenwood stepped down.