ALEXANDRIA, La. » Three people, including the vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of Hawaii Hilo, have been selected as finalists to become chancellor of Louisiana State University of Alexandria.

The Town Talk reports the candidates will be in Alexandria for interviews next week, as well as a tour of the campus and community.

The finalists are Daniel Howard of Jonesboro, Ark.; Andrew Leavitt of Dahlonega, Ga.; and Luoluo Hong, of Hilo.

Howard is a tenured full professor at Arkansas State University who has served as its vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost, and as interim chancellor.

Leavitt is vice president for university advancement and professor of chemistry at the University of North Georgia.

Hong is vice chancellor for student affairs and a tenured associate professor of public health leadership and education at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

The new chancellor will succeed Paul Coreil, who has served as interim since February 2013.

The candidates, who were selected following a national search, will meet with the interim chancellor and the vice chancellors and will conduct a forum with LSUA faculty and staff. The candidates will also interview with Dr. F. King Alexander, LSU System president and chancellor.

A committee made up of LSUA faculty, staff and students as well as Central Louisiana community leaders has led the search for a new chancellor. Dr. Haywood Joiner, chair of LSU Alexandria’s Department of Allied Health and interim chair for the Department of Business Administration, and LSUA Foundation Board Chairman Charles Weems III are co-chairmen.

Joiner said LSUA’s focus over this year and into the future will be to increase enrollment.