The last remaining candidate to become president of the University of Hawaii — former provost of the University of California system M.R.C. Greenwood — is likely to become the next president of the 10-campus system as the regents continue to discuss possible terms of employment with her.

Robert Jones, the only other finalists for president of the University of Hawaii system, has withdrawn his candidacy, UH Board of Regents Chairman Al Landon said this morning.
“The preference of the regents based on our discussion would be that we continue to pursue the candidates that have been recommended to us by the advisory committee,” said Al Landon, chairman of the UH Board of Regents.
“The conversation with Dr. Jones has ended. The conversation with Dr. Greenwood continues,” Landon said.
Donna Tanoue, chairwoman of the UH Advisory Presidential Selection Committee, said the committee continues to recommend that Greenwood be given full consideration.
“The committee believed we had two excellent candidates,” Tanoue said. “We were really disappointed to learn that Dr. Jones was withdrawing,” she said.
Jones, senior vice president for system academic administration at the University of Minnesota, is the second finalist in less than a month to remove his name from consideration to lead Hawaii's higher education system. On May 6, a third candidate, whose name was never released, withdrew in part because of concerns about participating in a public search process.
Jones was among 14 finalists interviewed by the Advisory Presidential Selection Committee to head the 10-campus UH system. M.R.C. Greenwood, the longtime chancellor of the University of California-Santa Cruz and former provost of the UC system, was the only other finalist under active consideration.
"We are disappointed with his decision, but wish him well," Landon said.
The regents are planning to reconvene later this week, and determine how best to proceed, he said. But it’s unlikely that the regents will choose to start the process over, he said.
David McClain has led the UH system since 2004. His term of appointment concludes on July 31.
For the past several weeks the presidential selection committee, headed by Bank of Hawaii Vice President Tanoue, has faced criticism by the UH faculty union and lawmakers about the search process.
Last month six state senators criticized the UH Board of Regents for the lack of final candidates with local ties. In a letter to the regents, the senators urged the BOR to delay a decision until a local candidate is included.
The committee was also criticized for considering a nominee whose administrative career ended amid an ethics investigation. Greenwood resigned from her post as provost of the University of California system after only two years amid allegations of favoritism in her hiring practices and an ethics investigation.
Executive search firm Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates, which was paid $100,000, contacted more than 500 candidates for the top UH job. The committee also considered 90 nominees and 78 applicants. Each of the 14 finalists was interviewed in person in Hawaii in April, with expenses paid for by the university.
Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.