DULUTH — A new leader will soon helm the University of Minnesota Duluth, stepping in at a pivotal moment for the campus as it looks to trim costs and overcome steady student loss.

The UMD community of about 9,400 students and 1,700 employees had the chance to meet all three chancellor finalists at forums last week, and University of Minnesota regents will choose one of them to replace interim leader David McMillan, a former regent and Minnesota Power executive.

The next leader will need to help the school navigate a tough time in higher education.

Since 2018, undergraduate enrollment at UMD has dropped by about 300 students annually, in part because of the pandemic, but also because of a long-term trend in higher education. The university is working through a process to streamline low-demand majors and courses to remain viable. It overcame a $15 million deficit last year with half the funds coming from one-time money left over from departments across campus and half from the U system.

The new chancellor will need to help fill other leadership roles: Vice Chancellor Lisa Erwin will retire this summer and two other vice chancellors are serving on an interim basis.

The faculty union and administration are also locked in prolonged contract negotiations.

The finalists all have ties to Minnesota, and one is a former UMD vice chancellor. The U has not responded to a request for the total number of applicants.

The finalists

Fernando Delgado is president of Lehman College in New York, a designated Hispanic- and minority-serving institution that enrolls 14,000 students. Before that, he spent five years in a UMD leadership role as vice chancellor for academic affairs until 2021. He has also held leadership roles at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, Hamline University and Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Delgado said he wants to return to UMD because it's a good fit, professionally and personally. He'd address the university's long-standing budget woes in a pragmatic way, he said, "because that drives everything else."

Uncertainty hurts morale and can play a role in recruiting and retaining students, he said, so a priority for him as chancellor would be "getting to a place where the narrative is no longer about [the budget]," but the school's reputation as a hands-on and research-heavy institution for undergraduates, for example.

"It is critically important for UMD as we move forward," Delgado said.

Dwight Watson is an education professor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he was chancellor for three years before stepping down because of a cancer diagnosis in 2021. He has also been provost at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall and a dean at the University of Northern Iowa. Watson has degrees in curriculum and instruction and elementary education.

Watson said Tuesday that he's drawn to UMD for its sense of place, commitment to research and purposefulness of its students. One of his top priorities would be eliminating access barriers for students. He acknowledged the university's financial challenges and said "they aren't daunting to me because of my prior experiences."

Charles Nies is vice chancellor of student affairs at the University of California, Merced, where he's served for a decade. Before that, he held other leadership roles at the university that enrolls more than 9,000 students.

Nies didn't return messages, but a Los Angeles Times story said he was part of the university's 2021 effort to guarantee enrollment to eligible local students in an effort to expand access. It was the first campus in the UC system to do so. He has degrees in philosophy, education administration and leadership and psychology. His Minnesota connection? An undergraduate degree from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.

In search of an identity

UMD's faculty union president, John Schwetman, said he was impressed by all three candidates. He's looking for a leader who can give UMD a more defined identity, something McMillan has also said is critical.

The college's identity as a regional comprehensive university is broad, Schwetman said, and as competition for students grows, a clearer identity will give students a better sense of UMD, "when they're choosing our campus over all the different alternatives."

A new leader will join UMD as the entire system welcomes new University of Minnesota President Rebecca Cunningham.

McMillan has served as the interim chancellor at UMD for nearly two years, following Lendley Black's retirement. He applied after a national search failed to produce a top pick, and was a controversial choice at the time.

It is unclear when regents will name the new chancellor. The board does not have an April meeting.