Members of the committee seeking a new chancellor for the University of Massachusetts Boston plan to begin talking early next year with candidates for the post. Norman Peters, a UMass trustee who chairs the search committee, and Vice Chair Jean Rhodes, a professor, sent a message Friday to members of the UMass Boston community providing them with a year-end update on the status of the search.

“As chair and vice chair, we are extremely pleased with the progress achieved to date and wish to commend the members of our committee for their diligence and commitment,” they wrote.

A recruiting firm contacted 350 prospective candidates, and the committee has been gathering input from “key campus constituencies,” Peters and Rhodes said.

An interim chancellor, Katherine Newman, is currently leading UMass Boston after a previous search collapsed when all of the three finalists withdrew from consideration.