Allan Hancock College officials hope to appoint a new president in May, after the Board of Trustees approved a timeline Tuesday night for picking a permanent replacement for José Ortiz, who left in June to head the Peralta Community College District in Oakland.

Last month, the trustees decided the college would not hire a presidential search firm and would, instead, have its human resources director lead the process.

Not hiring an outside search firm will save the college thousands of dollars.

Betty Miller, former vice president and director of administrative services, has been serving as president in the interim until trustees can find a replacement by the end of the 2012-13 academic year.

Cynthia Mesaros, director of human resources, laid out the timeline and guidelines associated with the search Tuesday during a meeting in the Lompoc Valley Center.

According to search plans, the board will appoint a search and interviewing committee on Nov. 20 to review the recruitment and selection process. The board will approve that process and authorize recruitment in January.

The recruitment period will be Jan. 16 through March 15.

Committee members will screen applications through March 30, and the first round of interviews will be held April 1-19.

Between April 22 and May 10, trustees will complete references and final interviews.

If all goes to plan, Hancock trustees will appoint a permanent president at a May 21 meeting so the new leader can begin work by July 1, 2013.

Mesaros said Tuesday that while the new responsibility has been time-consuming, she’s confident the trustees will be able to make a fine choice come next spring.

— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.