OCEANSIDE -- The MiraCosta College board is looking for someone to keep the district's top administrative seat warm until a permanent superintendent-president is found.

And it doesn't have the luxury of time.

MiraCosta's current interim leader, John Hendrickson, recently announced that he has accepted a job as chancellor of the West Valley-Mission Community College District in Northern California.

He will leave MiraCosta at the end of the month.

Anyone interested in replacing him on an interim basis must apply by Friday, June 6, said Human Resources Director Sheri Wright. Candidates will be screened by a three-member board sub-committee, as well as a committee made up of faculty, staff and student representatives.

The board will interview the finalists June 13. And whoever is selected will serve from July 1 until Dec. 31, or until a permanent president-superintendent is hired.

"It's a very quick timeline," spokeswoman Bonnie Hall said Friday.

The interim superintendent won't be eligible for the permanent job, Wright said.

Hendrickson, who makes roughly $217,000 a year at MiraCosta, moved into the leadership post last summer after President Victoria Munoz Richart resigned with a settlement package of cash and benefits valued at $1.6 million. Though he had served a brief stint as the district's interim vice president for business and administrative services in 2006, Hendrickson wasn't in MiraCosta's employ when he took the top job.

He will make $240,000 a year at the West Valley-Mission Community College District.

At MiraCosta, Hendrickson chaired the search for a permanent president-superintendent, but the board scrapped that effort in April after the search committee -- a mix of faculty, staff leaders and some members of the public -- forwarded just two applicants for consideration.

Now, the board is poised to start over.

Last month, it set a goal of January 2009 to fill the top spot. And at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, it will host a "structured dialogue" with staff, students and community members to discuss how the search should proceed.

No action will be taken during that meeting, Hall said.

Instead, each board member will participate in a discussion about topics such as the composition of the committee that will screen candidates for board consideration, and whether to hire a search firm to assist in the process.

Contact staff writer Craig TenBroeck at (760) 901-4062 or ctenbroeck@nctimes.com.