BATON ROUGE- Louisiana's top higher education board hopes to have a contract in place by Nov. 15 with a search firm that will help to find the state's next higher education commissioner.

The Board of Regents outlined the timeline at its Wednesday meeting.

Joseph Rallo, in the commissioner's job since January 2015, plans to retire from the position that pays him $364,000 a year. Although his contract ends in December, Rallo has agreed to stay until June while the board searches for a new commissioner.

The board plans to hire a national firm to seek candidates for the job, and announced Wednesday that it has issued a request for proposals from search companies.

The commissioner oversees policy governing Louisiana's public colleges and the financing formula that divvies up state dollars to campuses.