AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) The University of Maine System’s chief legal officer cited stress as a reason for resigning this week following turmoil over a presidential job search that led to faculty votes of no confidence in the chancellor.

Jim Thelen, who served as vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and chief legal officer, sent a notice of his resignation to colleagues on Wednesday, the Kennebec Journal reported.

He wrote that his stress had become “unbearably intense and acute of late” and that his decision was made in consultation with a doctor.

“I believe it is necessary that I step down as soon as possible to maintain and preserve my health and wellbeing,” he wrote.

The announcement followed an uproar that began over Chancellor Dannel Malloy’s failure to notify a search committee that the candidate selected to serve as president of the University of Maine at Augusta had received no-confidence votes in his previous job.

That led three faculty senates to issue their own votes of no confidence in Malloy. The contract for Malloy, a former governor of Connecticut, is due to expire at month’s end, and trustees have yet to renew it.

Thelen was by Malloy’s side when the chancellor addressed faculty on the Augusta campus in a tense meeting.

Despite that, a University of Maine System spokesperson said the resignation was “not related to the University of Maine at Augusta presidential search or the actions taken by faculty since then.”

Thelen made $249,564 in the past fiscal year and has been with the system since 2015, when he served as a general legal counsel.