PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — Washington State University has hired a law firm to review the brief tenure of a former provost and executive vice president, including claims she was a target of sexist criticism.

The university said Monday that the Seattle law firm will begin its inquiry into the case of former provost Mitzi Montoya this week. WSU spokesman Phil Weiler said the inquiry has no fixed timeline.

The Spokesman-Review reports that Montoya reported directly to President Kirk Schulz and oversaw teaching and research across WSU campuses. She left the position in late September, less than two months after she was recruited from Oregon State University.

WSU administrators decided to launch the independent review this month after internal emails surfaced in news reports.

In one email to Schulz on Sept. 22, Montoya described meeting with a consultant, Jean Frankel, who had been hired to guide the university’s strategic planning efforts.

“I had another session with Jean today wherein I learned that there are major concerns about me – I need a personality transplant, I need to be more feminine and conforming in my communication style, and I need to be less intelligent,” Montoya wrote.

The emails also describe tensions arising from poorly defined administrative roles, reporting channels and budgeting procedures.

Her departure from the provost position was announced days later. She is now a tenured professor in WSU’s Carson College of Business and a special assistant to the college’s dean.

The university is searching for another provost who would start the job on Aug. 1.