The sudden resignation of a top university official a week ago came at the request of President Eric Kaler, Kaler said today.

On Sept. 4, Chief Information Officer Scott Studham announced he was leaving to train for a triathlon and start a business involving technology for home schooling.

In an emailed statement Friday, Kaler said the decision was his.

"I made a decision to make a change in our Office of Information Technology. I had decided it was time, and Vice President Scott Studham agreed to step aside and he resigned last week," Kaler said in an emailed statement. "While there have been complaints filed with the University about Mr. Studham's judgment, that's not the reason I requested that he step aside. My decision centered on the culture in his unit and his relationship with his peers."

Studham started as vice president and chief information officer in February 2012. He led information technology at the university, and oversaw a massive, $85 million upgrade on software used for businesses and academic operations, which was done last spring.

The CIO's sudden departure came on the heels of the resignation of another Kaler hire — Athletics Director Norwood Teague. Teague resigned in August amid allegations he sexually harassed two women who work at the U.

Several complaints were lodged against Studham. Most of those complaints were made public by the university on Friday.

The university's Office of Internal Audit was going through a preliminary review of four complaints filed against Studham between May 22 and Aug. 3 at the time of his resignation.

Those complaints included allegations he'd hired a friend for contract work without a competitive bid, not terminating an employee because of worries about negative feedback, using university purchases for personal use, and excessive travel expenses.

Studham responded to each of the complaints. In a letter to the Office of the General Counsel following his resignation, Studham wrote, "The document outlining rumors about my actions while serving as CIO was a surprise. I wish I would have been made aware of them sooner. Then I could have cleared up the misunderstandings and addressed those which are simply untrue."

The Office of Internal Audit had done a preliminary review as of Studham's resignation and did not make any findings of policy or other violations.

Three other complaints were filed against Studham in the university's EthicsPoint system in 2013 and 2014. Two of them were closed, after no violations were found.

According to one of the closed complaints made public by the University, Studham sent out an invitation for a pig roast in June 2013, which the complainant said people of Jewish and Muslim faiths could not participate in equally. The invitation sent out by Studham said "pork for all to enjoy and a vegetarian option will be available."

The complainant said the invitation and event discriminated against people whose religion does not allow pork consumption.

The university's Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action responded by asking administrators to make the event more inclusive and reframe the nature of the event.

The remaining two complaints were found to be unsubstantiated — one accusing Studham of misusing university credit cards to buy alcohol at an event and purchase gifts for a vendor. A review found no wrongdoing.

The other complaint submitted to EthicsPoint in November 2013 alleged that Studham knew a colleague was selling marijuana out of his office in the Office of Information Technology "based on second hand information...heard from multiple sources." University police conducted interviews, and the Office of General Counsel spoke with Studham and others. The office found no evidence of any wrongdoing.

Two more complaints were filed through EthicsPoint on Sept. 9 and 10, but the University did not release the contents of those complaints, citing personnel data statutes.

In his statement, Kaler said "We have addressed the majority of the issues raised in the formal complaints against Mr. Studham, and any outstanding issues will be resolved."

Studham was making $265,035 annually when he stepped down.

According to Studham's severance agreement, President Eric Kaler will sign a letter of recommendation.

Correction (Sept. 14, 2015): An earlier version of this story mischaracterized an unfounded complaint filed against Scott Studham in November 2013. The complaint accused Studham of knowing marijuana was being sold by a colleague in the Office of Information Technology, not of selling marijuana.