ORLANDO, Fla. — Less than a year after taking the helm, UCF President Dale Whittaker has tendered his resignation to the school's Board of Trustees, the school said Tuesday.

Whittaker's resignation offer comes amid an investigation into the school's misuse of funds to build the $38 million Trevor Colbourn Hall in 2014, which has been ongoing for most of his tenure.

Although he wasn't president at the time, Whittaker was made UCF provost in fall 2014 and was promoted to executive vice president in 2015.

"I have never wavered in my efforts to completely address every aspect of these challenges," Whittaker wrote in a message posted on UCF's website. "However, despite my work to find and solve these problems, it has been made clear to me that for UCF to succeed with our state leaders in the future, new leadership is required."

Money to construct Trevor Colbourn Hall should have come out of a capital outlay budget, not the education and general funding budget.

Whittaker has said he didn't know the money was misappropriated. In September 2018, he admitted that UCF misspent millions more than the $38 million on Trevor Colbourn Hall. Last month, Whittaker fired four Administration and Finance workers thought to be connected to the misspending. He also created a new position of chief accountability officer. 

The Florida House of Representatives is investigating UCF's spending. The state House Ethics Committee was scheduled to have a hearing Tuesday but was abruptly canceled Monday night.

Whittaker took office July 1, 2018 from John Hitt, who retired after 26 years as president.

"In his offer to resign, Dr. Whittaker is putting the interests of our students and the University above his own," Board of Trustees Chairman Robert Garvy said in a letter to trustees.

The board must approve Whittaker's resignation before it's final.