AMS Executive Director Annette Paul left the organization on Monday, after almost three years working at the AMS.

Paul had previously worked with the AMS Board of Directors as a Community Director, before becoming the AMS’s first Executive Director in May 2013.

The Executive Director serves as chief advisor to the AMS executive and as a staff resource to student leaders, and is in charge of oversight of operation and strategic objectives.

Citing a “personal family matter”, Paul declined to provide any further comment to the Journal.

Paul was hired as Executive Director after the 2012-13 AMS executive and Board changed the position from General Manager. Annette Bergeron previously served as General Manager, but resigned in March 2013.

The Journal reported when Paul was hired that Bergeron resigned “in order to fulfill external commitments” after having served in the position since 2009.

Tuba Chishti, chair of the AMS Board of Directors, said the organization is currently deciding on how to move forward with the hiring process. There’s currently no interim Executive Director.

She said hiring options include using a recruiting firm — which would find a suitable candidate based on specifications provided — and an open hiring process, which would involve marketing a position and posting it online in order to attract interested candidates. She added that she hopes a decision for the process will be reached by Monday, when the Board of Directors is scheduled to meet.

A standard hiring process was used when Paul was hired, Chishti said. Since the change from General Manager, the Executive Director position has been updated but not fundamentally changed. The AMS is trying to figure out if any targeted marketing took place at that time, however, and will weigh the costs of each approach before selecting one.

Once a process is chosen, hiring could take at least a month, Chishti said, with candidate selection alone expected to take at least two weeks.

In the interim, Paul’s former duties will predominately be redistributed between the AMS executive — budgeting and accounting tasks to Vice-President of Operations Justin Reekie, legal matters to President Allison Williams and clubs and insurance tasks to Vice-President of University Affairs Philip Lloyd — and a few additional duties will go to the “appropriate permanent staff” within the AMS.

Some of the allocation is still being decided, however, because part of the Executive Director’s position involves looking over the long-term work of the AMS executive.

“We’re still figuring it out because all that stuff has always rested with the Executive Director, and obviously the other permanent staff, they each have their own portfolios to worry about,” Chishti said.

“So we’re going to figure it out based on everyone’s availabilities and what fits with them.”