FORT DODGE, Iowa — Iowa Central Community College is losing its president after a photo that appears to show him pouring beer into a young woman’s mouth surfaced and raised questions about his conduct.

Robert Paxton submitted his resignation at a meeting Thursday afternoon of the school’s board of trustees, and the board voted unanimously to accept it.

Mark Crimmins, the president of the board, said although the incident happened in Paxton’s private life, “it reflected poorly on the college.”

“Based on our discussions, it was determined that it would probably be in Dr. Paxton’s best interest and the college’s best interest that he resign as president,” Crimmins said.

The photo, which was published in The Des Moines Register last Saturday, shows Paxton with a group of young people on a boat. He is holding a small keg above a young woman’s head. The Register said the photo was taken over the Fourth of July weekend at Lake Okoboji and sent to the paper unsolicited.

The board on Thursday also approved a severance package for Paxton, who had recently signed a new, three-year contract. As part of the package, Paxton will be paid for two of those years and get health benefits for a period of time.

A message left at Paxton’s office wasn’t immediately returned.

Another board member, Thomas Chelesvig, said his personal opinion is that it would be hard for Paxton to earn back the public’s respect if he stayed at the college.

“It’s not something that’s very responsible and it wouldn’t be accepted by the average public in that respect,” he said. “Even though it was a private outing, he still has and holds a high position that doesn’t look good in the public eye.”

Paxton also was involved in an earlier controversy.

In 2002, three Iowa Central Community College officials that Paxton oversaw pleaded guilty to record tampering as part of a plea agreement. The school’s vice president, athletic direction and football coach received deferred judgments after agreeing to publicly apologize for their actions, perform community service, forfeit two weeks of pay and accept court and school probation.

In exchange for dropping felony and misdemeanor charges, Paxton signed a statement accepting responsibility for the other employees’ actions. He also agreed to policy changes aimed at preventing further problems.