Alison Stevens, the executive vice president of instruction and student services at EvCC is resigning.

Stevens supervises all faculty, staff and administrators.

“In my words, I’m responsible for assuring continuous improvement for the student experience,” Stevens said.

The system works like a ladder. If a student has an academic grievance, they first speak with the professor, and if the problem is unresolved, the dean of the program is the next rung up.

And if the dean is no help?

The vice president steps in.

Outside of the college, the vice president meets with their counterparts from 33 community and technical colleges and reports weekly to the president for discussion on EvCC’s progress and development.

As of press time, an interim vice president has not been decided upon.

Jeanne Leader, Dean of Arts and Learning Resources Division, filled in as interim vice president when the former Vice President, Sandra Fowler-Hill, moved to Oregon in 2014.

Leader is willing to be interim vice president if it is in the best interest of the college, but she has no interest in filling the position permanently.

“It always creates some chaos because it means if I do it or another dean does it, you have to step away from what you’re doing. So, it’s dominoes and somebody would have to fill in,” Leader said.

Stevens believes students will not be negatively affected by her leave. “We have a strong student government, we have strong deans, we have strong VP’s, and we have a really strong president. It’s more about attracting the right person in a quick turnover,” she said. “Those things take time.”

Stevens will be returning to Shoreline Community College where she was the Interim Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs before joining EvCC staff in 2014.

President David Beyer is confident that a new vice president will be hired no later than January 2017.