Phyllis Topham at the 2009 retirement event.

Phyllis Topham, a respected and retired member of the Shoreline Community College faculty, passed away Saturday morning, Jan. 11, 2014, following a battle with cancer.

Topham, 70, is survived by her husband, John James, also a retired Shoreline faculty member who was a key member of library and technology center faculty for many years.

Topham began at Shoreline in 1989 as associate faculty, earned tenure and retired with the title of Professor Emerita, as awarded by the Faculty Senate Council. At a retirement event in 2009, Topham recalled that she started, “When there were still carriage returns on campus.” Topham taught Computer Applications, Computer Science and “Micro Computing” at a time when Apple had just recently released the Macintosh II and PCs ran Windows 3.1.

At the retirement event, Topham said she was grateful to have had the opportunity to work with great people helping great students toward their goals. “One very enjoyable part of Shoreline Community College has been learning new ideas from students and coworkers almost every day,” she said at the time. As tenured faculty member, Topham participated on many committees, but cited a less formal duty as one of her fond memories; serving as chaplain to the Business Administration Division Softball Team “in a previous millennium.”

After retiring, Topham continued to teach developmental math part-time at the college. “Phyllis was a very practical person and a very kind person,” said John Backes, Acting Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs. “She managed to hook both of those together and her students were the beneficiaries.”

Service details are pending.

The transition has begun in the “House of Instruction.”

John Backes, both Acting and former Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs, and his successor, Alison Stevens, have worked out the timing of how responsibilities and authority will move from Backes to Stevens.

“We are making joint decisions now,” said Backes, who likes to use the “house” label when referring to his office that covers all things academic and learning-related student affairs items. Currently, Stevens has a temporary office down the hall from Backes, but they are spending much of the work day together so she can see the issues and hear the nuances of the multitude of items on the VP’s agenda. Backes and Stevens have also outlined a six-month work plan for the office.

“On Jan. 21, I will move out and we’ll swap offices,” Backes said. “Alison will be in charge and I’ll take on a consulting role. My last day on campus will be Feb. 6.”

Stevens said she is grateful for the opportunity to work with Backes. “I’m incredibly lucky for this chance to see how John has been doing the job and better understand the college,” she said.

Both Backes and Stevens stressed that the work of the office and the college will go on both during and after the transitional period. “The ship is steady and moving forward,” Backes said.

Stevens said she wants to be a good representative on behalf of students and to show consistency in listening and responding to various perspectives from students, faculty and staff. While Stevens’ title includes the word “interim,” that doesn’t mean she won’t work to move forward on issues facing the college.

“I’m very excited about the opportunities we have around student advising,” said Stevens, adding that she believes advising is big component of student retention. “We have good people here. I think we can create something that meets the needs of students and be better than anywhere else.”

Backes retired in June 2012, but returned in September, 2013 as acting VP. Stevens’ interim status continues at least through June 30. Backes said the initial pieces of a search process for a permanent VP hire are being put in place. Stevens will be eligible as candidate in that search.

Here’s a look at a few of the things happening this week!

Monday, Jan. 13:

Washington State Korean Day Celebration! Join us in the PUB from 5:30-8 p.m. for the 7th annual celebration and a Memorial service at 9:30 a.m. at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Olympia.

Wednesday, Jan. 15:

Men’s and Women’s basketball takes on Skagit Valley College! Women’s game starts at 5:30 p.m., men’s at 7:30. #GoDolphins!

Preschool preview night from 5:30-7:30 in the PUB.

Thursday, Jan. 16:

Free workshop on “The joy of note taking“ that will help you learn what to do before, during, and after a lecture that will help you make notes that are meaningful in later review. Starts at 1:45 in room 1501!

Friday, Jan. 17:

Free workshop called “Read smarter, not harder“ that will help you use a time-proven strategy to read and remember textbook material. Bring your own textbook for practice! Starts at 11:30 in room 1501.