Allison, who was the College’s Director of Business & Fiscal Services, has been serving as the acting vice president since August. Joanne Schultz, the previous vice president, retired in September. His permanent appointment was approved by the Merced College Board of Trustees on October 10.
“It was a fairly seamless transition as I have been in the acting role since August,” Allison said. “My position oversees campus police, budget development, maintenance, operations, transportation, grounds, print services, the campus bookstore, purchasing, the business office, payroll, student fees, facility development, capital planning, and event scheduling. Our job is to partner with Student Services and Instruction in order to provide efficient services that support the success of our students.”
Allison graduated from Merced College with an Associate of Arts degree in Business Administration in the spring of 1989. He played two years on the Blue Devil basketball team, including coaching legend Don Reid’s final season. Allison finished out his playing days at Grand Canyon University before returning home to obtain a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting from Fresno State University.
He has more than 19 years’ experience in management and administration, including the last 15 years with Merced College. Allison is a licensed CPA with an additional 4 years’ experience as an Internal Auditor with the Merced County Auditor-Controller’s Office.
“We are looking forward to having Mr. Allison at the helm of the Administrative Services Division,” Merced College Superintendent/President Chris Vitelli said. He is a strong leader and will help move Merced College in a positive direction.
“Mr. Allison is uniquely situated with his background and experiences as both a former Merced College student and long-time manager of the District to step in and make immediate contributions as the Vice President of Administrative Services.”
Allison said campus safety and developing a sustainable budget plan were his initial concerns.
“We need to maintain a safe campus for our students, faculty, classified professionals and managers. Part of my primary focus will be to review the adequacy of our current emergency preparedness plans,” Allison said. “We have to ensure that our plans are sufficient, logical and operational, and provides us the ability to effectively address emergencies as they arise.
“Developing a sustainable budget plan is very critical since it impacts the entire campus community. This process includes the elimination of budget deficits and the establishment of sufficient reserves to address future economic downturns as well as increases in mandatory expenditures.”
Source: Merced College
