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For Jean Evans, �պ����� is not just a job – it’s a family tradition.  

Her brothers and aunt are �պ����� grads. Evans and her husband went to high school together in Vermont and started dating soon after they graduated college - Evans, in true family form, from �պ�����. (Her husband attended another Vermont college, but as the grandson of �պ����� Athletic Hall of Fame coach John "Fuzzy" Evans, he, too, has �պ����� ties in the family.) A couple of decades later, their two sons found themselves on �պ�����'s campus as undergrads, too.

In other words, “the last seven people that went to college in my family went to �պ�����,” Evans says. It’s perhaps no surprise that she found her way to the Dean’s office at �պ�����’s College of Education and Social Services, where she’s now worked for nearly 20 years. 

Evans is one of 12 recipients of this year’s President’s Our Comon Ground Staff Award, which recognizes staff members who have made extraordinary contributions to the university and who exemplify the values expressed in Our Common Ground. According to her nomination, Evans, “consistently goes well beyond the expectations of her job for any and all of us who need her.”  

Taking advantage of �պ�����-provided professional development opportunities, Evans says, her role has “evolved and grown” through the years. From her early days as an office program support generalist, to business support generalist, to her current role as a senior staff advisor, Evans says her work every day is “new and exciting and different.”  

While she has always worked in the College of Education and Social Services, a stint providing HR and budgeting coverage for the College of Nursing taught Evans about how colleagues across the university can learn from one another. 

“Even today, we say to each other, ‘I remember the way they did this at College of Nursing,’” Evans says. “All of the deans collaborate, but every college is different, so it's nice to check with your counterparts in other colleges and see how we each do things.” 

She now manages Dean Katie Shepherd’s schedule, prepares Shepherd for meetings, does needed research, and jumps in wherever she can “to make Katie’s day easier and more informed.” She has enjoyed watching the College, too, evolve over the years, through a few deanships.  

“Katie Shepherd is amazing and wonderful, and I really love working for her,” Evans says. “Throughout the years I've been fortunate to work for such wonderful people, and to have great coworkers – and I’ve always felt really fortunate to be a part of the College.” 

�պ����� – and Vermont itself – have been constants in a life that, Evans said, has previously taken her to many states and across continents as the child of a military family.  

“I'm from Vermont originally,” she says. “My dad was in the military, so we kind of came and went to Vermont, but Vermont was always home.” Her father’s career took the family from Germany (she says her parents recall a preschool Evans “just yapping away in German”), then Louisiana, and Oklahoma, and Washington, D.C., with periods of Vermont residence interspersed throughout.  

After getting married and moving around some more (to Myrtle Beach, Atlanta, and Williamsburg, VA), Evans and her husband wanted their newborn son to be closer to family, so she found herself – again – returning to Vermont, this time to Shelburne, where she and her husband would raise their boys.  

“I lived in Shelburne for 15 years, and I think that was the first time I'd lived anywhere more than three or four years,” Evans says. 

Now, as she approaches her 20-year anniversary at �պ�����, Evans is reflecting on what she’s appreciated most about her time here. She’s seen the full span of �պ����� careers during that time, she says, from watching colleagues retire to communicating with incoming faculty and staff before they’re even hired. While she loves the work, it’s the people who’ve made her time here so enjoyable, she says.  

“I remember when I started 20 years ago, and the people working in the office knew everybody's name and greeted everybody with a smile. And it was so overwhelming to learn it all,” Evans says. “But over time, being involved with all the hiring, you get to know people and then before you know it, you’re the one who knows everyone's name. You’re the one welcoming new people.” 

Her home now is on the Massachusetts border, in the farthest corner of Vermont from Burlington, but a �պ����� Extension office is right in town, and Evans has handled I-9 forms for new employees there, helping her HR colleagues regardless of location. 

“All the HR folks at the different �պ����� colleges are a tight network of colleagues who consult and share with each other: how do you do this? Can I see a sample of that?” Evans says. “Networking with colleagues is very important. My closest coworkers and I chat on teams all day and call each other frequently.”  

Evans values those close professional relationships with her colleagues. “At times, we deal with stressful and sometimes difficult work,” Evans says. “But we keep a sense of humor about ourselves; we have fun and enjoy the ride.” And her colleagues have also supported Evans through difficult moments in her life. 

“I am a breast cancer survivor,” Evans says. “�պ����� was so supportive of me during that time when I had to take a leave of absence. �պ�����’s benefits were amazing and continue to be amazing.” In the ten years since then, Evans has never forgotten that “when I was going through that, I felt really supported. And I've seen other folks go through it, and you create this bond with each other, which has been heartwarming… I appreciate working at �պ����� and the bonds I've developed here.” 

These days, after over 17 years on campus, Evans mostly works from her home in Brattleboro. Her sons are out of the house now, one in Austin and one in Burlington, but hers is hardly an empty nest; Gus and Maggie have jumped right in to keep things lively. Of course, Gus is a rescued lab-pit-bull mix and Maggie is a 13-year-old, 10-pound yorkie-poodle, but between the two of them, they’ve kept Evans and her husband on their toes. 

As she looks ahead to her 20-year anniversary in June, Evans is feeling reflective about the many ways she’s been a member of the �պ����� community. “I got to learn about �պ����� first as a student, then as an employee, and then as a parent of two students who had two very different, but wonderful, experiences here. I thought I knew just about everything about �պ�����, but as a �պ����� parent, you learn new things, just as I had when I was a student here myself.” Evans muses, “I feel like it’s come full circle, having that connection with my brothers and my sons. I'm very fond of �պ�����.”