INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / MARCH 28, 1989

 

 

 

Karen Maynes:

College Comptroller

What is the difference be-
tween a controller and a
comptroller? Even Karen
Maynes, Douglas College’s new
comptroller, is unsure.

"I'd have to look that one up
in a dictionary," she says. "I’m
in charge of the accounting of-
fice, responsible for budgeting
and audits and investing any
surplus funds from short-term
cash balances. Comptroller is a
government term - but both
terms are used for the same job."

Maynes can also be regarded
as the person who gives finan-
cial advice concerning the
feasibility of expansion, of both
facilities and programs, for the
college. In short, she knows ex-
actly how far the budgeting
dollar can stretch.

"All educational institutions
are underbudgeted, and we’re
no exception; we take and care
for as many students as we can
even though we already have
more than we’re funded for -
and that’s a source of pride for

us.

Maynes has been in charge of
the accounting office for a mere
three months; a step up from her
original college position as assis-
tant comptroller, and a world
away from her original career as
a Calgary-based high school
teacher. She taught business for
six years in that city, and took

 

time out to have a baby - but the
advent of triplets prolonged her
hiatus.

 

 

 

 

 

"It wasn’t something I was ex-
pecting!" she says. "When I
was finally able to work again I
taught night school for adults; I
wanted to continue my teaching
career when we moved to B.C.
in the early ’80’s, but at that
time you couldn’t buy a teach-
ing job, and the pursuit turned
out to be a real dead end.”

Without much prodding,
Maynes decided to re-train her-
self, went to university and
obtained the equivalent of a
commerce degree. Under the
Chartered Accountants’ pro-
gram she then articled for three
years for the accounting firm of
Thorne, Ernst and Whinney and
took the mandatory provincial

 

accounting exam. It lasted four
days, and Maynes laboured with
the knowledge that every year,
fifty per cent of would-be ac-
countants failed the
requirements.

"It was enormously depress-
ing to live with that piece of
information," says Maynes. But
that didn’t affect her perfor-
mance: she was awarded the
Bronze Medal in B.C. in ’86 and
had the third highest marks for
that series of exams. Maynes
was also placed on the Honour
Roll, which means she was
amongst twenty of the best ac-
counting graduates in Canada.

Working at Douglas College
allows Maynes to practice her
trade in an environment she
loves. "As a teacher I really got
along well with students, and I
think I was a good com-
municator. I’m fascinated with
the college instructors - each
one seems to have such a varied
background, has experienced so
much and can therefore give so
much to the pupils. So it’s very
fulfilling to be part of the
mechanism that keeps all this
running."

Not surprisingly, Maynes
fully encourages people to try a
variety of careers in order to
achieve a sense of fulfillment.
She believes women have a bet-

continued on page 5

 

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