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-

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