After more than three decades at Queen’s, Vice-Principal (Finance and Administration) Donna Janiec is preparing to step away from senior administrative leadership.
Janiec will continue in her current position, overseeing the University’s financial, operational, and administrative services, until Queen’s appoints a successor. She will then serve for 18 months as special advisor to Principal and Vice-Chancellor Patrick Deane, providing continuity on major initiatives during the leadership transition.
“I knew it was time to retire,” Janiec said in an interview with The Journal. It was time to step away when she realized she no longer found solving the University’s challenges as rewarding as she once had.
For Janiec, the decision marks the end of a career at Queen’s that began in internal audit in 1994 and progressed through increasingly senior financial and administrative positions.
Born in Barbados, Janiec moved to Canada as a child. After her father died when she was young, she said her mother raised four children on her own while teaching them the importance of education and making sure her daughters could support themselves financially.
Janiec said her father, who worked as an accountant, along with her own interest in math inspired her to study accounting at the University of Waterloo. After graduating, she worked in Toronto before moving to eastern Ontario when her husband accepted a position in Belleville and was later transferred to Kingston.
Looking for work after the move, Janiec applied for a position in Queen’s Internal Audit. She said taking on new opportunities every few years allowed her to build a career at the University without ever feeling the need to leave.
Before becoming vice-principal in 2016, Janiec served as associate vice-principal (finance), working closely with the Provost’s Office and the University’s budget team.
As vice-principal, she has overseen a portfolio including finance, procurement, investment services, human resources, information technology services, risk and safety services, facilities, and internal audit. She said the position gave her the authority to pursue changes she believed would strengthen the portfolio.
Early in her tenure, she created the Risk and Safety Services portfolio by bringing several reporting areas together. She also expanded the associate vice-principal position into associate vice-principal (finance and administration), creating what she described as a stronger second-in-command role that could work alongside the portfolio’s other associate vice-principals.
Janiec said an organization’s long-term success depends on the people who remain.
“The biggest opportunity, and the thing I’m most proud about at Queen’s, is hiring really good people,” she said. “I feel like I’m leaving Queen’s in excellent hands.”
Among the initiatives Janiec highlighted was the Gateway Program, a three-year pilot that helped newcomers to Canada, refugees, and other equity-deserving groups facing barriers to employment.
Piloted within Facilities’ Custodial Support Services, participants gained paid work experience as casual cleaners while receiving workplace English-language training through Queen’s School of English during paid release time.
“It’s one of the things I’m really, really proud of,” she said.
Janiec also pointed to the development of Queen’s first long-term capital plan and her sustainability work, including helping establish and co-chair the Queen’s Sustainability Working Group, which oversees initiatives and reviews projects funded through the sustainability reserve.
She said the University remains in a strong financial position despite recent operating deficits and broader financial pressures across Ontario’s post-secondary sector. She added that strong external credit ratings and building reserves have positioned Queen’s to pursue future capital projects.
One project she hopes the University will advance is a new science building, which she said would support efforts to improve Queen’s research standing and expand opportunities for students to participate in research.
She said that working with students has remained one of the most rewarding parts of her position, adding she has encouraged units within her portfolio to hire students and offer internships that provide practical experience.
“It’s a two-way stream,” she said. “They learn from all of the senior leaders in the unit, but they also teach them things.”
Outside the University, Janiec plans to use her experience by serving on boards where she believes her experience can benefit community organizations. She also hopes to spend more time with friends, her three grandchildren, and her sisters in Barbados.
Transitioning into her new life, though, is a task in itself. She said after years of full schedules, adjusting to retirement will take time.
“I can’t even imagine not having 10 meetings a day,” she said.
Looking back on her career, Janiec said the relationships she developed and the smaller accomplishments along the way have mattered as much as major institutional projects.
“Celebrate those successes, even though they’re tiny,” she said. “Those small things add up.”
Janiec said she has no regrets about her time at Queen’s but expects leaving the role will still be difficult.
“I will miss it,” she said.
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Donna Janiec, retire, Special Advisor, Vice-President (Finance and Administration)
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