Queen’s tight budget doesn’t seem to apply to senior administrators.
After returning home from their October recruitment trip to China, Arts and Sciences Interim Dean Bob Lemieux, Smith Engineering Dean Kevin Deluzio, and Vice-Provost (Global Engagement) Ann Tierney racked up a bill of roughly $46,215, including luxury hotels and limousine rides. This type of spending from the Queen’s administration is disappointing, especially in the face of cost-cutting measures across various departments.
It seems that everywhere else, Queen’s is trying to scrimp on costs to reduce its operating budget deficit. From layoffs and early retirement packages for ArtSci staff, to reducing TA hours, most students have been under the impression that Queen’s doesn’t have a penny to spare. The recent trip proves Queen’s efforts to remain financially conscious don’t extend to high-level administrators.
However, according to the Travel and Expense Reimbursement Policy, which states that all travel must be in economy. The policy also allows for business class under extenuating circumstances, including continuous air travel exceeding nine hours, provided it is pre-approved. All three administrators took business class flights and stayed at luxury hotels such as the Four Seasons and the Mandarin Oriental.
In one e-mail to Provost Matthew Evans, Tierney stated that she elected to fly premium economy home as a compromise for flying business class on the way there, a tone deaf justification given the university’s financial circumstances.
While the recruitment events were held at the Four Seasons and Mandarin Oriental, and the administrators received a package deal for the expenses, Deluzio also stayed at the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto. These added expenses raise questions about necessity, though it should be noted that the Fairmont Royal York is listed as an approved accommodation provider under the CAUBO guidelines referenced in the university’s travel policy.
The trip was intended to boost international enrolment. While international students are important, it shouldn’t be a priority for Canadian universities. With federal cuts to international student enrollment, it’s clear that Queen’s needs to refocus its efforts on domestic students, who’re stuck in overcrowded classrooms with half the amount of teaching assistants.
In the 2026 QS World University Rankings, Queen’s ranked 191st. There’s a clear need to reinvest in domestic education and research efforts before Queen’s can look to branch out internationally. Without a strong investment in domestic students, fancy hotels and recruitment events won’t strengthen our international presence.
In the wake of the Bicentennial vision and the leaked consulting documents which inspired its creation, it appears as if Queen’s is constantly pinching pennies. The consulting documents detailed creating an entirely new online school to accommodate more students without expanding any physical infrastructure.
The documents highlighted how Queen’s has been operating more as a business, and less as an institution of higher education. But unlike travelling with a company, extra spending isn’t coming out of profits; it’s coming out of student dollars, which make up 94 per cent of the University’s operating revenue.
The exorbitant costs are disappointing in general, but especially from an administration that constantly claims to be doing everything to cut costs and reduce its operating deficit. Such a laissez-faire approach to travel reimbursement is surprising at any level, particularly with senior administrators, eroding students’ trust that the University is taking its financial situation seriously.
—Journal Editorial Board
Corrections
A previous version of this article stated that the expenses incurred were blatantly against the Travel and Expense Reimbursement Policy and that business class travel is prohibited except for documented medical reasons. In fact, the policy also permits business class for continuous air travel exceeding nine hours, with pre-approval, and the travel in question did exceed nine hours.
Additionally, the older version of the article also described Deluzio’s stay at the Fairmont Royal York as a blatantly unnecessary breach of policy; in fact, the Fairmont Royal York is an approved accommodation provider under the CAUBO guidelines referenced in the university’s travel policy. Lastly, the previous article had stated that travel reimbursement policies were clearly violated; this claim wasn’t substantiated.
Incorrect information appeared in the March 6 issue of The Queen’s Journal.
The Journal regrets the error
Tags
Ann Tierney, Budget, Interim Dean Bob Lemieux, Kevin deluzio, Spending
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N J Graham
Lead by example.