The office was near empty. Files had been cleared out. They were already handed off to his successor. All that was left was to return his key and leave the office he resided in for five years.

This was Jerry Donna’s last day at Eastern.

For five years he had the position of director of financial aid and worked with students on how to pay for college. And now, as he leaves his office for the last time, he will enter the world of retirement.

But his decision to retire stems not from the pension woes Illinois currently faces, or the change in the pension laws.

“There’s different selections you can make when you come into the retirement system,” he said. “I didn’t choose the traditional plan, the plan where people are having issues with having to go out early. I’m under a self-management.”

He said he chose this system, rather than the traditional route, because he knew he would be retiring in five years.

Donna first came to Eastern in 2009 as the director of financial aid. Before that, he served two years at Salem College in North Carolina as the director of that college’s director of financial aid.

Despite walking out of Eastern’s door for the last time Wednesday, Donna, 60, does not have any immediate plans, other than to “figure out how retirement works.”

Although he has little projects around his home like gardening – Donna is an avid gardener – Donna said he has no real big plans in mind.

“Plans after today – that’s the question most asked of me,” Donna said. “I don’t have a good answer.”

But one thing is definite: when he wakes up tomorrow, he’s going to have a cup of coffee on his deck for “a long time,” and listen to the birds.

As for his last days at Eastern, Donna spent them tying up loose ends, getting ready to hand over the position to the interim director of financial aid, Carol Waldmann, the associate director of financial aid. But one thing he was grateful to have had the opportunity to see through one last time was lunch with his usual crowd.

“When I first came here, I was introduced to this group of people that always lunched together over in the Food Court,” he said. “And so we’ve maintained that for five years now.”

Earlier Wednesday, he had his final meal with his group of friends – the “lunch bunch,” as he affectionately calls them.

However, the loose ties do not relate to his personal goals as director of financial aid at Eastern.

“I believe I have met and probably gone beyond what I thought I could do here,” Donna said.

He credits his staff throughout the years as one of the reasons his goals have been met. One of the big things he hangs his hat on is being able to have streamlined automated processes for student service – something he called “stuck in the Dark Ages” before.

Support from the administration when it comes to funding for the students is something Donna “heartening” for him.

He said being able to streamline the process for getting commitments to incoming students – freshmen or transfer – is equally important.

“We’re getting more money out to students,” he said. “Part of this is that it’s just a great thing to do. Another part of this is we need to do this to stay competitive against our other peer institutions.”

Because financial aid is information heavy, Donna said he was happy to have his staff involved with training sessions to keep up to date.

On a more personal area, Donna takes pride in being able to spearhead making the Student Services Building more welcoming.

He said the idea of having the staff enjoying what they do translates to a more “human environment” in order to help the students.

“I wasn’t hearing laughing or talking when I first came here. And I think that plays on people,” he said. “If you’re not finding some sort of joy in your workspace, it’s not worth it.”

Bob Galuski can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].