How to Stay Ahead in an Ever-Changing Regulatory Environment

June 21, 2019

Colleges and universities are parallel, in a sense, to small cities. Beyond academics, these environments contain police departments, libraries, as well as retail and public spaces. Some schools have hospitals, pharmacies, and clinics; they even run hotels, house students, and conduct research. To say college and university campuses “do it all” is an understatement. Underlying so many of these endeavors are federal, state, and local laws and regulations that can have a tremendous impact on meeting a school's objectives if not followed.

The task of monitoring changes and trends in federal regulations that affect higher education is a massive one. So, how can schools stay on top of all of this legislation? The Association of College and University Auditors (ACUA) has a Governmental Affairs Committee (GAC) dedicated to providing members with up-to-date regulatory changes that impact the higher education environment. GAC uses several resources for staying abreast of evolving laws and regulations governing colleges and universities, as presented below.

1. HIGHER EDUCATION COMPLIANCE ALLIANCE

Summary: The National Association of College and University Attorneys and 30 other higher education associations (including ACUA) created the Higher Education Compliance Alliance (HECA) to provide the higher education community with a centralized repository of information and resources for compliance with federal laws and regulations. On its website, HECA publishes and maintains a compliance matrix.

The Association of College and University Auditors (ACUA) has a Governmental Affairs Committee (GAC) dedicated to providing members with up-to-date regulatory changes that impact the higher education environment.

Pros: HECA is a resource tailored specifically to the higher education industry and its compliance matrix is very comprehensive and easy to use. It lists key federal laws and regulations affecting higher education and includes fields such as: topic, statute, regulations, statutory summary, reporting requirements, deadlines, and additional resources. Filter and sort capabilities for topics and deadlines are built-in features and there is an option to export the entire matrix. In addition, the website includes a section, Resources by Topic, for even more compliance information.

Cons: Although very comprehensive, the compliance matrix may also be overwhelming in its breadth of coverage. Initially viewing the compliance matrix with one specific topic in mind and diving in from there is a good first step to engage in the information.

Given the nature of regulation changes and required maintenance of the compliance matrix and website, updates may not be in real time and email updates are infrequent.

How you can use it: Subscribe to HECA’s email updates on its home page and download the compliance matrix (in Excel) for additional review and consumption. Periodically review the compliance matrix for changes, and research pending changes, to regulations.

Source: www.higheredcompliance.org

2. FEDERAL REGISTER

Summary: The Federal Register, compiled by the Office of the Federal Register, is the official journal of the United States government and its agencies. The Federal Register contains federal agency rules, regulations, proposed rules, public notices, documents, executive orders, proclamations, and other presidential documents. Documents published in the Federal Register as rules and proposed rules ultimately become codified on an annual basis into the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Interested parties can subscribe to daily email publications for updates.

Pros: The information contained in the Federal Register is directly from the federal government. It provides subscribers with daily notifications regarding legislation that may be coming down the pike. In addition, the website allows for searching, browsing different agencies, and even creating an account to monitor areas of specific interest.

Cons: This is truly information overload. Whether subscribing to daily updates, or just visiting the website as needed, the information contained is vast and pertains to every proposed rule, final rule, public notice, or presidential action for every federal agency in the country. As a result, the information included in the journal may be difficult to read and digest in a meaningful way.

How you can use it: Subscribe to the Federal Register daily email updates and scan them regularly for key words or phrases, as well as items specifically categorized as proposed rules. It is a great resource to keep a finger on the pulse of federal activity. In addition, for specific rulings, the official ruling publication is easy to search and find. For interpretations, or effects on higher education, other sources are more applicable.

Source: https://www.federalregister.gov

3. SOCIETY OF CORPORATE COMPLIANCE AND ETHICS

Summary: According to its mission, the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE), as stated on their website, “exists to champion ethical practice and compliance standards and to provide the necessary resources for ethics and compliance professionals and others who share these principles.” It serves regulatory professionals across many industries, academia included.

Pros: The SCCE organizes many training and networking events, such as international learning academies, international, domestic, web-based, and topic-specific conferences (including one on higher education). Former agenda items for the higher education conference include: Privacy Boot Camp, Title IX, FERPA, OSHA, Clery Act, Minors on Campus, Measuring Compliance Effectiveness, Export Controls, Building a Culture of Compliance, Immigration, Greek Life, HIPAA, Free Speech, and Compliance Investigation. It is common at these conferences to see fellow ACUA peers as presenters.

Other topic-specific conferences held by the SCCE include:

Internal Investigations Compliance Conference
Data Governance Conference
Board Audit Committee Compliance Conference
Annual Compliance and Ethics Institute

Cons: The annual Higher Education Compliance Conference is a national conference; therefore, the location may not be convenient for those that would like to attend.

How you can use it: The SCCE website’s searchable library of resources (e.g., reports, articles, etc.) is available to non-members. When the Higher Education Compliance Conference is local, talk with your Chief Audit Executive about sending staff members, as a way to gain additional training.

Source: https://www.corporatecompliance.org/

SCCE’s sister association (and predecessor) is the Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)
https://www.hcca-info.org/.

4. COLLEAGUES AND SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS (SME)

Summary: Individuals within specific units responsible for handling compliance over regulations (e.g., research, information technology, human resources, taxes, etc.) are much more knowledgeable in their areas of expertise. Generally, these people are connected to specific industry groups, subscribers to LISTSERVs involved with peer groups across the country, and network with others that have the same exact responsibilities as them.

Pros: This is a fantastic way to network! Most people, especially in higher education, are more than happy to share available information. Not only is it their profession, but perhaps their passion, and to be viewed as a Subject Matter Expert lets them know that there is interest in their area and flatters them!

Cons: Someone well-versed in their field may not be a SME in the particular nuances of a ruling, so it may be risky to rely on one individual’s interpretation of a law or regulation. Prior to drawing conclusions, it is best to solicit input from multiple experts and compare that information with facts from other sources.

Now more than ever, audit professionals are sought after as trusted advisors and partners. To be effective and remain relevant, we as auditors must make it a priority to expand our networks, connect with our colleagues, and remain cognizant of pending legislation that may affect our institutions.

How you can use it: Develop relationships throughout your university in all major departments. Within these units, work with the people who have responsibilities for monitoring specific regulations associated with their particular areas of expertise. For example, there is a unit at Rutgers University called the Office of Research and Regulatory Affairs. Two people within this unit are responsible for monitoring pending or recent changes to regulations that would affect research in higher education. These individuals maintain documentation related to these changes and disseminate the information to key stakeholders at the University—audit and compliance personnel included.

Source: Endless!

Ultimately, there is no single resource that should be solely relied upon to keep up-to-date on regulatory matters and auditors can be neither responsible for, nor experts in, all areas affected by federal, state, and local laws. It takes a combination of resources—the ones listed here and others— to stay current on proposed and recent legislative changes. Now more than ever, audit professionals are sought after as trusted advisors and partners. To be effective and remain relevant, we as auditors must make it a priority to expand our networks, connect with our colleagues, and remain cognizant of pending legislation that may affect our institutions. Similarly, it is imperative to engage in dialog with our institutions about prioritizing compliance with regulatory changes, all while continuing to achieve school-wide objectives.

About the Author

Marion Candrea

Marion Candrea is the Associate Vice President, Internal Audit & Advisory Services at Boston University. Prior to joining BU, Marion also held roles as the Chief Audit Executive at Ohio University, where she led the Office of Audit, Risk, and Compliance, and at Rutgers University in the Audit & Advisory Services group, where she began in higher education in 2008. Marion spent the beginning of her career working at Ernst & Young in its Risk Advisory group, based out of New York City.

Marion received her Bachelor of Science in Accounting from The College of New Jersey and is both a Certified Internal Auditor and a Certified Fraud Examiner. She is a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. Marion’s involvement with ACUA began more than 15 years ago. Her volunteer services to the organization have spanned the gamut, including Co-Director of the Governmental Affairs Committee, participating as a mentor in the ACUA mentorship program, Board Member-at-Large, and most recently serving as ACUA’s President on the Board of Directors. She has participated on several QAR peer review teams at member institutions and has attended countless ACUA conferences. candream@bu.edu candream@bu.edu

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