Dear ACUA Friends and Colleagues,

This year has really been flying by! Summer is almost here and before you know it  we will be at the Annual Conference in Phoenix! Speaking of the Annual Conference, registration is now open through September 1. Consider taking advantage of early-bird registration rates and register by August 7.

Our fabulous volunteers have been so active and busy developing new resources, part- nerships programs and content for the membership. I am so excited to tell you about their many achievements this year and hope that you consider getting involved after reading about all the new activity that has been happening.
 
Let me first reflect on this past month, Internal Audit Awareness Month, and thank our Recognition Committee for all the fabulous tools that they provide to the membership throughout the year to assist member institutions in their Internal Awareness efforts. These tools make it easy for us promote the value of internal audit without having  to reinvent the wheel. The Recognition Committee also works very closely with the ACUA Faculty Director in providing tools for the ACUA Faculty to promote internal audit awareness, as well as, the ACUA organization when they have speaking engage- ments at conferences or events for other organizations. In addition, this Committee is our “thank you” committee. It recognizes and appreciates our volunteers for the time and effort they contribute to making this organization all that it is. Thank you Recog- nition Committee for all that you do!

The ACUA Faculty program, which is part of the Professional Education Committee (PEC), has developed and is introducing an exciting new program that I would like to share with all of you called “Training for Travel”. This program assists ACUA member institutions in taking advantage of one of ACUA’s greatest assets, its ACUA Faculty. ACUA’s faculty is a valued resource that is available when members are look- ing for talented speakers on topics such as risk, internal controls, auditing, compliance and fraud. With mutual agreement between the requesting member institution and an ACUA Faculty member, training can be provided in person by the Faculty member for only the cost of their travel expenses. In addition, arrangements can be made to pro- vide CPE certificates for the training through ACUA. A Training for Travel form was developed to assist with this process. Use of this form is free, there is a small fee of $65 per training participant if CPE is requested, and of course travel expenses must be paid or reimbursed to the faculty member. The form can be found on the ACUA Faculty web page. The Board and the PEC are very excited to be offering this fantastic Train- ing for Travel program to ACUA members! We hope you all consider taking advantage of this benefit.

The Partnerships Committee is a new committee comprised of governmental affairs and external relations efforts. Governmental affairs monitors the higher education reg- ulatory environment for changes that may affect the work of our members by primarily serving as a liaison to the Council on Government Relations (COGR). ACUA has a seat on the Costing Principles Committee of COGR. The External Relations efforts of this committee explore mutually beneficial relationships with other higher education and similar organizations to provide benefits to our members, mostly in the form of edu- cational opportunities. The Committee is currently working with URMIA, the SCCE, and AHIA and is exploring relationships with several other organizations. ACUA also has a member serving as a liaison with NACUBO and who is part of its Accounting Principles Committee. Lots of exciting new things happening with this Committee, which also means there are opportunities for new volunteers to get involved.

Speaking of new and exciting things happening, I am sure by now you have all heard about and have participated in the new online community, Connect ACUA. I have received so many compliments about our new tool that the Communications Committee has implemented. Members’ satisfaction for the new community is clearly evident just by going out and taking a look at the level of activity and dis- cussion that is going on in the online community. In fact, I think the level of activity matches that of the old listserv! We are very excited about Connect ACUA and so happy to see the membership collaborat- ing so actively! Concurrent to implementing the online community, lots of activity has been underway in updating and refreshing ACUA’s website. If you haven’t visited the website lately, you should check out all the resources it has to offer. And, of course, this committee works to publish this Journal three times a year with quality and relevant articles. Thanks again to our Communications Committee for their dedication and hard work in meeting the online communications needs of our members.

We also have an active Audit Committee. This is a committee that probably doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. Similar to Internal Audit departments in our institutions, they provide valuable assistance that contributes to the success of the organization, yet they don’t get much attention. According to ACUA’s Bylaws, the purpose of the Audit Committee is to evaluate the internal controls of ACUA’s administrative and financial processes and ensure that ACUA’s financial statements are audited by an independent public accounting firm or subject to internal audits developed in consultation with the secretary/treasurer. ACUA’s Audit Committee performs internal audits, makes inquiries and assesses the procedures and activities of our management firm, as well as, ensures an adequate financial state- ment audit is performed. This committee performs a very important role by providing assurances that the organization’s “back office” functions are operating as intended. This year the Audit Committee is performing a comprehensive internal audit of ACUA’s operations. Thanks to the Audit Committee for providing our members comfort in the internal operations of the organization.

I would like to close by reflecting on ACUA’s Strategic Goals. ACUA will:

As you can see, the committees have been focused on furthering ACUA’s advancement with its Strategic Goals. The Committee and Board members are committed to this organization and its success. Keep up all the great work! ACUA can’t be successful without you!

All the Best,
Pam

Pamela Doran CIA, CISA, CPA
ACUA President
Executive Director, Audit & Advisory Services
University of South Carolina