ACUA Mentorship Program

May 18, 2020

While we adjust to social distancing during this pandemic, a mentor-mentee relationship is an excellent opportunity to increase connectedness, experience empathy, and share experiences. Mentorship is a method proven to provide personal support, drive workplace satisfaction, and foster member engagement. Now, more than ever, these relationships can make you feel closer while we are further apart. ACUA’s Mentorship Program is a great resource available to members and is preparing to begin its 5^th year—consider signing up this year!

Background

ACUA’s Mentorship Program is a great resource available to members and is preparing to begin its 5^th year—consider signing up this year!

Participation in the mentorship program gives experienced ACUA members an opportunity to connect with other ACUA members who are new to internal audit, higher education, and/or seeking professional development. The mentorship program promotes networking, learning from others, sharing knowledge, and growing professionally.

Lisa Gaetano, Chief Audit Officer at Western Carolina University, started the program in 2016 when she was the only internal auditor at her institution. Lisa recognized that mentoring was a great way to assist other small audit shops that had scarce resources, yet faced a similar risk universe as large internal audit departments. In the program’s first year, there were approximately 20 pairs of mentor-mentee relationships cultivated, and by 2017 the program grew to 25 mentor-mentee pairs.

Brian Daniels, Chief Audit and Compliance Officer at the University of Tennessee System, began leading the program in the spring 2018 with multiple mentors and mentees as repeat participants. Under Brian’s leadership, the program held its first lunch meeting at the 2018 New Orleans AuditCon, providing the participants with the opportunity to meet face-to-face. Due to its success, AuditCon 2019 in Baltimore also hosted a luncheon, which resulted in several pairings on-the-spot.

In the summer of 2019, I transitioned into leading the mentorship program. The current cohort is entirely composed of brand new mentors and mentees. Beginning with an emphasis on smaller audit shops, it quickly became evident that the mentorship program held significant interest throughout the ACUA community. As a result, the program’s expansion incorporated all sizes of audit shops. While I have not been in this role long, the feedback I am hearing from participants is very encouraging; it is clear that the program is making a difference for ACUA members.

The annual registration period for the mentorship program opens in mid-July and closes by mid-August.

The annual registration period for the mentorship program opens in mid-July and closes by mid-August. Final matches typically occur in early September, prior to AuditCon. The program attempts to align interests, where possible, and pairs mentors and mentees based on the following information provided by the applicant:

Strengths and needs
Time commitment
Teaching, learning, and communication style
Background and skillsets
Institutional profile (e.g., size, public/private, research, etc.)
Audit shop size
Individual requests

Guidelines

ACUA’s Mentorship Program provides different results for every participant. The ultimate goal is to support members looking for ways to develop personally and professionally and connect them with others who can provide such opportunities and/or guidance. There are no set expectations of what participants may contribute or receive as a result of the program; however, ACUA recently developed and distributed a written guide to the 2019 program participants, which includes suggested roles and responsibilities for mentors and mentees. There is no “right” or “one-size fits all” style when it comes to the mentor-mentee relationship and communication style/frequency. The program provides the autonomy for members to determine what arrangements work best for both parties to foster a successful relationship.

Feedback from Participants

During my time with the program, current and past participants shared excellent feedback on tactics to help develop a lucrative mentor-mentee relationship. Successful mentor-mentee practices include scheduling monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly meetings via phone or video chat to discuss a variety of topics. Examples of topic discussions include current events, leadership articles, emerging risks, challenges, or follow-up items from prior meetings. One team chose to read Trusted Advisor by Richard Chambers together and discussed a book chapter during each meeting.

You can check out some mentor-mentee success stories below:

Future Needs/Goals

ACUA’s Mentorship Program is in need of more mentors, specifically audit managers and community college mentors; however, anyone interested is welcome to sign up.

ACUA’s Mentorship Program is in need of more mentors, specifically audit managers and community college mentors; however, anyone interested is welcome to sign up. Previous participants are encouraged to participate in either capacity; several participants moved from the mentee role to becoming a successful mentor. I urge everyone to consider participating in the mentorship program this year. You never know the difference you could make in someone’s career or life. Be on the lookout for registration beginning mid-July.

The vision for the program is to facilitate the creation of lasting relationships. Although the program is only a one-year commitment, we encourage the matches to maintain their relationship going forward. Previous participants shared positive results of staying in contact with their mentor/mentee—the biggest success being that these professional relationships shifted to friendships.

On a final note, we received strong leadership from our ACUA President, Julia Hann, during these unprecedented times. Her focus has been on ensuring we continue building connections, so please take this as an opportunity to reach out to your fellow mentor/mentee and remind them that you are here for one another.

About the Author

Tanya Satterfield

Tanya Satterfield currently serves as Director of Internal Audit at the University of Mississippi where she leads a team of 5 auditors. Tanya earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and a Master of Professional Accountancy from Delta State University. Tanya is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), and a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). She has more than 15 years of internal audit experience; previous employers include FedEx, Winn-Dixie Stores Inc., Delta and Pine Land, Monsanto Company, and Delta State University. Tanya currently serves as the Director of the ACUA Mentorship Program, previously was a Membership Committee member (since 2015), and proctored at a past conference. She can be reached at tnsatter@olemiss.edu.

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ACUA Mentorship Program