Best of 2019
February 12, 2020
The College and University Auditor journal team would like to thank all our authors for their contributions during the 2019 year. Below are the top five most viewed articles of the year since the online publication of the journal (Summer 2019), including excerpts and summaries from the articles, as well as feedback from readers:
Compiling responses from auditors with 2-20 years of experience, from small private colleges to large public university systems, this article offers advice on how new auditors can acclimate to the complex, hierarchical, yet overall rewarding, environment that is unique to institutes of higher education. Several questions were posted to ConnectACUA to gather advice from members, such as:
- What did you wish you knew when you first started working in higher education?
- What are your favorite ACUA resources that will help new auditors learn about higher education-related matters?
- Outside of ACUA, what can new auditors do to learn about higher education-related matters?
- What do you think is the best way for a new auditor to learn about their college/university?
- What other professional organizations do you recommend to new auditors?
Readers particularly enjoyed the ACUA and external resource suggestions, indicating there were many they were unaware of. The direct links throughout the article made it easy to access websites/information.
Over the past 20 years, the audit profession has recognized the increased significance of governance and culture. To assess how the use of auditors and types of audits conducted has changed to support the increased importance in these areas, ACUA emailed a survey to 365 member institutions. Survey results indicated that ACUA members are now performing a greater percentage of audits that focus on culture and operational improvements than they did 20 years ago. Results also identified a relationship between the amount of these types of audits performed and the level of esteem with which auditors believe they are held.
The percentage of audits by type for universities was especially useful for readers. One member used this diagram to show their university’s board about the kind of work internal auditors perform, highlighting that while financial audits are important, they are not the sole focus of internal auditing. This information also provides a metric to use when determining if your specific audit shop is in line with other audit shops in the industry.
This article defines institutional data reporting, addresses how data may be misreported, the impact of fraud in the admissions process, and what internal auditors can do to evaluate their institution’s processes and controls covering institutional data reporting. Internal control failures during the admissions process increase the risk of misreporting admissions data, which is a significant component of the institutional data reported to governmental, accreditation, and rankings agencies.
Readers found the risk identifications and the suggestions for internal auditor involvement very useful. Refer to past webinars presented by the authors on this topic:
As audit professionals, we can add value to our institutions through reviews of admissions standards and the internal controls supporting admission objectives. This article provides examples of areas to consider during your next admissions process engagement, such as:
- Unique admissions processes
- Remissions
- Information technology practices and privacy laws and regulations
Readers commented on the specific additional considerations and how insightful the questions to ask were. Readers were appreciative of the areas that were brought to light, as they did not previously consider the impact of these concerns.
Makerspaces in higher education are places where students can explore and become innovators in their dorm room, classroom, or almost anywhere on campus. Makers on campus are growing in popularity and can create things such as jewelry, code apps, and prototypes. The emergence of makerspaces on college campuses pose questions for internal auditors:
- How are these spaces governed?
- What are the roles and responsibilities of academic departments, facilities, the controller’s office, Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) office, and so forth?
- How can the organization support the culture of making in a safe, ethical, and responsible environment?
Readers enjoyed the first-hand account of what Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Makerspace environment was like.
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In the future, to determine the top articles of the year, we will factor in article views, as well as social media activity (e.g., LinkedIn® and Facebook®), so please like and share articles that you find useful!
About the Author
Marilyn Carnevale
Marilyn Carnevale is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM), and Public School Accountant (PSA). She is the editor of College and University Auditor and works...
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