Letter from the Editor
Publication Date: November 8, 2021
Hello ACUA!
The nights are getting longer, there’s a chill in the air and (at least here in the Northeast) the leaves are aflame with vibrant color. As the season turns, the atmosphere seems charged with possibility and excitement. With the holidays quickly approaching and AuditCon behind us, now is the perfect time to look back and reflect on all of the changes, struggles and accomplishments of this eventful year. Autumn is a time of transition, which fits perfectly with our current theme of Reflection and Transformation.
Although the last year and a half has been tumultuous, it has resulted in a flurry of new activity within the higher education landscape. Here, our members share their thoughts about the new and evolving risks that have been brought to the forefront by this time of transformation. First, Kara Hefner details a Uniform Guidance-based approach to auditing pandemic relief funds – a topic that is surely at the forefront of many institutions’ audit plans this year! Lily Young shares her strategies for understanding the true cost of your university’s agency fund relationships, while Joseph Iannini provides professional tips and tricks for preliminary information gathering. In addition, David Terry and Kyra Castano offer their insights from Portland State University’s recent contracting and procurement services audit and discuss the benefits of co-sourcing with a trusted advisor. Finally, Todd Knowles and Diane Padgett explore key privacy regulations and risks in the first half of their Data Privacy Primer series. (Expect the second installment in our Winter issue!)
Every issue of College and University Auditor is a direct result of contributions from our incredibly knowledgeable community. Please consider sharing your experience and expertise with us in a future issue! The journal team is ready and willing to assist in developing your ideas or fine-tuning your article. Feel free to reach out to me with questions, comments or ideas for future articles at editor@ACUA.org, or contact me by phone at (203) 218-7631.
Many thanks to our community, and I hope you all enjoy this issue of College and University Auditor!
Sincerely,
Claire Thomas
About the Author
Claire Thomas
Claire Thomas is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Internal Auditor (CIA). She is the editor of College and University Auditor and works in Enterprise Risk Management. Previously, Claire worked in internal audit at Boston University and Duke University. She received her Master of Accounting degree from North Carolina State University and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Connecticut.
From This Issue
- Are Agency Funds Driving up Your Costs?
- Letter from the President
- Preliminary Information Gathering (PING)
- Data Privacy Primer: Regulations & Risks
- Auditor as an Investigator?
- Emerging Technologies’ Impact on Construction Audits
- Clery Compliance from 80,000 Feet
- Distributed Information Systems Management Auditing
- ACUA and EDUCAUSE Intersect to Assist Campuses: An Interview with John O’Brien
- Collective Learning Communities for Internal Auditors
- Letter from the President