There are two primary schools of thought in developing
an audit approach:
- One viewpoint is to assume that everyone is
looking for ways to “beat the system”; therefore,
the auditors devise audit steps that focus on finding evidence
of wrongdoing.
- The other approach is to assume that most people take pride
in their work and want to do the right thing—they just
need to know what is expected of them and have the information
and tools available to allow them to successfully carry out
their responsibilities. In this case, the auditor’s approach
is to examine areas of high risk and focus on ways these risks
can be most effectively and efficiently mitigated.
I’m pleased to say that the latter is the vision,
philosophy, and progressive approach we have adopted in the
Department of Internal Auditing at Georgia Institute of Technology.
As we have canvassed the campus conducting audits and
collaborated with colleagues throughout higher education, we
have compiled perspectives and observations of “best practices”
in handling many of the areas of risk that most units (departments,
schools, etc.) encounter. This is not a policies and procedures
manual – there are already many valuable policies and
procedures which outline business rules. Our goal with this
document, instead, was to compile our observations and recommendations
on best practices in managing business risks and creating effective
and efficient systems of internal control.
In establishing solid risk mitigation procedures and
strong systems of internal control, faculty and staff are then
free to advance their units’ missions towards achieving
their strategic goals.
This will be a living document and will be updated frequently
so we encourage visits to our web site to check for updates
and revisions. We welcome questions and feedback regarding the
information contained herein, particularly comments regarding
how this may be more useful.
We express our appreciation for the support from the
Office of the President, the Executive Staff, and the many subject
matter experts around campus who have provided input and feedback
on this document. This collaborative approach with senior management
demonstrates the Institute’s commitment to ensuring its
administrative processes are on par with the high standards
of excellence Georgia Tech is known for in its academic and
research initiatives.
Rob Clark
Director, Department of Internal Auditing
