Internal Control Awareness

Dear Colleagues:

In this challenging time, it is more important than ever to reaffirm our commitment to the use of proper internal controls and internal control awareness at the University at Albany and within our affiliated entities. I ask each of you to do the same and to be especially vigilant given our current working conditions during this pandemic.

Internal controls are the operating practices, reporting relationships, and policies and procedures adopted by the University to help achieve our goals and objectives. Within an internal control system, the most important element is the overall control environment—the organization’s ethical values, integrity, competence, and operating philosophy. All UAlbany employees and students share responsibility for creating and maintaining a proper internal control environment.

In March 2020, a University-Wide Risk Assessment was sent out to all departments on campus from the Office of Enterprise Risk Management to re-evaluate our campus risk environment and to keep our internal control review schedule up-to-date. I want to thank each department for participating in this effort. 

Maintaining proper internal controls is an ongoing task with new challenges and threats emerging every day. This environment requires scheduled evaluations of departmental functions, regular reviews of online internal control and information security training, and conversations with internal control staff regarding new developments. I encourage all employees to view the online internal control training available at https://www.albany.edu/internalcontrol.

Additional training materials can be accessed by contacting the Office of Internal Control and the Office of Human Resources. I hope all faculty and staff will take advantage of these trainings to stay up-to-date with current standards, processes and structures for carrying out internal controls across the University. Finally, it is important to report any suspected breaches of internal control procedures, thefts or misuse of information or assets to the University Internal Control Hotline at 518-437-4738 or [email protected]. All calls and emails reported are confidential.

Should you have questions about the University’s internal control program, or wish to schedule an office-wide training session or private consultation, please contact Jonathan St. Clair [email protected] or Weisu Fudge [email protected] in the Office of Internal Control.

Please remember that it is our collective responsibility to maintain a safe and secure environment at UAlbany. Thank you again for joining us in supporting internal controls at our institution.
 

Sincerely,

Havidán Rodríguez
President