Text Only

VSU Directory

Select a VSU Department Academic Affairs Access Office Accounting and Finance Admissions Adult & Career Education Adult Degree and Military Programs Advancement Services Advancement, University African American Studies Air Force ROTC Alcohol & Other Drug Education Alumni Relations Anthropology Program Art Arts & Sciences, College of Arts, College of the Astronomy Athletics Auxiliary Services Biology BlazeFM: WVVS (90.9 FM) BlazeNet Board of Regents Bookstore Bursary (Tuition Cost & Fee    Payment) Business Admin. Grad Programs Business Admin., Langdale College    of Business Services Campus Activities Board Campus Alert System Campus Recreation Campus Wellness CampusConnect Career Services Catalogs, Undergraduate &    Graduate Center for Applied Research Center for Business and Economic    Research Center for Economic Education Chemistry Commencement Communication Arts Communication Disorders Communications Unit Conflict Resolution Continuing Education Cooperative Education Council of Department Heads Council on Staff Affairs Counseling Center Crime Stats Criminal Justice Curriculum & Instructional    Technology Curriculum, Leadership, and    Technology Department Dance Deaf Education Dean of Students Debate Team Dining Services Disability Services Distance Learning Early Childhood & Special    Education eCore Education, College of Educational Leadership Employee and Organizational    Development Employee Self Service Login Engineering Studies Engineering Transfer to Georgia    Tech (RETP) English English Language Institute Enterprise Application Services Environmental and Occupational    Safety Environmental Geosciences Environmental Issues Committee European Council Evening Program Event Services Faculty Research Grants Faculty Scholarship Faculty Senate Finance and Administration Financial Aid Financial Services Freshman Learning Communities Freshmen Year Experience General Studies Geosciences Governor's Honors Program Graduate School Graduation Grants & Contracts Greek Life HallNet Health Promotions Health Services Helpdesk, Information Technology History Honors Program Hotline Housing & Residence Life HUB Learning Cooperative Human Resources Information Technology Institutional Planning Committee Institutional Review Board for the    Protection of Human    Subjects Internal Audits International Programs International Students Journalism Kinesiology & Physical    Education Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base Leadership Programs Legal Affairs Management Marketing & Economics Marriage & Family Therapy Mass Media Master of Library & Info    Science Master of Social Work Program Mathematics & Computer Science Media Center Middle Grades Education Modern & Classical Languages Music Native American Studies Network Services Nursing, College of OASIS Odum Library Off-Campus Credit Program Info Office of Social Equity One Card Services Organization & Mission Orientation Parent Resource Center Parking & Transportation Peach State Summer Theatre Perspectives Philosophy and Religious Studies Physics Planned Giving Planning and Budget Council Plant Operations Police Department Policies Political Science President's Office Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) Psychology & Counseling Public Administration Public Services Publication and Design Services Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) Reading Education Records Policy Registrar Religious Studies SACS Accreditation Satellite Services Science Seminar Secondary Education Small Business Development Center Social Work, Division of Sociology, Anthropology, Criminal    Justice South Georgia College Entry Program Special Education Spectator Speech Communication Sponsored Programs & Research    Administration Strategic Research & Analysis Student Affairs Student Conduct Office Student Development Organization Student Employment Student Government Association Student Handbook Student Life Student Organizations Student Success Center Student Union Tech Shop Telecommunications Testing Theatre Training and Development Undergraduate Research Council University Advancement University Assessment Committee University System of Georgia Upward Bound Valdosta Educators Credit Union Vending Services Veteran's Affairs Video Production Services Volunteer Services VSU Foundation VSU TV VSU TV Live WebCT Wireless Internet for VSU Women's and Gender Studies WVVS 90.9

Prospective Students | Current Students | Faculty & Staff | Alumni & Friends | Parents & Visitors | Portals

Home > Administrative Offices > Office of Internal Audits > VSU Audit Department > Internal Audit Functions > Survey Links > Student Internships

Back

Student Internships

Below is a brief description of the internship program implemented by the Department of Internal Audits during the Spring of 2006. The opportunity to participate in the internship is offered each spring semester to senior accounting students at VSU who show an interest in the auditing profession and who wish to gain professional experience in a work environment similar to one they may encounter after graduation. Students interested in participating in this program should contact their auditing professor.

ACCOUNTING INTERNSHIP:  SPRING 2006

Purpose:

The Accounting Internship Program at Valdosta State University (VSU) was developed as a solution to two challenges facing the Internal Audit Department at VSU: 

• Audit the campus every three to five years and
• Support the University’s long-term goals of excellence in learning and effective resource utilization.

The program was designed to give senior year accounting students the opportunity to participate in a work environment similar to one they might encounter when they begin their professional careers after college graduation, to gain valuable experience in audit procedures and communications with clients and to develop professional skills and attitudes to enhance the furtherance of their careers.  

Background:

The Department of Internal Audits at Valdosta State University is a small department with a big mission. Our defined role is that we are an independent, objective assurance and consulting entity charged with adding value and improving the organization.  Our departmental goals include providing audit coverage of the University within a three to five year cycle.  We also strive to be an integral part of the University.  By fulfilling our mission and achieving our goals, we are at the forefront of supporting the long term goals and strategic plans of VSU.  These goals include excellence in student learning and retention and effective resource utilization.

Our Department has been in existence since 1991 and today employs two persons:  the Director and one full time staff auditor.  This size department limits the number of audits and consequently the amount of audit coverage that can be achieved in a year’s time.  So, the questions arose – how could we reach our goal of auditing the campus every three to five years while supporting the long-term goals of excellence in learning and effective resource utilization?  Since students are the University’s largest resource, what better way to accomplish these two goals than engaging the students in some audit work?

Beginning with spring semester 2006, our Department partnered with our campus’ business school, the Langdale College of Business Administration, to give senior accounting students an opportunity to serve as interns for the Department of Internal Audits.  In addition to receiving course credit, the students gained valuable, hands-on audit experience to help prepare them for their first professional jobs after graduation.  The University gained the benefit of additional audit coverage at reduced costs.

Development of Plan

The original idea was one student intern assisting with current audits.  The University President approved the plan and directed us to start immediately.

The first step was to meet with the Dean of the Business school, the Department Head for Accounting & Finance and the Assistant Professor for Auditing.  At this meeting, the original idea of one intern was expanded and the group decided to implement an internship class with three credit hours.  The course description was:

Accounting Internship   Prerequisite: Faculty approval. The application of academic accounting skills and values in an employment situation. A research project, approved by a faculty member and the employer, is required.

Selection of Students

The criteria for the students were set to include only senior year accounting majors who had completed a course in Auditing.  The persons selected would possess the following traits: responsibility, analytic ability, curiosity, and ability to maintain confidentiality.

The auditing professor enthusiastically enlisted ten students to register for the class.  The students were concerned mainly with the logistics of scheduling this course work with their regular class and work schedules. We agreed their work schedules for this course would be flexible with much of the work accomplished after hours.  Meetings and field- work could be scheduled far enough in advance to be convenient for the clients, the student auditors, and the full-time auditors.

Selection of Audits

To meet one stated objective of increased audit coverage, we chose audits not on our current year schedule. Specifically we chose audits that would be interesting and challenging to the students, but not beyond the abilities of a first year staffer; audits that were diverse in scope, but fit well in the allotted time frame.

Once we had made our selections, we spoke with the appropriate Department Heads and Vice-Presidents to gain their support for students working in their area. Fortunately, our University is staffed with many devoted leaders who viewed this internship as a great learning experience for the students and they all expressed their excitement to be a part of it.

Preparing the Students

The Department Head for Accounting & Finance, the Assistant Professor for Auditing, the staff auditor for Internal Audits and I met with the ten students as a group the first day of class.  We gave them their group assignments and appointed a leader to act as spokesperson and to keep the group focused, motivated and on target with their work.

During this hour, we gave the students their first look at the work they would complete during this semester.  Many of them were surprised to learn they would be performing an actual audit from start to finish, including planning, analyzing, testing, making recommendations and report writing.  They each received an “Audit Guide” which we reviewed in class. This guide consisted of a description of the purpose of the Internal Audit Department, steps for departmental reviews and items that would be included in planning the audit.  It included a sample report, an estimated time schedule for their project, task codes to be used for time reporting, and an evaluation form that would be used at the end of the semester.  We discussed the Code of Conduct, an appropriate dress code and some websites that would be helpful in preparing their audit plans.

I was very concerned about the students maintaining confidentiality. I stressed this at the first meeting and each intern signed a document stating they had read, understood, and agreed to abide by the Rules of Conduct as set forth by the Institute of Internal Auditors.  I repeated the importance of confidentiality throughout the semester; the interns took this charge seriously and acted in a professional manner.

At the end of the hour, the groups scheduled their preliminary meeting with me so we could review more specifically the procedures to follow as they began their audits. 

Performing the Audits

We held weekly group meetings throughout the semester.  At each meeting we reviewed the group’s accomplishments, discussed and resolved any problems that had arisen, outlined a plan for the following week and ascertained that we were on schedule with remaining goals to completion. The work included interviewing clients, understanding and creating flow charts of the business processes, identifying areas of control risk, developing audit objectives, testing and analysis, and writing the audit plan. Often, the students went to the clients’ offices and performed field work on their own.  Our staff auditor or I joined them for the initial interviews, cash counts, or whenever they expressed any uncertainty about the work they were to perform.  The students formulated recommendations as the work progressed and drafted the audit reports after the field work was completed.  We did complete the three audits before the end of the semester and the students were able to participate in the exit interviews, make recommendations to the clients, evaluate the clients’ responses and see the finished product.

Evaluations

The students’ evaluations of the course were quite favorable.  Their comments express their views best:

• The internship was a better experience than any class that I could have taken.
• Having the responsibility that we had, we really had to plan, work hard, and strategize on how to perform the audit effectively as a team.
• Having done my first audit I will be more prepared when I go to work after graduation.
• I learned it is very important to evaluate all the evidence that is presented before making assumptions or conclusions. 
• I learned how to flow chart processes and operations in order to identify areas of potential risk.
• One of the most important lessons I learned is how important it is to work with management and not against them, so they will view the audit process as a positive and helpful experience.

My evaluation of the internship was also quite favorable.  I was impressed with the students’ level of preparation for meetings and their professionalism in dealing with the clients, most of whom they developed a good rapport with.  The enthusiastic manner in which they approached their work made it an enjoyable experience for me. Close supervision of the interns and careful evaluation of their work alleviated any concerns over the use of inexperienced auditors.

Most importantly, when asked for feedback, the clients’ assessments of the services they received were in the good to excellent range with all the respondents giving an excellent rating to the statement “the auditors exhibited a professional and helpful attitude”.

Based on an analysis of our Department’s annual budget, the annual direct hours, and the estimated number of audits per year, these three audits were completed with a resultant cost savings to the University of $10,000.  This amount does not take into account the course registration fees, or any savings that may have been realized by the Business School.

A downside of the experience was the time span for each audit.  Although the clients responded that the audit results were delivered in a timely manner, our goal under ordinary circumstances is to start and finish an audit in approximately one to two months time.  The students work extended over a period of fifteen weeks.

Improvements:

With the first semester behind us, we have some ideas for improving the next semester.  We plan to introduce the students to electronic workpapers.  We expect this will reduce the time spent on preparing notebooks and organizing and reviewing the workpapers.  It will also give students the experience they are more likely to encounter when they begin their first jobs.

We also plan to include a final presentation as part of the course requirements.  We envision the presentation will solidify the experience for the interns as they review the procedures they followed in setting and accomplishing their goals.  This presentation will be given to all the interns, the professor, and perhaps other accounting and auditing classes.  This exercise will mimic the presenting of a finished project to colleagues, supervisors, and other interested parties.

Conclusion:

The internship with ten students was quite different from my original idea of a one-person helper. It provided measurable value to our department and the University.  The students found it very worthwhile.  They gained meaningful experience in audit planning and preparation, working with clients, performing field work and analytical review, and report writing. One student wants to concentrate on finding an audit job; equally important, another now knows that auditing is not the area he wants to focus on. 

The course required extra work on our part as we sought to mentor and assist the students, but we were able to complete additional audits, bringing us closer to our goal of complete audit coverage.  It was challenging to keep progress going on the students’ three audits and a fourth one that our staff was working on.  The students’ enthusiasm added some fun and excitement to what might otherwise be a mundane office.

 The best indication that we consider this course successful is we plan to do it again next semester.

Jeanne Severns, C.P.A., M.B.A. graduated from Valdosta State University with undergraduate and graduate degrees.  She had many years of experience in public and corporate accounting before launching her career as the Director of Internal Audits at the University just six months prior to meeting with her first class of interns.

Back