data analytics for higher education

Your Trusted Partner for Audit Analytics

Copyright © 2012 ACL Services Ltd.

Host: Peter Millar, Director of Technology Application

ACL Services

Presenter: Hunter Rackley (ACDA), IT Auditor

Ivy Tech Community College

Copyright © 2012 ACL Services Ltd. 2 ACL Services Ltd.

Peter Millar Director, Technology Application

PBMillar


Hunter Rackley IT Auditor, Ivy Tech Community College


Think in Terms of People & Process


Background

About the College:

– Indiana’s largest public postsecondary institution

– The United States’ largest singly-accredited statewide community college

system

– Serve nearly 200,000 students annually

– Divided into 14 regions

Regarding data analytics

– Banner ERP & Oracle database

– ACL Desktop: 2009

– AuditExchange (AX): 2010

– AX Exception: 2011

ACL Services, Ltd/ Ivy Tech Community College


How We Use Data Analytics

In our audits:

– Ad hoc

– Repetitive

For management:

– Ad hoc

– Continuous monitoring



Ad Hoc Examples

College’s “drop for non-payment” policy

– Involved collaboration between:

» Financial Aid

» Accounts Receivable

» Student Affairs

» Internal Audit

R2T4

– Incorporated data from the DOE



Automated – Financial Aid

Exit Counseling [monthly]

– Identifies students who should be flagged for exit counseling but have not been, i.e. those who meet all of the following criteria: (1) enrolled less than 6 hours in selected aid year's fall or spring term; (2) received any Subsidized Stafford, Unsubsidized Stafford, or PLUS loans; (3) have not been flagged for exit counseling.

FWS [biweekly]

– Identifies all FWS recipients who have been paid more than their offered funds for the specified term.

FWS Tracking [biweekly]

– Identifies all FWS recipients who have been paid between 75% and 100% of their offered funds for the specified term.

SEOG [monthly]

– Identifies students who received SEOG while they had an EFC > 0.



Automated – Accounts Receivable

Errant Late Fee [monthly]

– Identifies students who were assessed late fees during a term in which they

had no tuition charges.

Hold Codes [monthly]

– Identifies students who no longer have an outstanding balance but still have

an AR-type hold on their account.



Automated – Purchasing

Purchasing Card (P-Card) [monthly]

– Multiple Cards

– Single Purchase Limit

– Duplicate Charges

– Split Transactions

– Large, Even-Dollar Transactions

– Weekend Transactions

– Holiday Transactions

– Fuel

– Tax Services

– Charitable Organizations

– Third Party Payment Processors

– Other Questionable Transactions



Capabilities

ACL Desktop

– Ad hoc analysis

– On-demand/repetitive analysis

AuditExchange (AX)

– Centralized, shared content

– Faster processing of analytics

– Automation for continuous auditing (CA)

AX Exception

– Continuous monitoring (CM) for management



Benefits of AX & AX Exception

Management (only with AX Exception)

– Current results on a recurring basis

– Exceptions can be corrected before an audit

Internal Audit

– Eliminates dependence on IT for reports

– Yields 100% testing of the audit population

– Reduces manual testing

– No man-hours needed to run automated analytics

IT

– No man-hours needed to fulfill audit requests



AX & AX Exception Install/Config

IT concerns:

– Data access

– System load

ACL involvement:

– Workflow design

– Worked with IT to install and configure

– Developed two analytics

– Training



AX Exception Entities & Roles

Entities

– 15 – one for each region plus one for the central administrative offices (CO)

Roles

– Primary Reviewer (region, generally)

– Secondary Reviewer (CO)

– Internal Audit



AX Exception Actions

For Primary Reviewers:

– Close

» Corrected

» Resolved

» Allowable

» Previously Reported

– For Review

– False Positive

– Wrong Region

Additional actions for Secondary Reviewers & Internal Audit



Exception Notification

Timeline Action

New exceptions generated Email notification sent to primary reviewers

Exceptions have been open in same state for 1

week

Email notification sent to primary reviewers

Exceptions have been open in same state for 2

weeks

Email notification sent to primary reviewers,

secondary reviewers, & IA

Every day thereafter Email notification sent to primary reviewers,

secondary reviewers, & IA



Getting Management Support

Working with operational leaders

– Have ideas that help both you and them

– Seek feedback and additional ideas

– Show that you’re adding value

Presentation to Audit Committee

Presentation to Senior Leadership Council



Future Goals

Integrate data analytics across entire audit plan

Expand continuous monitoring

– More for Finance

» More for Purchasing

» Accounts Payable

» Payroll

– More for Financial Aid

– Human Resources

– IT



Q & A

data analytics for higher education

Education

internal audit acl services

doeacl services

managementacl services

audit requestsacl services

analytics trainingacl

capabilities acl desktop

ax ax exception installconfig

ax exception actions