Governance

Auditing is a cornerstone of good public sector governance. The internal auditor's role supports the governance responsibilities of oversight, insight, and foresight.

Oversight addresses whether the university is doing what it is supposed to do and serves to detect and deter corruption.
Insight assists university decision-makers by providing an independent assessment of university programs, policies, operations and results.
Foresight identifies trends and emerging challenges.

Internal auditors use tools such as financial audits, performance audits, investigations and advisory services to fulfill each of these roles.

We help UVic accomplish its objectives by helping evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance processes.

Our team reports functionally to the Audit Committee of the Board of Governors and administratively to the Vice-President Finance and Operations. This reporting relationship enables the department to maintain its independence and objectivity.

The CAE and staff of the Internal Audit department are authorized to:

have unrestricted access to all functions, records, property and personnel
have full and free access to the Audit Committee (a sub-committee of UVic's Board of Governors)
allocate resources, set frequencies, select subjects, determine scopes of work and apply the techniques required to accomplish audit objectives
obtain the assistance of personnel in units of the university where audits are being performed, as well as other specialized services from within or outside the university as necessary

The CAE and staff of the Internal Audit department are not authorized to:

perform any operational duties for the university or its affiliates. Internal Audit's review and appraisal does not in any way relieve other persons in the university of the responsibilities assigned to them.
initiate or approve accounting transactions external to the Internal Audit department.
direct the activities of any university employee not employed by the Internal Audit department, except to the extent such employees have been appropriately assigned to audit teams or to otherwise assist the internal auditors

Exceptions to this section for work outside the limits of this policy must be approved by the chair of the Audit Committee with the concurrence of the Vice-President Finance and Operations.

Standards of audit practice

We follow the for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing issued by The Institute of Internal Auditors.