It’s only March, but the Statewide Office of Audit and Consulting Services is excited to announce that May is Internal Audit Awareness Month!

In recognition of this honor, we prepared a helpful presentation handout for your reading enjoyment. Please visit our website to download the handout:� www.alaska.edu/audit.

Also posted is the Statewide Office of Audit and Consulting Services Departmental Report for FY2015. The report provides a “look back” at the department’s activities during the year most recently completed. Oftentimes, UA personnel see or have dialog with an internal auditor for only a brief amount of time as we are conducting our responsibilities. We have recognized that this makes it challenging to see the breadth and depth of the various activities and engagements which we have been working on throughout the year. The report aims to provide this information while also demonstrating to the Board of Regents Audit Committee and University leadership how we are fulfilling the requirements governed by the Institute of Internal Auditors and the Generally Accepted Governmental Auditing Standards.

Have you ever wondered “Who audits the auditors?” One of the Institute of Internal Auditors standards requires a quality assurance and improvement program for the internal audit department. Part of this requirement specifies that an external assessment must be performed at a minimum of every five years.�

The external assessment will include interviews with members of University leadership at Statewide and the universities regarding their interactions with the internal audit function. We expect the on-site portion of the external assessment to occur in June with the exact dates to be announced in April.

Another part of the external assessment will include customer surveys. If you have been a primary point of contact for an internal audit during the last two years or a recipient of an internal audit report, be aware that you may receive a customer survey. Your feedback is very important to us! As such, we distribute the surveys following the distribution of final audit reports and during external assessments.

More questions and answers about internal auditing are available in the Frequently Asked Questions section of the website:� www.alaska.edu/audit/faq.

Hopefully by now you are familiar with the UA Wellness program provided by Healthyroads! It is available for any current employee, spouse, or FIP that is on the UA Choice Health Plan. Completing a few simple activities will reward you with a wellness rebate that is paid-out over FY17.

The requirements are:

1. Complete a personal health assessment (PHA)
2. Get a biometric screening
3. Earn 5 additional points

The 4/30 deadline for this year is rapidly approaching, and we understand that questions may still remain. To ensure you feel supported, Sara, UAs on-site program manager from Healthyroads will be holding weekly FY16 wellness program information sessions. She will not only be going over the program requirements needed to earn the rebate, but will also provide an open format to answer any lingering questions that you may have.

All sessions will be held remotely via WebEx and can be joined at the meeting time by selecting the corresponding link below. No registration is required—simply click on the link when the meeting is set to start! Any employee, spouse or FIP is welcome to join these, just be sure you have both computer and phone access so that you can view and hear the presentation, and ask questions.

Session Dates and Times:

• Wednesday, April 13
  • 11 a.m.-12 p.m.
  • Join the session HERE
• Monday, April 18
  • 10-11 a.m.
  • Join the session HERE
• Wednesday, April 27
  • 3-4 p.m.
  • Join the session HERE

Still need to meet the 5 point requirement? Sara will be providing one more on-site education session! She will discuss the FY16 program requirements and go through where you can locate helpful wellness resources. Also, are you curious as to what’s next with the program? Attend the session to learn more!

Anyone can attend this session, it will be presented in-person as well as available to remotely call-in to participate. Simply use the link below to register and then use the link that is emailed to join when it is time. Phone and computer access will be needed to fully see and hear the presentation. Sara will provide instructions following the presentation that details how you will earn your incentive point!

And remember, all of the previous on-site education sessions were recorded and available for you. You can still earn incentive points this way as well. Each presentation is worth 1 incentive point and details on how to earn those are provided within each recording. You can find those HERE.

What: On-Site Education Session: FY16 Wellness Program Wrap-Up

Who: Provided by Sara Rodewald, Healthyroads program manager for UA

When: Thursday, April 7, from 12 -1 p.m.

Where: UAF, Brooks 103

Click HERE to register if you are unable to attend in-person.
(Meeting Number: 719 268 204)

If you have any additional questions, you can contact Sara directly by phone: (907)450-8203 or email: sararo@ashn.com.

Upcoming course offerings cover:

• Third Thursday will be April 21st – Rubrics, with Janene McMahan, Tina Johnson, and Chris Beks
• Blackboard Collaborate
• Blackboard Webinars
• TurningPoint

Atomic Learning: Need a quick refresher on a tech topic?� Go to �http://atomic.alaska.edu

President Johnsen will hold forums in both Fairbanks and Anchorage on April 14 to update staff on the progress of Statewide Transformation and to answer questions about the process and the implementation of recommendations.

Both forums are scheduled to be held April 14: in Fairbanks from 9 – 10:00 a.m. in Butrovich 109; and in Anchorage from 2 – 3:00 p.m. in Bragaw 205. Both forums will be web streamed for those who cannot attend in-person.

We hear over and over again of the financial challenge the university is facing. This challenge makes philanthropic support for the University of Alaska more important than ever. By supporting UA through your gift, you demonstrate and send a strong message to our leaders and the people of Alaska that you, too, believe that a strong university makes a stronger state. Despite budget cuts, the University of Alaska has proven itself to be a leader of Arctic research, offers affordable education, and has faculty that are internationally recognized leaders in their fields.

During the month of April the University of Alaska Foundation will spotlight ways that you can show how you care for our students and our programs through participating in the Statewide Staff Giving Campaign. In giving, you demonstrate your belief that we are a strong university.

Look for chances to join in some fun activities, while supporting our students and programs along the way. As a bonus, every time you participate in one of our staff campaign activities, your name will be entered in the pool for two Alaska Airlines vouchers. If you participate all you can, you can have your name entered five times!

Everyone who makes a contribution to the University of Alaska in the current fiscal year will be invited to a pizza party in May! The University of Alaska Foundation thanks all of our employees for everything you do in support of UA.

THANK YOU!

Put Monday, April 25, 2:00 p.m. , on your calendar. We will be getting together in Butrovich 109 and Bragaw 205 to recognize our coworkers for their hard work and dedication to the University of Alaska. Entertainment and home-made refreshments will be provided.� Employees who have completed 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 35 years of service will be recognized.�

That takes care of the Save the Date part of the subject! Now for the Nominate part. The time is now to recognize those fellow employees who went above and beyond in their jobs. If you know someone, or even a department, who deserves to be singled out for their performance in 2015, please nominate them for one of the Outstanding Department and Employee Peer awards. Use the online form at http://goo.gl/forms/qMYuy9bDyT to make a nomination. Award categories are Exempt, Non-exempt, Student, and Department. This is your chance to let someone know they made a difference in your work at the University of Alaska. Nominations are due no later than Friday, April 15 .

Mark your calendar! The American Heart Association National Walking Day this year is April 6, 2016! This is the perfect time to take part in one of the healthiest activities you can engage in. Best of all, it’s easy! You don’t need any special equipment or a lot of time. You just have to lace up your shoes and put one foot in front of the other.

To participate, you simply need to set aside some time on April 6th to get moving! You can do this on your own, or make it more fun and encourage those around you to participate too. Even 15 minutes of walking is better than none, so make a plan and stick to it.

Need more of a push to get out of your chair? UA will be raffling off 3 FitBit Zips to those that participate. To be considered for the raffle, send me your pictures! Be sure to include all names of individuals if you are participating as a group so that they all can be included in the drawing. All pictures can be emailed to Sara: sararo@ashn.com and need to be received by 5 p.m. April 11. The drawing will be completed and winners notified by April 13.

**This event will NOT count towards the FY16 program requirements that are needed to earn the rebate.

Questions? Contact Sara, UAs on-site wellness program manager: (907)450-8203 or sararo@ashn.com