UVAFinance Team Members Earn COSO Certification

Change is constant at UVA, and new technologies and processes require a robust system of internal control. Recently, several UVAFinance team members were among those who completed training on the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) Framework. The COSO training provided them with more tools to use in the pursuit of effective risk management and increased compliance.

UVA Chief Audit Executive Carolyn Saint led the effort to bring COSO training to UVA’s compliance professionals. After an intense period of classroom training, self-paced learning, and an exam, attendees earned a COSO Internal Control certificate.

“COSO offers a useful framework, and we can apply it to what we do. The COSO methodology ties well to the seven elements of an effective compliance policy that comprise our institutional compliance policy at UVA,” said Gary Nimax, Assistant Vice President for Compliance.

Kelly Hochstetler, Director of Finance Outreach and Compliance, also completed the training, and will promote adoption of the COSO framework within UVAFinance, as it is specifically referenced in both the Uniform Guidance, which are the terms and conditions associated with Federal assistance awards, and the Commonwealth's Agency Risk Management and Internal Controls Standards (ARMICS). Hochstetler and Nimax will also present the COSO framework to UVA’s Compliance Network, subject-matter experts from the University’s major compliance areas, as a useful tool in assessing their own programs.

After their in-depth exposure to COSO, all who completed the training can now go back to their particular area and apply their knowledge, using the COSO principles to identify possible weaknesses in communication, risk assessment, monitoring, and other control activities.

Congratulations to all who completed COSO training:

UVAFinance: Urmila Bajaj, Christine Carrizosa, Lynn Galasso, and Kelly Hochstetler.

UVA Audit: JJ Sullivan, Phil Stavropoulos, Ralph Traylor, Dan Reid, Kathy Kimball, Molly Castle, Sam Richardson, Neal Ley, Christine Kennedy, and Linda Freeman

Gary Nimax, Assistant VP for Compliance

Carolyn Saint, Chief Audit Executive

To learn more about COSO, visit www.coso.org