Audit Findings, Training Opportunities, and New Compliance Staff
Audit Findings, Training Opportunities, and New Compliance Staff
A photo of Montgomery College Germantown campus

Compliance Matters

Insights from the Office of Compliance, Risk, and Ethics
April 2021
Responding to Audit Findings
The College is subject to external and internal audits throughout the year that might be labeled as a “review,” “assessment,” “compliance visit,” “desk audit,” “monitoring visit,” “site visit,” or other terminology rather than “audit.” Generally, any engagement conducted by an external agency with the authority to monitor and ask questions about College activities could be deemed an audit. Additionally, the College’s Internal Auditor performs risk-based audits of any area of the institution.
The audit report might list “findings,” “observations,” “recommendations,” or “exceptions.” Even if the report states “no corrective action plan is needed,” you cannot leave any findings unanswered or undocumented.
If your department receives an audit report, you must prepare management responses. The responses represent management's plan for correcting or improving the finding situation or conforming to the underlying requirements. All responses must be prepared by management of the audited department and sent to the Internal Auditor for review no later than 10 calendar days after the final report. Get more detailed guidance on responding to audit findings or contact Goli Trump for assistance.
Exhausted squirrel with text reading: Finally, the audits are finished.
Report a concern via EthicsPoint
Have You Completed Your Annual Ethics Training?
This year, the College's ethics training focuses on recognizing and handling conflicts of interest—both actual and perceived—that can threaten organizational integrity. Available through Workday, this course explores how conflicts of interest in key areas can harm the College. Completion of this training is due September 30, 2021.
Disclose a Conflict of Interest
Protecting Youth
The online course “Protecting Youth,” available through Workday, is designed to increase employee knowledge about identifying and responding to child abuse, when to make a mandatory report of abuse, and best practices in youth engagement to ensure a supportive and safe environment. Faculty and staff who engage with minors must complete the training every two years. The training is available to all who are interested. Metrics from pre- and post-surveys administered with the course show that employees who complete the course are gaining skills and knowledge. Importantly, after taking the course, employees’ knowledge in the following areas increased:
  • Ability to recognize potentially abusive and neglectful situations involving minors.
  • Ability to recognize when adults violate the boundaries of youth.
  • Confidence in own ability to engage in conversation with peers regarding their concerning behavior.
  • Understanding of the College’s expectations related to minors on campus.
  • Understanding that employees are protected for making a report in good faith.
Graph. Know how to report child abuse or neglect. Pre-Course: 45% of respondents agree. Post-Course: 89% of respondents agree. Confident in ability to engage with peers regarding concerning behavior with youth. Pre-Course: 63% of respondents agree. Post-Course: 92% of respondents agree. Understand MC's expectations related to minors in College programs or activities. Pre-Course: 79% of respondents agree. Post-Course: 96% of respondents agree.
Percent of respondents (participants in the "Protecting Youth" course) who agree or strongly agree with the three statements listed.
These outcomes are encouraging and demonstrate that after completing the course, employees are better positioned to meet their mandatory reporting obligations, understand what is expected of them, and feel prepared to confront concerning behavior.
Spotlight: Stacy Ford
Stacy Ford is the Accessible Technology Coordinator at Montgomery College and has been with MC since 2017. In 2021, Stacy moved from OIT to the Office of Compliance, Risk, and Ethics (OCRE) and reports to the director of ADA compliance. She serves the College by evaluating the accessibility of information and communication technology (ICT), monitoring the accessibility of MC digital environments, and empowering others to improve accessibility at the College through training.
In joining OCRE, Stacy will lead a new initiative as the Universal Design Center Coordinator. This role will help MC build a collaborative coalition around universal design and accessibility to support inclusive environments for students and employees. Keep a look out this year for the launch of the Universal Design Center (UDC). The UDC will bring together representatives from various departments that will continue to paint what universal design looks like in action.
Stacy has worked with students from Kindergarten to College and brings experience and perspectives from teaching, training, and instructional design, to disability services and marketing. Her passions are in coalition building and developing inclusive environments and user experiences for students and employees in higher education. Most will recognize her by the French horn or R2-D2, the Star Wars droid, in her Zoom background.
Want to learn more about accessibility or how to get an accommodation for employees or students? Visit Accessibility@MC.
A Year in Review
OCRE has implemented the inaugural year of the new Compliance and Ethics Fellows Program and Advisory Workgroup. Twelve employees were selected for the first cohort, serving as learners, advisors, and ambassadors during their participation in the program. Fellows receive specific compliance and ethics professional development. Topics for the first year of the program have included conflicts of interest, College policies and procedures, ethical leadership, and digital accessibility.
The Fellows Program is designed to glean employee perspectives and insights about compliance and ethics activities, programs, and training. Throughout the past year, Compliance and Ethics Fellows have shared valuable feedback with our office and have demonstrated agility and commitment to fulfill their role as Fellows.
Visit the Fellows webpage to learn more about the program.
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