All of us share the responsibility of helping the University achieve its goals. One important way we can help is to establish and then follow appropriate campus internal control policies.
As an agency of New York State, Binghamton University is obligated to fulfill the requirements of the New York State Governmental Accountability, Audit and Internal Control Act of 1987. This legislation requires that each state agency establish a system of internal controls designed to minimize the possibility of the loss of assets, operational failure or violation of laws.
Most of us are familiar with the goal of optimizing and safeguarding the University’s assets such as money and equipment and know that these controls are important. Other controls that may not be as obvious, but which are critical to Binghamton’s success, include ensuring that authorized people approve transactions, maintaining records of important events, and complying with laws, policies and best practices in each of our areas of responsibility. Internal controls extend well beyond the Business Office. It is essential that supervisors in each department understand the unique risks that may threaten operational success in their units and ensure that controls are in place to minimize these risks.
In addition to topic-specific internal control procedures we depend on individual integrity. Each member of the University community is expected to conduct himself or herself with the appropriate standard of care. We all have a responsibility to model integrity in all of our activities.
The responsibility for reviewing our internal controls and for providing information and training about them has been assigned to the internal control function within the Office of Compliance and Risk Management. In approximately a week, you will be receiving additional information regarding our on-line training program for internal control. Your participation in this training is strongly encouraged. Also, the internal control staff will be happy to discuss any questions you may have about internal controls at Binghamton University. You can also visit our campus internal control website: http://internalcontrol.binghamton.edu/
Thank you for your help on this important issue.