Media Contact: Patricia Monsoor | pmonsoor@uvu.edu | land:801-863-5483 | cell:650-454-6441
Utah Valley University Woodbury School of Business students Lewis Hoopes and Hongtao Li represented Woodbury on international teams that won top awards at the 2017 case competition sponsored by the Institute of Internal Auditors on September 24 in Orlando, Fla. The competition featured students from 32 universities in eight countries. During the competition, participants performed an industry risk assessment and audit plan for a selected organization and presented their findings to judges who are audit professionals at international organizations.
Hoopes led the first-place team, comprised of team members from China, South Africa, Korea, Iran, and the United States. Hoopes said about his experience, “It was great to present with a passionate team about the future of internal audit and the cyber risks that the profession will need to overcome,” Hoopes added.
Li’s second place team consisted of team members from China, South Africa, and the United States. Li expressed, “I feel honored to work with team members who have excellent talents. It was great to brainstorm ideas, test and execute them. More importantly, lasting friendships were formed.”
UVU’s internal audit program’s quality is recognized by the Institute of Internal Auditors as a comprehensive internal audit program. Only 20 universities in the United States and 31 universities worldwide have been awarded this level of recognition or higher. The students are part of Woodbury’s new Master of Accountancy (MAcc) program which offers courses in internal audit and risk advisory services. They were sponsored on the trip by the MAcc program and the Salt Lake City Chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditors.
Woodbury students Alex Blackham and Christian Peterson also participated in the competition and conference. Blackham shares, “It was good to network with large companies on the east coast. Many of them don’t come around UVU often and I enjoyed seeing their different perspectives.” Peterson added, “The conference was a unique opportunity for job networking, but also to learn about the future of the internal audit profession and to meet future internal audit professionals.”
Jim Bailey, UVU Woodbury audit professor who attended the event, noted that the conference and competition allows students to engage with people from other cultures in teams as they improve their risk assessment, risk management, auditing, and communication skills.
For more about the Internal Auditing program at Woodbury, visit
http://www.uvu.edu/catalog/current/departments/accounting/internal-auditing-minor/
Fourth region (Section 1)