Page 14 - Internal Auditor Middle East - December 2017

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By Farah Araj
Naeima Mohammed Al Menhali

Director of Audit & Compliance shares her views on internal

auditing in higher education institutions

n an exclusive interview, Internal Auditor - Middle East spoke to Naeima Al Menhali who is Director of Audit & Compliance
at The Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi. (now a part of Khalifa University of Science and Technology) She began her career
Ialmost 20 years ago and has worked at some of the largest and most prominent corporations in the United Arab Emirates. She
has been a vocal advocate of women in leadership roles and a supporter of the training and development of UAE nationals within
the internal audit profession. Naeima is an active volunteer with the UAE Internal Auditors Association (UAE-IAA) and a member
of its Board of Governors.
What made you become an internal audit The specific risks include creating an audit “Effective
leader in a higher education institution? culture based on the maturity level of the
organization, reputational risks involved
Internal Audit is a challenging profes- internal audit in
sion. I formerly worked at ADCO, SCAD due to involvement of students, cyber
and other government organizations. The security risks, risks of accreditation, budget higher education
education industry is dynamic in nature constraints etc.
and mostly is non-profit oriented. I inter-
act with highly qualified and intellectual We understand that managing reputation institutions is
professors and administrators which gives risk is of utmost importance at higher
me insights into the challenges faced in the education institutions. What can internal essential to ensure
industry. The experiences I have gained audit do to support this?
during my career have shaped me into an a robust control
internal audit leader. Further higher educa- Internal audit can create a robust anti-
tion helps to uplift the young UAE nation- fraud program, fraud awareness sessions,
als and I advocate and support education auditing culture, auditing social media to environment and to
of young UAE nationals to develop and manage the reputation risks in the higher
contribute to our country. education institutions. Also internal audit become a trusted

What are some of the potential challenges can advocate the need for a whistleblow-
that internal auditors may face when ing channel to enable the stakeholders to advisor for the
auditing a higher education institution? highlight any fraudulent activities in the
organization. organisation”
These include maintaining relationships
with academics and non-academics, creat- How is technology changing the way in-
ing awareness regarding the role of internal ternal audit works at a higher education Do you have any advice for other internal
audit and compliance in the context of the institutions? audit leaders in higher education?
university, following Abu Dhabi Account-
ability Authority (ADAA) guidelines, There are lot of online courses available to My advice would be to develop a healthy
maintaining independence while assisting educate ourselves regarding the chang- internal audit environment in the organi-
the management, cost cutting pressures ing nature of internal audit. Further the sation with the support of management.
due to budget constraints, obtaining effec- technology has made our life easier and The aim of internal audit leaders should
tive data for audit purposes, maturity of the helped us to obtain information in the be to go beyond the traditional auditing
organization etc.
shortest possible time. Also I recommend methods focusing on compliance and
What are some specific risks that should all internal auditors to attend the UAE IAA emphasize more on performance auditing
to be taken into account when dealing conferences to obtain more information and improving the existing processes and
with internal audit in higher education and knowledge regarding the emerging key provide advice on innovative and cost sav-
institutions? areas in the internal audit professions ing measures in the organisation.

12 INTERNAL AUDITOR - MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2017