UNM President Louis Caldera has announced he plans a massive reorganization of the University's Internal Audit Department, and he said the changes are not in response to any particular event or audit at the school.
Caldera said he wants the department to take a more proactive approach in dealing with situations on campus in hopes that the stronger presence will negate potential problems.
"As I look at how the audit department has performed, there have not been enough systemic audits that a department acting in that capacity should be doing," Caldera said. "The problem is that the department has fallen back to the mode of doing reactive investigations after incidents have occurred instead of actively trying to prevent them."
Caldera said he also wants to prevent wrongdoings by posting completed audit reports online to serve as a deterrent for those who may consider improperly spending University money.
He said he plans on taking his hard line approach even further by encouraging law enforcement agencies to get involved when UNM employees are suspected of committed crimes.
Yvonne Cox, interim director of the University's Internal Audit Department, declined to comment on Caldera's decision.
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UNM Board of Regents President Jack Fortner agreed with Caldera and said the board plans to monitor the department's actions closer.
"Helping the department in establishing a closer relationship with the UNM community is a good idea," Fortner said. "We are not criticizing the work that anyone is doing, we simply want to implement a proactive system that will be more efficient in preventing some of the problems we have seen."
Fortner said the reactive approach that the Internal Audit Department has taken in recent years has left the University with its hands tied when faced with a compromising situation.
"When reacting after the fact, it is often too late to consider criminal charges against those involved or to file insurance claims," he said.
Fortner said the Board of Regents is considering instituting a more formal audit committee, in which UNM officials would be kept up to date on the actions and progress of the audit department on a regular basis.
"This way we'll know on a regular basis what is going on in terms of ongoing audits," Fortner said. "Of course, we know that all the changes we are considering are not going to prevent everything. They will just allow us to keep closer tabs on what is going on our campus."
