Professor Elam

Internal Auditor Newsletter

Dec 31 2020

Read about upcoming events in the latest SA IIA newsletter.

We urge you to join either SA IIA or SA IMA, see links at left as a student member.

Amanda Camarillo Wins Scholarship for Best socionomic Paper of 2020

Christmas Day 2020

 

Dennis and Peter,

 

Warm greetings to you this holiday season. As the year draws to a close, it is my pleasure to announce the winner of the 2020 Socionomics Foundation Scholarship Competition.

 

For the past four years, the Foundation has awarded a $1,000 prize to the student who writes what the Foundation determines to be the best socionomics paper. 44 students entered this year, and the competition was fierce. Your students can be proud of their submissions, as several papers merited serious consideration for the prize.

 

This year, the scholarship goes to Amanda Camarillo of Texas A&M University-San Antonio for her paper, “Disney Theme Parks Ride the Bull but Fear the Bear,” a fascinating case study which used the socionomic perspective to perform a comparative analysis on the successes of Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park. It’s a paper with vast utility for those in the theme park business, as well as those in the broader family entertainment industry.

 

Dennis, would you be able to help us get in touch with Amanda so that we can disperse the funds for the prize?

 

Thank you to you and your students for participating in this contest over the years—and a special thank you for your students’ participation in 2020 during what has been a most unique year for educators and students alike.  

 

Finally, good news: the Foundation Board has voted to hold the scholarship contest for a fifth consecutive year in 2021. We would be honored to receive submission from your students next year.

 

Sincerely,

Matt

 

Matt Lampert

Board Member

Socionomics Foundation  

Voting with Their Feet

Wed Dec 16 2020

Biden Take Note: Businesses Flee to Texas Because Economic Policies Matter
 

Elon Musk and now Oracle are coming to Texas—and that was just in one week!
 
Hewlett Packard, Charles Schwab, McKesson and Uber are also moving, or have moved, their headquarters from California to Texas. And Apple and Google are expanding their presence in the Lone Star State.
 
Oh, and formerly California-based Toyota made the switcheroo four years ago.
 
What’s the deal with all of these major corporations—tech, financial and even manufacturing—moving their headquarters from California to Texas? Can’t find great cowboy boots on the Left Coast? Are they looking to enjoy more 100+ degree summer days?
 
What you’re seeing is an economic policy race as companies vote with their feet—and Texas is winning.
 
No state is prouder of its high taxes, onerous regulations and heavy-handed government mandates—e.g., Governor Gavin Newsom’s banning the sale of gasoline cars by 2035—than California.
 
And no state is prouder of its low taxes—including no state income tax—light regulations and maximum freedom than Texas.
 
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry aggressively courted California companies to pack up and move to Texas. And Governor Greg Abbott has taken that effort to the next level.
 
But the most important factor in marketing Texas to California-based companies is maintaining the state’s business friendly climate.
 
Several years ago I interviewed the editor of Chief Executive magazine, which releases a yearly poll based on chief executives’ responses of the best states for doing business. The editor told me then the two constants of the poll is that Texas always comes in first as the best state to do business, and California always comes in last. And that’s still true in CE’s latest poll.
 
Even Texas’s reputation as a very conservative state politically, economically and socially hasn’t dissuaded many of Silicon Valley’s more liberal-leaning companies from migrating. They’re just heading to liberal Austin where they will feel a little more at home.
 
But the mass business exodus from California to Texas is important for more than state bragging rights—though bragging rights are important to Texans.
 
As president, Joe Biden will want to embrace economic policies that help the country, businesses and people recover from the economic damage imposed by the pandemic.
 
Lots of his advisors, along with the media, will encourage him to look to California as a model for jumpstarting the U.S. economy—and Biden may be inclined to listen. That would be a huge mistake.
 
Texas has already demonstrated the way to grow an economy. Just look at all the companies—whether liberal-leaning, conservative or apolitical—that have voted with their feet against California and for Texas.

Today's PolicyByte was written by Dr. Merrill Matthews, resident scholar with the Institute for Policy Innovation.

 

RSM PCAOB Finds 2018 better than 2017, But is that Saying Much?

Monday Dec 7 2020

The latest on RMS audits

No Jail Time for another KPMG PCAOB Scam Artist

Monday Dec 7 2020

All involved in the KPMG PCAOB Audit Infor fraud are getting no to lite entences.

Dolly Parton Gives Back

Monday Dec 7 2020

In 1990, the high school dropout rate for Dolly Parton's hometown of Sevierville Tennessee was at 34% (Research shows that most kids make up their minds in fifth/sixth grade not to graduate). That year, all fifth and sixth graders from Sevierville were invited by Parton to attend an assembly at Dollywood. They were asked to pick a buddy, and if both students completed high school, Dolly Parton would personally hand them each a $500 check on their graduation day. As a result, the dropout rate for those classes fell to 6%, and has generally retained that average to this day.

Shortly after the success of The Buddy Program, Parton learned in dealing with teachers from the school district that problems in education often begin during first grade when kids are at different developmental levels. That year The Dollywood Foundation paid the salaries for additional teachers assistants in every first grade class for the next 2 years, under the agreement that if the program worked, the school system would effectively adopt and fund the program after the trial period.

During the same period, Parton founded the Imagination Library in 1995: The idea being that children from her rural hometown and low-income families often start school at a disadvantage and as a result, will be unfairly compared to their peers for the rest of their lives, effectively encouraging them not to pursue higher education. The objective of the Imagination library was that every child in Sevier County would receive one book, every month, mailed and addressed to the child, from the day they were born until the day they started kindergarten, 100% free of charge. What began as a hometown initiative now serves children in all 50 states, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, mailing thousands of free books to children around the world monthly.

On March 1, 2018 Parton donated her 100 millionth book at the Library of Congress: a copy of "Coat of Many Colors" dedicated to her father, who never learned to read or write.

Happy 74th Birthday Dolly Parton!

PCAOB Raisess the Stakes for China

Friday Dec 4 2020

1. The House of Representatives passed a bill that has now advanced to the White House related to Chinese companies whose securities trade in US markets (googleàVan Hollen Kennedy Bill). While the bill deals with a number of related issues, it directly addresses the difficulty the PCAOB has had in being allowed to conduct its inspections of CPA firms that perform audits of Chinese companies that sell securities in the US markets. The following link summarizes the PCAOB’s view of the China-related access challenges.

https://pcaobus.org/oversight/international/china-related-access-challenges

Student Rating of Instructors

Thursday Dec 3 2020

The Student Rating of Instruction (SRI) emails were sent to students today to their Jaguar email accounts. An announcement was also posted to Blackboard. Students can also access their SRIs via a link in Blackboard after they login. The SRIs are open now and will close on 12/6/2020 11:59 PM at 11:59 pm.

Students have two options to access their Course Evaluations (please feel free to copy and paste the information between the bars into a communication to your students):

________

1.   Blackboard. https://tamusa.blackboard.com/webapps/login/ Once you login you will see the "My Institution" page. Look for the "Tools" module. The course evaluation link is at the bottom of the Tools module. Click on the link "Course Evaluations" and you will be taken to your course evaluation links for each class you are enrolled in.

2.   Student Jaguar Email accounts. Student Jaguar Email link. Once you login to your Jaguar account, you will see emails sent by A&M-San Antonio Admin. You should have received one email for each class you are enrolled in. Links to the course evaluations are contained in these emails.

________

We are conducting a communication campaign to encourage your students to complete their SRIs. However, research indicates that the simplest and most effective way to improve your SRI response rate is to communicate with your students about why their feedback is important to you as an instructor, and to remind them about the SRIs at least twice.

Below is the announcement that was sent out to students. If you have any questions, please email Christina Cortinas at [email protected] 
------

Texas A&M University-San Antonio

Student Rating of Instruction Survey

Dear A&M-San Antonio Student,

Texas A&M University-San Antonio values the opinions and feedback of our students. With this in mind, we would like to encourage you to provide constructive feedback on the quality of instruction in your classes through the "Student Rating of Instruction" survey system, which is now open for evaluations. 

Click on the link below to respond to the brief survey. You will receive a separate email for each class you are enrolled in. You can also access your course evaluations via Blackboard after you login (look for the Course Evaluations link in the left-hand Tools menu on the My Institution landing page).

Please note:

-       Surveys must be completed by 12/6/2020 11:59 PM at 11:59 pm.

-    You will only be allowed to complete one survey for each class.

-       Evaluations are confidential, and faculty and administrators are unable to link student information with completed evaluations.

-       If you have any difficulty completing your SRIs on or after 11/23/2020 6:00 AM at 6:00am but before 12/6/2020 11:59 PM at 11:59 pm, please contact the Institutional Research office at [email protected].

Please complete your SRI by clicking on this link: [link removed]

Note: This link is specific to you and your class – please do not share this link or forward this email to another person.  

Thank you and best wishes to you for finals and the successful completion of your courses! 

The Office of Academic Affairs