Alfie Scholar Chloe Zabrek and her team placed second in the IIA 2019 National Case Competition

The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), a Florida-based internal audit organization that offers dynamic leadership and knowledge in internal audit and professional development and networking opportunities to internal audit practitioners, organized the 2019 Internal Audit Student Exchange event in Orlando, Florida. This annual three-day conference, on September 20–22, 2019, brought together students, educators, academic relations chairs, and professionals from nine countries and 45 colleges and universities to learn about the internal audit profession. Internal auditing is an objective and independent activity that offers tools like risk management, control, and governance to help assess and improve the efficiency of business operations.

Seattle University students Nickolas McIntyre (1st place team member) and Chloe Zabrek (2nd place team member) at the conference.

Educators and academic-relations chairs walked away with best practices on how to better incorporate internal auditing education in their curriculum, prepare students for a rewarding career, and create more academic-enrichment activities within the local chapter. This conference enabled students to participate in mock interviews, meet with diverse internal audit professionals, and seek mentorship and support from potential employers. The students also had an opportunity to put their auditing skills in practice in real-world case competitions with their peers. A total of 12 teams participated in the competition, and the students were randomly placed together.

Alfie Scholar Chloe Zabrek (Business Administration ’20) and her team placed second in the case competition. They defined the risks and controls on Walgreens and then presented their findings to a panel of judges. “I was surprised that we even placed. We just did a plain presentation with some humor. We were expecting a skit to win,” said Zabrek. When she becomes a Certified Public Accountant and eventually a forensic accountant, Zabrek plans “to look out for the individuals that too often become victims of financial fraud.” She feels “a calling to bring civility and compassion into accounting” and hopes to work where she can use her “skills to hold companies to the highest level of ethical standards.”

For more information on IIA: https://global.theiia.org/edu-events/Pages/IAEP-Recap.aspx
For more information on Chloe: https://www.alfiescholars.org/2018-bios/chloe-zabrek