DePaul University Associate Professor of Accountancy Sandra Shelton will receive well-deserved recognition May 18 when the Chicago Chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) presents her with its Educator of the Year award.

The 2,200-member chapter is honoring Shelton for creating Chicago’s first university course in internal auditing. The class prepares accounting students for future roles as auditors who work on the staffs of companies to verify the reliability of financial reporting, promote operational efficacy, maintain compliance, deter fraud and safeguard assets —an especially important job in the current economy. Since the introduction of the class at DePaul in 2007, enrollment has grown to 43 students per class from an initial 27.

When the IIA approached various Chicago-area business schools about ways to improve the practice of internal auditing, "Sandra volunteered right away to develop a class," recalled Jeff Perkins, outgoing president of the IIA Chicago chapter. "There are various forms of auditing, and internal auditing takes unique skills that can be developed over time, but no class (focusing solely on these skills) existed locally." DePaul’s class "is accelerating the learning curve and building a foundation of knowledge for individuals in the profession," he said. "Overall, it’s improving the talent base for internal auditors."

Kevin Stevens, director of the School of Accountancy and Management Information Systems, noted that "the partnership that Professor Shelton created with our colleagues in the IIA puts the school at the forefront of accounting programs in the Midwestm providing industry with well-trained and much-in-demand internal auditors."

Shelton said she developed the internal auditing course "in an effort to prepare students to meet the challenges of the profession and provide them with knowledge of the internal audit function that is becoming increasingly important in the global business community."

"The student response to the course offering has been tremendous. Student teams are currently meeting with chief audit executives at corporations based in Chicago to develop an understanding of how an annual or periodic internal auditing department plan is developed. Additionally, several companies have recruited DePaul students for internal audit positions."

A resident of Evanston, Shelton has taught at DePaul’s accountancy school for 15 years, and her research interests focus on judgment and decision-making issues involving financial information. She earned her doctoral degree from the University of Wisconsin—Madison.

In addition to advancing internal auditing education, Shelton works actively to inspire others to follow her career path. She is a member of the Planning Board for the Ph.D. Project, a non-profit national mentorship organization that encourages people of color to earn doctoral degrees to teach in universities and lead in corporate America. Shelton is helping to organize the Ph.D. Project’s 15th anniversary convention in Chicago November 18-20.

"The Ph.D. Project has much to celebrate," she said. "The project has successfully tripled the number of minority business school professors to 964 nationally from 294 since its founding, and fed the pipeline with 400 minority business students currently in doctoral programs."