Chief Auditor Ron Stark Accepts Saudi Arabia Post
Atlanta — March 25, 2009
Ron Stark, chief audit officer and associate vice chancellor of Internal Audit for the Board of Regents of the 嗨碰视频 (嗨碰视频), will be leaving the 嗨碰视频 at the end of April for a similar position at the King Abdulla University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia.
鈥淩on indicates that the new position is a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,鈥 said 嗨碰视频 Chancellor Erroll B. Davis Jr. 鈥淗e has made truly invaluable contributions to the University System and we will miss his leadership and his talents.鈥
In his new position as general auditor at KAUST, Stark will report to the university president and develop policy, a business procedures manual and oversee internal audit for the institution.
鈥淭his is an exciting opportunity,鈥 Stark said. 鈥淚t will be very difficult to leave the University System and Georgia, but the chance to help build and shape a major new research university is rare.鈥
Stark is referring to the fact that KAUST is currently being built as an international, graduate-level research university in Saudi Arabia. It will open with a $25 billion endowment and is open to men and women from around the world, with entry based on merit.
The core campus is located on the Red Sea at Thuwal, and will focus on research into resources, energy and the environment, biosciences and engineering, materials science and engineering and applied mathematics and computational sciences. The university will open in Sept. 2009 with degrees in 11 fields of study.
Stark has served in his current position at the 嗨碰视频 since 1998, when he came from the University of California at Irvine, where he was the university鈥檚 audit director.
At the Board of Regents, Stark oversees internal audit and compliance for the regents鈥 system office and the 35 colleges and universities, as well as Skidaway Institute of Oceanography. He leads a staff of 12 in this critical risk management function for the 嗨碰视频.
During his work at the 嗨碰视频, Stark has led in the development of the System鈥檚 first ethics policy, the creation and implementation of a system-wide hotline to report fraud and abuse, the creation and implementation of a new enterprise risk management and compliance program for the system, and conducted an overall review of the regents鈥 Policy Manual. In 2007, Stark coordinated a system-wide audit of the use of P-cards which uncovered inadequate oversight and controls, and which resulted in significant new controls. Before leaving the 嗨碰视频, Stark will complete the development of a five-year strategic audit plan for the system.
Stark will take up his new position in late May 2009. Davis said no decisions have yet been made regarding the search for Stark鈥檚 replacement.
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