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WVU Tech to Offer New On-line Undergraduate Certificate in Fraud Examination

Job opportunities in the fraud investigation field have increased tremendously over the past few years. In the wake of widespread growth in fraudulent accounting corporate scandals, businesses need assistance in investigating fraud and strengthening their internal controls.

In 2005 the Department of Accounting and Finance at WVU Tech began offering the state’s first four-year degree in fraud management and employers are hiring Tech graduates as specially trained accounting professionals to protect them against fraud and its associated public scandal.

Now, beginning in the fall of 2010, the Department of Accounting and Finance in WVU Tech’s College of Business, Humanities and Social Sciences (BHSS) will offer an on-line undergraduate certificate program in Fraud Examination.

This on-line program will prepare entry-level public accountants, governmental accountants, law enforcement officers and other business and finance professionals for positions in fraud analysis, fraud investigation, and compliance in business, government and not-for-profit organizations.

“This on-line program will provide the necessary skills to prevent, detect, investigate and deter perpetration of fraud. And, at the same time, offer working professionals an opportunity to take courses at a time and place convenient to them,” comments Dr. Stephen Brown, dean of the College of Business, Humanities and Social Sciences.

The certificate program includes six courses (18 credit hours) to include ACCT 420 Fraud Examination, ACCT 421 Fraud Management: Legal & Ethical Issues, ACCT 422 Advanced Fraud/Forensic Investigations, ACCT 423 Information Security and Controls, ACCT 348 Financial Statement Analysis, and ACCT 449 Case Studies in Fraud Examination. On completion, the student will be awarded the Certificate in Fraud Examination. The awarding of a certificate is not contingent upon completion of a degree program.

Prof. Madhuri Sarin, CMA, CFM, CFM, EA, accounting department chair states, “We want to make our potential students aware of this new program as soon as possible as there is a pre-requisite course (ACCT 201- Principles of Acct. I) that must be taken in summer 2010 before students can enroll in the program.”

“Courses for the on-line certificate will be offered over a span of three semesters, starting in fall 2010,” she adds.

For more information on this program, contact Prof. Sarin at (304) 442-3483 or email at Madhuri.Sarin@mail.wvu.edu.