This study began with the recognition that the audit system needs to be recognized by the Ministry of Education and the university's audit managers and analyzed the results of the test operation of the Ministry of Education before introducing the poli...
This study began with the recognition that the audit system needs to be recognized by the Ministry of Education and the university's audit managers and analyzed the results of the test operation of the Ministry of Education before introducing the policy in earnest at the time when the Ministry of Education is pushing for a "pilot operation of the Ministry of Education's certification system for self-audit of national universities." The Ministry of Education certification system for self-audit of national universities refers to a system in which a national university conducts an audit autonomously and submits the results to the Ministry of Education, and if the Ministry of Education certifies them according to certain procedures and standards, it is replaced with a comprehensive audit. The purpose of this study is to use it as basic data for stable policy implementation by grasping the results of pilot operation and the perception of the field on the necessity of introducing a certification system, away from the unilateral policy implementation of the central government before introducing the new policy.
The purpose of this study is to first explore the factors of the Ministry of Education's comprehensive audit for national universities and the recognition of satisfaction and necessity for the university's self-audit, and to explore the factors of the National University's self-audit of the Ministry of Education's recognition of the necessity for the introduction of the Ministry of Education certification system. To analyze the difference in perception between the Ministry of Education and universities, a survey was conducted on 37 public officials in charge of audit work and 32 public officials currently in charge of audit work at 39 national universities, and a regression analysis was conducted using SPSS Statistics 29.0. The dependent variables were set as audit satisfaction and necessity, and the need to introduce a certification system, while the independent variables were analyzed by setting audit experience, audit expertise, audit method (formal repeatability audit, legitimacy audit), audit flexibility, audit disposition intensity, and work increase. The control variables were general variables, and rank and age were set.
The analysis results are summarized as follows. looking at the comprehensive audit, it was found that the auditor had a positive perception of the satisfaction and necessity of the comprehensive audit compared to the audited, and the higher the intensity of audit disposition, the more negative the perception of the necessity of the comprehensive audit was. It was found that the higher the intensity of audit disposition, the more negative the perception of the necessity of comprehensive audit was. Most of the other variables were found to be statistically insignificant. Looking at the self-audit of national universities, the higher the audit expertise, the higher the satisfaction with self-audit, and the higher the intensity of audit disposition, the more positively affected the satisfaction and necessity of self-audit.
Next, the pilot operation of the Ministry of Education's certification of the National University's self-audit was conducted with in-depth interviews with auditors (including manpower pool) who participated in the pilot operation at the time and the accused (university official) who promoted the pilot operation. Summarizing the results of the in-depth interview, most of the participants showed a positive perception of the overall pilot operation, and also responded positively to the need to introduce the certification system in that it will be able to resolve the overlap between the Ministry of Education's comprehensive audit and self-audit, and develop the expectation and capacity of the university as an opportunity to grow.
The limitations of this study are that the number of national universities is not large, and a research method that compares and analyzes the perceptions of auditors and auditors is also included, so there is a limitation in that the number of samples is small. In some cases, the distribution of survey responses is concentrated in the top two levels, limiting regression analysis reasoning. There are limitations that cannot be compared in absolute standards because the research subjects are limited to national universities excluding private universities, the emotional reaction between auditors and auditors cannot be excluded, and the audit environment of the comprehensive audit of the Ministry of Education and the self-audit of national universities is not the same.
The policy implications of this study are as follows. First, looking at the research on the satisfaction and necessity of self-audit of 'Research I' universities and the search for determinants on the introduction of the Ministry of Education certification system, it was found that the strength of audit expertise and disposition is a key factor necessary to evaluate the existing audit system and introduce new policies. Therefore, in order to increase the reliability of the audit system for national universities, it is considered necessary to improve the professionalism of audit and secure fairness in disposition.
Regarding the introduction of the Ministry of Education certification system for self-audit of the National University in Research II, first, I think it is necessary to come up with a plan to relieve the psychological burden along with enhancing professionalism for the workforce pool of other universities and employees of their own universities, which are included as auditors. The audit participants shared the opinion that it is necessary to improve the audit expertise of university employees who lack experience in audit work, such as the workforce pool of other universities. In addition, they suggested that employees of their own universities who participated as auditors were feeling psychological burden due to their relationship with stakeholders in the university.
Second, the opinions of the audit participants and the auditees were divided on the part of including employees of their own universities when forming an audit group. The audit participants suggested that the audit team should form its own university employees in accordance with the nature and purpose of the self-audit, but the auditor suggested that they play a role in the process of self-audit, from audit planning to audit disposition, and should be excluded from the audit team due to interests within the organization.
Third, it was suggested that universities have difficulties in organizing and promoting their own audit organizations depending on the size or manpower situation of the university, and that the capacity of self-audit differs. Therefore, it is necessary to comprehensively consider the size and situation of the university in terms of target selection, audit period, and manpower selection, rather than applying uniform standards when introducing the certification system.
Fourth, it was found that the auditor and the auditee do not trust the national university's self-audit unless the expertise of the audit and the intensity of audit disposition are secured. Securing the expertise of self-audit and trust in audit disposition is most necessary for the Ministry of Education's certification system for the results of self-audit at national universities to be promoted stably. Therefore, if the auditor's qualifications are strengthened and the audit disposition council is formed by expanding the participation of external experts, the reliability of self-audit will improve.
Fifth, participants in the pilot operation suggested that the role of the Ministry of Education and universities should be re-established, such as setting standards for certification by university size for self-audit results when introducing the Ministry of Education certification system for national universities. The university should establish a basic plan for self-audit, including the audit schedule, pursue self-audit as the subject of the audit, and then derive transparent and fair audit results through the audit disposition council. The Ministry of Education is expected to play a role in minimizing confusion in the operation of the national university's self-audit by preparing standards for customized certification systems suitable for university conditions by collecting university opinions in advance, and supporting audit personnel and professional education so that national universities can faithfully promote their own audits.
It is hoped that this study will serve as basic data for the stable settlement of the certification system, such as presenting the direction of self-audit promoted by universities and ensuring university autonomy when introducing the Ministry of Education's certification system, and seeking ways to ease the burden on university audits and achieve the original purpose of the audit at the Ministry of Education.