Houston Area ACFE Chapter Focuses on Student Engagement and Scholarships
/By Katherine E. Avery Guillot, CFE
Houston Area Chapter Student Relations Director, 2014 – Present
The award-winning Houston Area ACFE Chapter (Houston Chapter) is growing our student engagement through a variety of programs offered to local universities. The Houston Chapter has focused on providing students with the opportunity to learn from experienced professionals about careers in fraud-fighting to complement programs offered through their course work. The Houston Chapter offers an assortment of opportunities for students to engage with professionals directly through discounted luncheon programs, free networking events, volunteer opportunities at the chapter’s annual fraud conference, and joint events on local campuses.
Houston Chapter Leaders Chrysti Ziegler, CFE and Katherine E. Avery Guillot, CFE, with University of Houston Clear - Lake Student Chapter Leaders
The Houston Chapter, in partnership with dedicated faculty advisors and enthusiastic students, has assisted in revitalizing student chapters at the University of Houston and Sam Houston State University and making improvements to the student chapter at the University of Houston – Clear Lake. The Houston Chapter supports the student chapters by providing seed money for on-campus student chapter events, providing volunteer speakers for on-campus events and establishing sub-pages on the Houston Chapter website for the student chapters to have a Web presence to post chapter updates and highlight on-campus events. The Houston Chapter also posts spotlight articles on student volunteers and scholarship winners to promote awareness of student accomplishments within the broader membership.
In the past two years, the Houston Chapter has focused on providing scholarship funding for local universities through direct partnerships in which the universities administer the scholarships, and students may apply directly through established channels at their university. Beginning in 2018, the Houston Chapter has two five-year partnerships with Sam Houston State University and the University of Houston – Clear Lake to provide scholarships to students. In 2018, the Houston Chapter established a $25,000 endowed scholarship at the University of Houston in honor of long-time U of H professor and former Houston Chapter board member, Robert Barr. In 2019, leveraging donations and chapter resources, the Houston Chapter facilitated and provided funding for the creation of a ten-year funding of a scholarship at Louisiana State University in memoriam of former board member, Hallie Merrick. In addition, students from the Houston area have been honored with the receipt of Ritchie Jennings Memorial Scholarships in 2016-2017, 2017-2018, and 2019-2020. The Houston Chapter strives to support the Ritchie Jennings Memorial Scholarship through donations of $10,000 or more each year.
Houston Chapter Leaders with ACFE President Bruce Dorris, CFE, presenting a $25,000 scholarship to the University of Houston
The Houston Chapter also offers career services to student chapter members, including résumé reviews and résumé blasts, which sends student résumé to our 500+ membership. The Houston Chapter has seen success in these programs through the hiring of students in part-time and full-time positions over the years the program has been in place. Additionally, the Houston Chapter offers a CFE Exam Award for chapter members, for which student chapter members are eligible. The CFE Exam Award allows for members who have joined at least 60 days prior and passed the CFE Exam a chance to win a $500 award. This award promotes students completing the CFE Exam by offsetting a significant portion of the cost.
The Houston Chapter recognizes and highlights the efforts of area educators by awarding an annual educator of the year award. In 2019, the award was granted to Robert (Bob) Barr for his dedication to promoting fraud examination by teaching a graduate-level course in fraud examination, which he developed himself. Prior recipients include Dan Ramey, who acts as the current faculty advisor at the University of Houston.
In closing, the Houston Chapter would like to thank the dedicated volunteers, faculty advisors and student leaders for their tireless efforts to promote fraud education in the greater Houston area. We truly could not offer our programs without your support.
