Certified Inspector General® Curriculum

The Association has identified six broad areas of core competency for inspectors general and their senior staff. The Institute program’s five-day curriculum covers the following six core competency areas:

• Context of the inspector general function
• Ethics
• Legal issues
• Public management issues
• Investigating fraud, waste, and abuse
• Audits, inspections, and reviews

Overview of the Inspector General Function

• The history of the inspector general concept
• Typology of inspectors general: federal, state, and local
• The key factors, such as independence, responsibility, and authority

Ethics and the Inspector General

• The source of ethical standards
• The nature and role of ethics laws
• The practical application of ethical issues to the responsibility of inspectors general

Legal Issues

• How the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution impact the conduct of investigations and reviews by offices of inspectors general
• The impact of employment law on the conduct of investigations and reviews

Public Management Issues

• Current issues in public management and how they impact offices of inspectors general

Audit, Inspections, and Review

• The various approaches to audits, inspections, and reviews
• The skills required to manage the audit function and challenges to managing audits
• The standards applicable to audits, inspections, and reviews
• The importance of internal and management controls to audits, inspections, and reviews and sources of standards for controls
• The audit process and quality control
• The similarities and differences between audits and investigations

Investigating Fraud, Waste, and Abuse

• How to establish an effective investigative unit
• The source and limits of investigative authority and power
• The investigative process and management issues raised by investigations
• Approaches to investigations
• Standards for the conduct of investigations
• The similarities and differences between investigations and audits