New SHSU student organization to open doors to anti-fraud careers

One new student organization at Sam Houston State University is giving students who are pursuing anti-fraud careers a unique opportunity to get ahead in the job market.

The SHSU chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners was created by the efforts of accounting alumnus Cynthia Hoffzimmer, who was inspired by the Houston Chapter of ACFE to provide a new opportunity for students interested in anti-fraud careers such as forensic accounting, auditing and fraud investigation.

The group is led by Hoffzimmer, who serves as the Alumni Representative, five student officers and two faculty advisers, Jurg Gerber, Ph.D., from the College of Criminal Justice and Andy Bennett, Director of the Center for Excellence in Digital Forensics.

"I wanted to start an organization at SHSU for students with similar career interest to have a support group on campus," Hoffzimmer said.

With only one other chapter of ACFE in Texas at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, Hoffzimmer said SHSU was the perfect place to start a new chapter.

"I think [SHSU] is the perfect location for this organization with all of the resources we already have and the outstanding professors we have in [the college of Criminal Justice, the College of Business Administration and the College of Sciences]."

The organization is awaiting approval from student activities to become an official organization at SHSU, though the group has already began planning to host a series of speakers such as federal agents, prosecutors, and business executives with first-hand experience uncovering fraud. In addition, the group has discussed hosting a collaborative speaker series with the local Houston AFCE chapter at the Woodlands Center.

Hoffzimmer is hopeful the organization will serve as a catalyst to expose students of criminal justice, accounting and computer science to a variety of career paths available after graduation.

"I want students to be able to create their educational career path more uniquely for their goals instead of sticking to just one college in the university," she said. "[The organization] is opening [the students] up to new opportunities so that they get a more well-rounded education."

The SHSU chapter of ACFE has already sparked the interest of about 11 students and looks to grow after gaining approval.

""Our goal of being able to find a similar interest to help better our future plans, even with different majors, in becoming a reality," Keith Sanders, Jr., president of ACFE at SHSU, said. "I have complete faith that this organization will blossom into something no one expected. With our great officers, advisors founder of the student chapter for SHSU, I know great things will happen for us."

The SHSU chapter of ACFE has open officer meetings every Thursday from 5 to 6 p.m. in Academic Building 1, room 202. Any student interested in joining is encouraged to attend. For more information, contact Cynthia Hoffzimmer at cahoffzimmer@yahoo.com