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Dave Holger, ABET President-ElectASEE Global Colloquium on Engineering Education

October 14, 2009Budapest, Hungary

ABET - History, Evolution and Current Status of the Accreditation of Professional Technical Education in the United States

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Overview

• ABET Background

• Transition to Outcomes

• Current Situation and ABET CQI

• Globalization and International Engagement

• Current Initiatives

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Accreditation in the United States

• Non-governmental• Voluntary/Quasi-Voluntary• Public Recognition that an Institution or Program

has met Standards/Criteria• Results of Evaluation, but not Specific Details

are Published• Institutional/Regional• Specialized/Professional

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Typical Elements of U.S. Accreditation

• Quality Assurance

• Constituency Based Criteria Development and Implementation Processes

• Self-Assessment

• Peer Review (Academic and Employer)

• Continuous Improvement Expectation

• Periodic Re-evaluation

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ABET

• Est. 1932 as ECPD• Primary organization responsible for monitoring,

evaluating, and certifying the quality of engineering, engineering technology, computing and applied science education in the United States

• Federation of 30 technical and professional societies representing over 1.8 million practicing professionals

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ABET Organizational Structure

• Small professional staff

• Volunteer Board and Commissions

• Mix of academics and practitioners

• Represent Stakeholder Member Societies

• Non-governmental, voluntary

• Self assessment by programs

• Peer review by trained program evaluators

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CommitteesABET Board

Applied

Science

Accreditation

Commission

66 accredited

programs at 52

institutions

Computing

Accreditation

Commission

324 accredited

programs at 264

institutions

Engineering

Accreditation

Commission

1,934 accredited

programs at 397

institutions

653 accredited

programs at 225

institutions

Technology

Accreditation

Commission

2009-10 Accreditation Status

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Objectives of Accreditation

• Assure that graduates of an accredited program are adequately prepared to enter and continue the practice of the profession

• Stimulate improvement of professional technical education

• Encourage new and innovative approaches to professional technical education and its assessment

• Identify accredited programs to the public

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Transition from Requirements to Outcomes

• 1991 ABET President John Prados Report to ABET Board of Directors

• 1992 Establishment of the ABET Accreditation Process Review Committee

• Vision for Change (1995 Report of the APRC)• 1996 Engineering Criteria 2000• 1996-2000 Pilot and Transitional Visits• TAC, ASAC, and CAC Transition Followed

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Criteria Creation and Modification

• Primary constituencies – Industry, Program Faculty, Academic Administration, Professional Societies

• Proposed change is recommended by a commission

• Approved by ABET BOD for comment

• Comment from any interested party

• Modification/final approval by ABET BOD

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Philosophy• Institutions and Programs define mission and

objectives to meet the needs of their constituents -- enable program differentiation

• Emphasis on outcomes -- preparation for professional practice

• Programs demonstrate how criteria and educational objectives are being met

• Programmatic diversity is a strength of U.S. technical education

• ABET accredits programs – Does not certify individuals

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Overarching Expectations

• Adequate preparation for entry into a professional career

• Holistic program outcomes focus rather than requirements focus

• Adequate processes leading to continuous program improvement

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Current EAC Criteria1. Students

2. Program Educational Objectives

3. Program Outcomes

4. Continuous Improvement

5. Curriculum

6. Faculty

7. Facilities

8. Support

9. Program Criteria

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Engineering Outcomes

a) Apply math, science, engineering

b) Design and conduct experiments

c) Design with realistic constraints

d) Function on multi-disc. teams

e) Identify, formulate, solve engr. probs.

f) Professional and ethical responsibility

g) Communicate effectively

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Outcomes Continued

h) Global, economic, environmental and societal context

i) Life-long learning

j) Contemporary issues

k) Techniques, skills, modern engineering tools

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Expectations are Being Met

• Significant effort by programs

• Continuing agreement on outcomes approach

• ABET CQI evolving

• Sustainability is an issue

• ABET is implementing improved approaches to volunteer selection, evaluation, and training

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Engineering Change:A Study of the Impact of EC2000

• Study by the Center for the Study of Higher Education at Penn State Univ.

• Funded by ABET to assess implementation impact of EC2000

• Survey of all primary constituencies– Programs, Faculty, Engineering Deans– 1994 Graduates; 2004 Graduates– Employers

• Study available at www.abet.org

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Key Findings• Greater emphasis on professional skills and

active learning• High levels of faculty support for CQI• 2004 graduates better prepared than 1994• Professional skills gained; technical skills

maintained• National employers see more improvement than

local employers• EC2000 outcomes continue to be important

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• International Activities Council (INTAC)

• Washington Accord / Sydney Accord / Dublin Accord / Seoul Accord

• Western Hemisphere Initiative / Engineering for the Americas

• Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRA)

• Memoranda of Understanding (MOU)

• Technical Assistance to Institutions

• Technical Assistance to Quality Assurance Organizations

• International Faculty Workshops

International Activities Overview

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“... Recognizes the ‘substantial equivalency’of accreditation systems to assess that the graduates of accredited programsare prepared to practice engineering at the entry level of the profession.”

The Washington Accord

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*Provisional status – Germany, India, Russia, Sri Lanka – programs not recognized by signatories

AUSTRALIA

CANADA

HONG KONG

IRELAND

JAPAN

KOREA

MALAYSIA

NEW ZEALAND

SINGAPORE

SOUTH AFRICA

CHINESE TAIPEI

UNITED KINGDOM

UNITED STATES

Washington Accord Signatory Countries (2009)

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Western Hemisphere Initiative

• Ultimate goal is Mutual Recognition Agreements among quality assurance organizations in the Western Hemisphere (North & South America).

• Members include ABET (United States), CHEA, CCPE (Canada), CACEI (Mexico), and ICACIT (Peru).

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Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs)

Ukraine Letter of Intent (1991)

UNESCO – Latin America (1995)

Argentina – CONEAU (l997)

France – CTI (1998)

Japan – JABEE (l999)

China-NBCEA (Civil Eng.) (2000)

Germany – ASII (2001)

Portugal – OE (2001)

Mexico & Canada – Western Hemisphere Initiative (2002)

Peru – ICACIT (2003)

Chinese Taipei – IEET (2004)

Korea-ABEEK (2005)

Chile – ACREDITA CI (2007)

China (CAST) Letter of Intent (2006)

Israel – CHE (2007)

Egypt – NAQAAE (2008)

Spain – ACAP (2009)

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Current Initiatives

• Continuing Internal ABET CQI Processes– Internal assessment, criteria, policies,

processes

• Volunteers and Leadership– Recruitment, training, performance

evaluation, development

• Harmonization Across Commissions– Criteria, policies, processes

• International Engagement

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More Information

ABET Annual Meeting – Oct 29-30, 2009

San Antonio, Texas

www.abet.org