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What’s New in ABET Accreditation?
The ABET General Criteria for Accreditation have undergone several changes in recent years. The fundamental focus of these changes was to bring the General Criteria across the four ABET Commissions (Applied Science, Computing, Engineering and Engineering Technology) into a consistent language and process where appropriate.
In October 2012, the ABET Board of Directors voted to approve, effective for the 2013-14 review cycle, changes to the harmonized General Criteria-Criterion 2: Program Educational Objectives and Criterion 4: Continuous Improvement for Criteria.
In summary, the change to Criterion 2 removes the requirement for a program to have a process for the “review and revision” of its program educational objectives (PEOs). The new language requires a documented process that is systematically utilized and effective, involving the program’s constituents, for periodic review of the PEOs so that they remain consistent with the institution’s mission, the constituents’ needs, and the criteria. Further, the change to Criterion 4 removes the requirement for a program to demonstrate graduate attainment of program educational objectives. This change removes the stringent requirement for assessment of program educational objectives as is required for a program’s student outcomes.
This session will highlight how the four ABET Accreditation Commissions are implementing this change to the General Criteria. Instructions to programs undergoing reviews in the upcoming 2013-14 review cycle that have previously received shortcomings against the current Criterion 2 or Criterion 4 language regarding program educational objectives will be reviewed. Self-study questionnaires, changed as a result of these efforts, will be reviewed as well. There will be ample opportunity for those in attendance to ask questions.
David B. Beasley, Arkansas State University
Susan Conry, Clarkson University
Winston Erevelles, St. Mary’s University