Guidelines and suggestions for ABET accreditation

Abstract

Accreditation from a professional organization bestows an intangible credibility on a program, its faculty, curriculum and resources. Colleges and universities that can boast of accredited programs have a distinct edge in marketing themselves as quality institutions and can thereby attract talented faculty and students. Although the advantages of accreditation are numerous, some institutions are reluctant to pursue it because of the enormous workload involved, particularly in the area of assessment, and the uncertainties surrounding the outcome. This panel discussion will focus on the accreditation processes that ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) requires for CS (Computer Science) and IS (Information Systems) programs. Panelists from accredited institutions will discuss their experiences and offer suggestions to facilitate the process. A third panelist will present the accreditation process from the point of view of the evaluators and shed some light on how institutions can make the system work to their advantage. Sufficient time will be allocated at the end to take questions and to hear the accreditation experiences of other institutions.