The Importance of Environmental Issues for Civil Engineering Program Accreditation

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to discuss the importance of environmental issues for the ABET accreditation of Civil Engineering program at Sultan Qaboos University in 2012 and 2019. In 2012, ABET requires civil engineering programs to fulfil environmental issues in student outcome and j as part of the a to k student outcomes. These outcomes were evaluated in two main courses namely Environmental Engineering I and Final Year Design Project. However, in 2019, ABET introduced outcomes 1 to 7 where environmental issues were important for outcomes 2 and 4. Again, these issues were evaluated in Environmental Engineering I and Final Year Design Project. In 2012, direct (via quizzes, midterms, technical reports and final exams) and indirect assessments (through survey study) were conducted. About 78% and 68% were achieved for outcomes a and j, respectively in the direct assessment compared to 86% and 82% in the indirect assessment. In 2019, the results showed that 79.5%, 78% and 79.5% for outcomes 1, 2 and 4, respectively. Continuous evaluation is needed to ensure the quality of these outcomes with the graduated students.