From ABET Commissions Summit to Final Statement: Objectives, Outcomes, and Improvements - (PPT)

摘要

Programs seeking accreditation from one of the four ABET Commissions must demonstrate that they satisfy eight general accreditation criteria plus any program specific criteria. In this paper we focused on the three most challenging and debated criteria; namely Criterion 2. Program Educational Objectives, Criterion 3. Student Outcomes, and Criterion 4. Continuous Improvement. To prepare a program for a successful accreditation review, we divided the six year ABET accreditation cycle into three distinct phases. During phase one of the accreditation cycle a number of indirect assessment methods were used to assess and evaluate program educational objectives. The results were documented for use in preparation for the ABET visit. Annually, several direct and indirect assessment methods were used for measuring the degree to which the Student Outcomes are being achieved. The results were used to identify program improvements. The program faculty prepared annual assessment and evaluation reports. In phase two of the accreditation cycle, these annual assessment and evaluation reports were used to prepare each program's self-study report during the academic year prior to the visit. Another major activity during the year of self-study is gathering and organizing the material which will be available to the EAC Review Team during their on-site review. In addition to annual reports, surveys, etc., it is important to gather representative samples of students' graded work to demonstrate the attainment of student outcomes. An important part of phase three of the accreditation cycle is the Due Process which begins at the conclusion of the On-Site Review. When our programs were evaluated in fall 2009, we were issued a weakness with respect to Criterion 2(Program Educational Objectives). We were able to resolve this weakness during Due Process. The Academic Council of the Engineering School (ACES), which serves as the Assessment and Evaluation Leadership Committee (AELC) for the School of Engineering, with input from faculty, drafted a set of five PEOs for consideration by the various constituencies of the School of Engineering programs. On December 4, 2009, the School of Engineering faculty discussed the draft PEOs which had been approved by the ACES in November, 2009. The School faculty approved the draft set of PEOs. The faculty decided to conduct surveys of recent alumni and employers of our graduates to ensure that the PEOs are based on the needs of these constituencies. The respondents were also asked to rate the University of Portland education with respect to the proposed PEOs. The faculty reviewed the PEO survey results for all constituencies, and adopted the new set of PEOs for our programs. This prompt action by the faculty during the Due Process resulted in a successful accreditation visit.