An
Opportunity to Serve-
Accreditation of
Civil Engineering Programs
Accreditation is the process used to assure quality in
education and training. In the U.S., accreditation of civil engineering
programs is a voluntary process conducted by the ABET, Inc. (the Accreditation Board for
Engineering and Technology). Possession of an ABET accredited civil
engineering baccalaureate degree is normally the first step in obtaining a
license to practice civil engineering as a professional.
The work of ABET is accomplished by voluntary Program
Evaluators (PEV’s) from professional societies such as ASCE.
ABET accredits engineering programs at US universities by establishing
minimum criteria for accreditation, then evaluating programs’
compliance. ASCE is the lead society for evaluating civil engineering
programs. The lead society for evaluation of environmental
engineering programs is the American
Academy of
Environmental Engineers, and their evaluation teams are sometimes
supplemented by ASCE PEV’s.
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Eric Schmieman, past-President of our Section, completed
PEV training at the Material Science & Technology meeting in New Orleans on September
26, 2004. Eric found the training “illuminating”.
His first opportunity to participate in a University program evaluation
will be as an observer in September 2005. Following successful
completion of one program observation, Eric will participate in one-two
program evaluations per year. An evaluation typically requires some
advance preparation time and 2-1/2 days on-site. Travel expenses are
reimbursed by ABET.
Many of our Section members could qualify as
PEV’s. The requirements are: member of ASCE, degree in
Civil Engineering, professional registration, and 10 years of
practice). If serving as a PEV interests you, application forms and
additional information can be found at http://www.asce.org/community/educational/eng_qual.cfm,
or you can contact Eric at [email protected].
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