New Accreditation Criteria For The Civil Engineering Profession: Process And Products

This paper describes the ongoing development of new ABET accreditation criteria for civil engineering programs, as part of the larger process of implementing the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Policy 465. The paper summarizes the evolution of Policy 465 and the associated Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge (BOK); it discusses the advantages and limitations inherent in using accreditation criteria as an instrument for fostering implementation of the BOK; it summarizes the development process leading to new draft BOK-compliant accreditation criteria; and, finally, it provides a detailed description and analysis of the products—proposed Basic Level Civil Engineering Program Criteria, Advanced Level General Criteria, and the associated draft ASCE Commentary.