ABET Accreditation: Best Practices for A Systematic Coordinated Multi-Program Approach

The School has four engineering programs that are currently preparing for reaccreditation. Three of the four programs are to be reviewed under the engineering accreditation commission (EAC) and one program under the applied and natural science accreditation commission (ANSAC). All four programs were successfully accredited in the 2013 ABET accreditation visit. Near the mid-term of the current accreditation period, the School made a strategic decision to begin collaborative efforts across programs in preparation for the fall 2019 visit. Although accreditation is program specific, it was reasoned that a school-wide multi-coordinated effort could leverage resources, facilitate documentation, standardize templates and assessment software, address similar challenges and shortcomings in a coordinated and holistic manner, and facilitate the sharing of ideas and best practices. The momentum of the effort has been remarkable. The outcome of the school-wide collaboration for accreditation, is that each program is now better prepared for the documentation of the final self-study report and the fall 2019 ABET visit. This paper will document a multi-pronged approach used to support this strategic direction of coordination at the school and program level. The paper discusses the planning and coordination process, document standardizations, the draft self-study report process and the mock site visits, along with accrued benefits and recommendations. The paper will be useful for other engineering schools preparing for future accreditation visits, as best practices and lessons learned from the multi-program coordinated approach will be presented. [234 words]