Section I

Accreditation Fundamentals

*Par Amigo Training Module A

*Starting the ProcessPares Amigos Can:

*Help explain why accreditation is important and its benefits

*Help programs and institutions understand the costs of accreditation (especially hidden costs like translations)

*Help to demystify accreditation

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*Help select the most appropriate accrediting agency for a program

*Help programs through the process of accreditation

*Programs may have questions

* What is accredited?

*What are the accrediting agencies in the Americas?

*National v. International accreditation

*Each program has unique needs

*The What and Why of accreditation?

*Review process to guarantee engineering program meets certain standards – not a ranking

*Standardization and quality assurance

*Enhance capacity building for faculty and students and economic development for region

* Increase competitiveness and mobility

*Required in a growing number of countries

*What is accredited?

* Only engineering programs are accredited not institutions

*Universities must be accredited by standard institution accrediting bodies

*Programs must have graduates to apply for accreditation

*Accrediting Agencies in the Americas

*ACCAI - AGENCIA CENTROAMERICANA DE ACREDITACIÓN

*GCREAS - Greater Caribbean Regional Engineering Accreditation System

*ICACIT - Instituto de Calidad y Acreditación de Programas de Computación, Ingeniería y Tecnología (Peru)

*CACEI - Consejo de Acreditación de la Enseñanza de la Ingeniería

(Mexico)

*National v. International Accreditation

*ABET(US) and CEAB (Canada) are the oldest and most recognized accrediting agencies

* The relatively new accrediting agencies in the America have used the best practices of ABET and CEAB

*ABET and CEAB require that all accreditation documentation and the accreditation be in English

* The agency and the evaluation team may not be culturally sensitive

* Pares Amigos will have expertise in specific accreditation systems. These will be listed on the Par Amigo Registry.

*Accreditation 101 for Programs

Points to Address

*Accreditation process in general

*Accreditation agency selection

*Cost of accreditation process and visit

*Specifics of selected accreditation process including timeline

*Information required from program and institution

*General Accreditation Process

* Accreditation processes vary but they all evaluate

* Students (evaluated, advised, monitored)

* Program Educational Objectives

* Student Outcomes

* Continuous Improvement

* Curriculum

* Faculty

* Facilities

* Support

* Program Criteria