Appendix G
ABET, University, and College Requirements

by John Cogdell

As a member of the college ABET accreditation committee and someone who has worked with accreditation issues in the past, I wanted to give input about this aspect of your committee work. We also have UT curriculum requirements that must be observed.

In the past, accreditation requirements coupled strongly to curriculum because of the bean counting approach: Every student had to have so many hours of math and basic science, so many of the engineering sciences, so many of engineering design, etc. The new system abandons that approach (although there is still wisdom offered in these past requirements) and is more in the nature of a quality program calling for a well framed mission, processes to accomplish this mission, metrics to access the quality of output, and feedback paths to improve the various educational processes.

Here are some direct quotes from the EC2000 criteria

"Criterion 2. Program Educational Objectives
Each engineering program for which an institution seeks accreditation or reaccreditation must have in place:

Comment: This states that the curriculum must be in accord with our published educational objectives. The university requirements are pretty broad and have no impact on us at this level. The College mission is as follows:

"Our mission is to contribute to the economic well-being and quality of life in the state of Texas and in the nation. We will:

The ECE Department's published educational objectives need to be revisited, but here's what went into the previous accreditation documents:

"The current objectives of the Computer Engineering degree program in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering are listed below.

  1. Graduates of the program will have mastered the fundamentals of mathematics and science both as a foundation for a formal education in engineering and as a basis for independent study and lifelong learning.
  2. Problem solving and simulation, followed by experimental verification, are skills that are developed throughout the undergraduate curriculum.
  3. The ability to use modern engineering tools in the design of electrical, electronic and computer systems and components is expected of every graduate.
  4. The complexity of today's technology requires that a student learn to work as a member of a multi-disciplinary team and to acquire the skills necessary to communicate effectively with others in both the technical community and in the general populace.
  5. Graduate engineers must recognize the impact that his or her work has on society and be aware of the need to maintain the highest standards of profession ethics and safety practices."
Comment: The College mission is also broad, but does mention serving industry and the state of Texas. This might imply being strong in the technologies that are important to the state. The Departmental objectives echo some of the Program Outcomes below and interact with the curriculum in a number of ways.

Here's another quote from the accreditation requirements:

"Criterion 3. Program Outcomes and Assessment
Engineering programs must demonstrate that their graduates have:

Comment: Note that we must demonstrate that all our graduates have these qualities. These criteria are usually divided into the hard skills, which are a, b, c, e, and k, and the soft skills, which are d, f, g, h, I, and j. (The ability to communicate effectively might go in either list.) I think it fair to say that our traditional focus has been on the former and the latter we hope will happen somehow along the way without our investing too many resources into them.

I don't think we can ignore this list as we design our new curriculum. When we are visited, we will have to show that we take all of these seriously. On the other hand, there is more to the educational program than the curriculum, and we need to think creatively about how we can incorporate all of these, to some degree, in the student's educational experience.

Here's another quote from the accreditation requirements:

"Criterion 4. Professional Component
The professional component requirements specify subject areas appropriate to engineering but do not prescribe specific courses. The engineering faculty must assure that the program curriculum devotes adequate attention and time to each component, consistent with the objectives of the program and institution. Students must be prepared for engineering practice through the curriculum culminating in a major design experience based on the knowledge and skills acquired in earlier course work and incorporating engineering standards and realistic constraints that include most of the following considerations: economic; environmental; sustainability; manufacturability; ethical; health and safety; social; and political. The professional component must include

Comment: The troublesome part of this to my view is the list of considerations: economic; environmental, etc. Although these are not new, they certainly need to be considered in the curriculum design, in my view.

The above are general requirements for all programs. Additional requirements on specific programs are defined by professional groups. Here is ours:

"PROGRAM CRITERIA FOR ELECTRICAL, COMPUTER, AND SIMILARLY NAMED ENGINEERING PROGRAMS

Submitted by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.

These program criteria apply to engineering programs which include electrical, electronic, computer, or similar modifiers in their titles.

  1. Curriculum.
    The structure of the curriculum must provide both breadth and depth across the range of engineering topics implied by the title of the program. The program must demonstrate that graduates have: knowledge of probability and statistics, including applications appropriate to the program name and objectives; knowledge of mathematics through differential and integral calculus, basic sciences, and engineering sciences necessary to analyze and design complex electrical and electronic devices, software, and systems containing hardware and software components, as appropriate to program objectives. Programs containing the modifier electrical in the title must also demonstrate that graduates have a knowledge of advanced mathematics, typically including differential equations, linear algebra, complex variables, and discrete mathematics. Programs containing the modifier computer in the title must also demonstrate that graduates have a knowledge of discrete mathematics."
Comment: These definitely impact our curricula. What's surprising about this to me is the range of mathematical topics required in electrical engineering.

Finally we have the requirements of the University, quoted below from page 11 of the Undergraduate Catalog:

"Basic Education Requirements
The University strives to produce self-reliant graduates who are able to provide leadership and who do not simply react to events. It must not only equip its graduates with occupational skills but also educate them broadly enough to enable them to adapt to and cope with the accelerated process of change that is occurring in business, professional, and social institutions today. Students must be exposed to a broad spectrum of arts and science, so that they may be educated beyond vocational requirements and thus be prepared for responsible citizenship in an increasingly complex world. Every graduate of the University is expected to be able to express himself or herself clearly and correctly in writing be capable of reasoning effectively from hypotheses to conclusions and of logically analyzing the arguments of others have a critical appreciation for the social framework in which we live and the ways it has evolved through time have experience in thinking about moral and ethical problems have an understanding of some facets of science and the ways in which knowledge of the universe is gained and applied have an understanding of some aspects of mathematics and the application of quantitative skills to problem solving have gained familiarity with a second language have an appreciation for literature and the arts

The General Faculty of the University has established a basic education curriculum to assist undergraduates regardless of their major in acquiring the traits of an educated person. The University's basic education requirements comprise the following:

The faculty of each college and school has incorporated these requirements into the division's degree plans. Many degree plans require additional work in the areas above or require the student to take specific courses to fulfill the basic education requirements. For these reasons, the student must consult the description of his or her major in chapters 2 through 12 of this catalog for complete information on fulfillment of the basic education requirements. Music performance majors should see the basic education requirements for music performance programs."

Comment. You will recognize here the origin of many features of our present curriculum. Our curriculum must comply with these requirements.

Last updated 02/29/00. Mail comments about this page to cogdell@ece.utexas.edu.