UW Bothell receives electrical engineering accreditation
Published 3:39 pm Wednesday, September 11, 2013
The Electrical Engineering program in UW Bothell’s School of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math has earned accreditation from the Engineering Commission of ABET, a body that accredits engineering and technology programs.
This new status means the UW Bothell electrical engineering program has met the same level of scrutiny and quality as every other accredited program in the nation. A student who enrolls in the electrical engineering program can be assured that they are receiving a high quality education from a competent faculty with the appropriate facilities and support services.
“Some companies will only hire students who graduate from accredited electrical engineering programs. Also, if a student wants to earn a Professional Engineer (PE) license, graduating from an accredited program reduces the waiting time from 8 years to 4 years before the engineer can apply for the license.” said Chair of UW Bothell’s engineering and math division Arnold Berger. “The ABET accreditation is retroactive from Oct. 1, 2011 which covers all UW Bothell electrical engineering students who previously graduated from the program.”
Counted among UW Bothell’s strengths are the close contacts with a variety of regional high technology employers. Through these relationships, students and graduates are able to meet degree requirements while also solving real-world problems in cooperation with the employers.
Berger says the yearlong accreditation process was an excellent team effort for all faculty, staff and administration.
“The effort was led by Professor Tadesse Ghirmai, who had previously been through an ABET review at another university,” said Berger.
Preparation involved gathering outcomes and objectives for each course taught and measuring student achievement against those outcomes.
The ABET review involves all phases of undergraduate education, not just the academic side. Reviewers met with staff, students, advisory board members, faculty and alumni of the program. Facilities, such as computing resources and libraries, were also reviewed.
