A Note from the Chair about ABET Accreditation of the Engineering Sciences Program
CSUB is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). Beyond that, we are actively working towards accreditation by ABET, the accrediting organization for engineering programs. The Department of Physics and Engineering, as well as the Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and the CSUB Administration are fully committed to seeking accreditation at the earliest date possible for all our engineering programs.
The University has had a history of outstanding success with accreditation in other programs. The Teacher Preparation Program is accredited by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC) and the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). The Nursing Program is approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) and accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). The undergraduate and graduate programs in Business Administration are accredited by the (AACSB) International, The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. The Master of Public Administration and the Master of Science in Administration, Health Care Management are accredited by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA). The Chemistry Program is approved by the Committee of Professional Training of the American Chemical Society. As you can see, CSUB has been very successful accrediting their programs in the past.
To be eligible to apply for ABET accreditation, a new program must have a cohort of students who have gone through the entire curriculum (freshman, sophomore, junior and senior years), and graduated. After that happens, ABET sends a team to evaluate everything about the program – from the curriculum, to facilities and infrastructure, to the quality of the faculty. If they are satisfied, then the program is accredited – but it will occur at least a year after the students graduate. Once accreditation of a program is granted, it extends retroactively to those students who went through the program in the previous year. Students who graduate prior to this cohort will also benefit from our accreditation efforts, and will be fully-qualified and prepared for careers in engineering, to pursue a license as a professional engineer, and to enter graduate engineering programs.
This is normal procedure, and every program in the world seeking ABET accreditation goes through this process.
I want to assure you that we are doing everything we need to do to be ready to seek ABET accreditation at the earliest date possible – from building new laboratories, and buying state-of-the-art equipment, to hiring world-class new faculty, to developing curricula that address the challenges of the twenty-first century. We want our graduates to have BS degrees in Engineering Sciences that we are all proud of, and are fully useful to pursue employment or further education.
Dr. Jorge Talamantes Rivera
Professor and Chair
