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Norfolk State University Bachelors Engineering Programs are fully ABET accredited.

 

Accreditation Overview

In accordance with the requirements of ABET, the sole accrediting agency for engineering programs in the U.S., Norfolk State University’s undergraduate Electronics Engineering and Optical Engineering programs are seeking full ABET Accreditation at the first opportunity following the date of the first Department of Engineering graduating classes in May 2007. NSU submitted its application for ABET accreditation in July 2007. The two programs that are applying for accreditation are:

For more information on the ABET Accrediation process please review the following information:

 

Accreditation Requirements

ABET has identified 8 critical areas that support the success of an undergraduate academic unit. At a minimum, all accredited programs must demonstrate that their graduates meet the required achievement in each of the defined areas.

Criteria
Description
Students
Programs must demonstrate an acceptable level of performance and quality in its students and graduates
Program Objectives
Programs must provide broad statements of expected early career accomplishments of its graduates.
Program Outcomes and Assessment
Programs must describe what students are expected to know and be able to do by graduation. Programs must further implement an on-going program of assessment and evaluation to support continuous improvement in its ability to achieve the intended outcomes in its graduates.
Professional Component
Programs must provide adequate exposure to basic sciences and engineering topics, as well as core requirements that complement the technical requirements.
Faculty
The program faculty should be sufficient in number and appropriately credentialed to successfully design and implement the curriculum and to adequately advise and mentor its students.
Facilities
Classrooms, laboratories, and other educational equipment should be adequate to accomplish the program objectives and to support learning.
Institutional Support/Finicial Resources
Institutional support, financial resources, and program leadership must be adequate to assure the quality and continuity of the engineering program.
Program Criteria
The program curriculum should provide the breadth and depth needed for success within the desired engineering discipline.

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NSU Engineering Accreditation Plan

Norfolk State University Engineering Faculty has developed an assessment and evaluation process (AEP) based on the goal of enhanced student learning, application of diverse assessment strategies, and continuous improvement. Accordingly, the NSU AEP builds upon advanced learning models and contemporary ideas related to reform in engineering education. At the core of the NSU AEP is the alignment of the engineering curriculum to the intended learning outcomes for the Electronics Engineering and Optical Engineering programs, and to six levels of understanding described in the Bloom’s Learning Taxonomy (Bloom, 1956). The assessment and evaluation model also builds upon a general framework that has been developed by Besterfield-Sacre et al (2000) at the University of Pittsburg. The comprehensive AEP activities include formative and summative assessment, using a triangulation strategy. NSU has also established alliances with other engineering programs to benchmark the performance of NSU engineering students against students at other leading universities in the U.S. NSU gave a presentation on its comprehensive assessment activities at the Fall 2006 Frontiers in Education Annual Meeting ( Mead et al, 2006). The full assessment and evaluation cycle is presented in the table below. For more information about the NSU assessment plan, contact Dr. Patricia Mead, pmead@nsu.edu.

Category
Function
Constituency
Assessment and Evaluation Cycle
Academic Functions
Course Evaluations Students, Faculty
Annual
Engineering Program Outcomes (a-l) Students, Faculty, Employers
Two years
Engineering Program Mission and Objectives Employers, Faculty, Advisory Board, Alumni
Three years
NSU Core Competencies Students, Faculty
Annual
Student achievement (portfolios) Students
Annual
Physical Infrastructure
  Students, Faculty, Advisory Board, Alumni

Two years

 

Administration and Organizational Structures
  Faculty, Advisory Board
Two years

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References

Besterfield-Sacre, M, Shuman, L., Wolfe, H., Atman, C., McGourty, J., Miller, R., Olds, B., and Rogers, G. “Defining the Outcomes: A Framework for EC2000,” IEEE Transactions on Engineering Education, Vol. 43, No. 2, April 2000, pp. 100-110.

Bloom, B.S., Engelhart, M.D., Furst, E.J., Hill, W.H., & Krathwohl, D.R. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Book 1, Cognitive Domain. New York: McKay.Burnet, G., Greisch, and Rohler, J. (1994). The Ten Most Outstanding Engineering Education and Engineering Technology Achievements of the Part Century, Journal of Engineering Education, January 1994, pp. 3 – 5.

Mead, P., Maclin, A., Morsi, R., Turnquest, S., Wallace, S. “Practical Framework for Engineering Outcomes Based Teaching and Assessment -- A Catalyst for the Creation of Faculty Learning Communities”, To be presented at 2006 Frontiers in Education Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, October 28, 2006.

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