MFELDMAN@GWUVM.BITNET (Michael Feldman) (02/19/89)
Since the subject of accreditation came up in a recent discussion on INFO-ADA, I thought I'd pass some information on to you, so that we can all read from the same script. Those of you in industry might not often focus on the accreditation process, but for (many of) us in the academic world, it's a fact of life that impacts our curriculum planning. Hence the relevance to the recent discussions on software engineering education. I'm serving now for the second time as coordinator of my department's preparation for accreditation visits by ABET(Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) and CSAB (Computing Sciences Accreditation Board, so I have ready access to all their documentation. First, a couple of basic principles: 1. Most respectable colleges and universities are accredited by their regional accreditors (in our region it's the Middle States Association of Colleges). This is one kind of accreditation called "institutional". What we should be discussing here is the other kind, namely "program accreditation" in which an accredited institution submits one or more of its programs (i.e. curriculum+faculty+labs, etc.) to a discipline- specific board like ABET or CSAB. 2. At least in engineering and computing, there is accreditation ONLY at the undergraduate level. There is no mechanism to accredit graduate programs in, say, software engineering. This is a two-edged sword: on the one hand, there is no recognized means for comparing graduate programs, since there is, really, no standard. On the other hand, since accreditation bears within it a strong component of bean-counting and rigidity, lack of accreditation means freedom to innovate and experiment. Just in case you were wondering why those programs titled "software engineering" or whatever, exist only at the graduate level, refer to the above paragraph. Software engineering is NOT a recognized title for an accredited program: ABET doesn't see it as engineering (in the sense of civil engineering or computer engineering); CSAB at this point doesn't really recognize it at all. For those schools for whom accreditation is important, there's simply no mechanism to call an undergraduate program "software engineering." But at the graduate level anything goes: perhaps local or state governments need to be satisfied, but not the boards. My department offers UG programs in EE, Computer Engineering (both ABET- accredited) and Computer Science (CSAB-accredited). The way the two boards divide the territory, ABET won't consider a program that does not have "engineering" in the title. I don't know whether CSAB will consider one that _does_, but CSAB was created to encompass computer science programs both in and out of schools of engineering. Lest you think this is all just academic inside stuff, I should point out that ABET and CSAB are really creatures of the technical societies; CSAB is a creation of ACM and IEEE Computer Society. I presume that these groups get strong input from industry; many if not most accreditation visiting teams have members from both industry and academe. I thought some of you out there might be interested in just what CSAB considers a good program to be, so I've extracted, verbatim, the curriculum criteria from their document. There are other criteria having to do with number of faculty, lab equipment, library, etc.; I won't bore you with these but will be glad to Snail the whole document to anyone asking me. When a department requests an accreditation visit, CSAB sends down a packet of forms to fill in, in the goriest of detail, showing exactly how the program meets the criteria. ABET works the same way. It's almost like the government. Well, here are the curriculum criteria: ------------------------------------------ CURRICULUM For this section, requirements are specified in terms of years of study. For a baccalaureate program requiring 120 semester hours (180 quarter hours), one year of study equals 30 semester hours (45 quarter hours). For a program requiring more than 120 semester hours (180 quarter hours), 30 semester hours (45 quarter hours) may be considred to constitute one year of study in any of the curricular components specified. For a baccalaureate program requiring fewer credit hours, or a program using a different credit system, one year of study is considered to be one-fourth of the total credit requirements for the program. The curriculum must integrate technical computer science requirements with general education requirements and electives to prepare the students for a professional career in the computer field, for further study in computer science, and for functioning in modern society. The computer science program must provide the student with both breadth and depth in computer science. The program should have at least one and one-third years of study in computer science topics. It should also contain at least two additional years of study as specified in (2.) below. The remaining two-thirds year of the program is unspecified by CSAB and may be used as appropriate to fulfill the objectives of the student or the institution. 1. COMPUTER SCIENCE The computer science segment of the program must contain a broad-based core of fundamental material that is required of all students and that makes up 40 to 60 percent of the computer science requirement. This core must provide reasonably even emphasis over the areas of theoretical foundations of computer science, algorithms, data structures, software design, the concepts of programming languages, and computer elements and architecture. Within this portion of the program, analysis and design experiences with substantial laboratory work, including software development, should be stressed. IN addition the student must be exposed to a variety of programming languages and systems and must become proficient in at least one higher-level structured language. The social implications of computing should be included in the program. The remaining 40 to 60 percent of the computer science segment of the program should be advanced courses in computer science. These courses are to be selected in such a manner as to insure that depth of knowledge is obtained in at least one-half of the core material. Some of these topics in the computer science segment could be covered in courses offered in other departments. 2. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS Certain areas of mathematics and science are particularly important for the study of computer science. These areas must be included in all programs. The curriculum must include one-half year study of mathematics. This material must include discrete mathematics, differential and integral calculus, and probability and statistics; and may include additional areas such as linear algebra, numerical analysis, combinatorics, and differential equations. Some of this material may be covered in the courses of the computer science department. The curriculum must include the equivalent of a) a two-semester sequence in a laboratory science for science majors and b) two additional one-semester courses in science and/or courses with strong emphasis on quantitative methods. The curriculum must include the equivalent of at least one year's study in humanities, social sciences, arts, and other disciplines that serve to broaden the background of the student. These courses are frequently specified by institutional requirements. The communication skills of the student, both oral and written, must be developed and applied in the program. -------------------------------------------- whew! As you can see, software engineering, as a topic, is certainly not excluded, but certainly is not mentioned by name or required. If you are interested in reading some recent stuff on CS curricula, there's a good paper by Denning et al. in the January Communications of the ACM and the February IEEE Computer magazine. Perhaps someone else would like to excerpt the relevant ABET criteria; my fingers are getting tired. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Michael B. Feldman, Professor residence address for USNail: Dept. of Elect. Engrg. and Comp. Sci Michael B. Feldman The George Washington University 6218 Wagner Lane Washington, DC 20052 U.S.A. Bethesda, MD 20816 U.S.A. +1-202-994-5253 MFELDMAN@GWUVM.BITNET MFELDMAN@GWUSUN.GWU.EDU Acknowledge-To: Michael Feldman <MFELDMAN@GWUVM>