The College of Science and Technology is undergoing accreditation for its electrical and mechanical engineering programs.

“The process has gone fairly well,” College of Science and Technology Dean Ian Davison said. “Everyone has done a wonderful job of getting everything ready for this.”

Generally once a specific program decides it wants to be accredited, it must pursue it within its own college, said Curriculum and Assessment Director of Academic Affairs Denise Webster.

This begins by the program conducting an internal evaluation and compiling a self-study, Webster said.

This self-study includes the many documents about how curriculum was developed and the program’s facilities, Davison said.

“(We also) need to document the performance of students (within the study),” he said.

The college is seeking accreditation through ABET, Inc., the recognized accreditor for college and university programs in applied science, computing, engineering and technology. After completing the application, the college submits the self-study to ABET.

Evaluators came to campus two weeks ago for a site visit to review course materials, interview students and faculty, and tour facilities, according to ABET.com.

“That is as far as we’ve gotten now,” Davison said.

Davison said the program will probably get a written evaluation in January or February.

After the College of Science and Technology receives this statement, it has 30 days to respond to possible errors or to fix things that may need fixing.

“We can correct anything they identify that needs to be corrected,” Davison said.

This statement is edited many times before a final statement is put together, Davison said. He added that to ensure consistency, ABET applies the same criteria to each program.

After the final statement is issued, the ABET committee will meet and decide whether to approve accreditation for the program. If the mechanical and electrical engineering programs are accredited, the accreditation will be retroactive, Davison said. This means that even students who graduated before the program was accredited will be able to say they graduated from an accredited program.

Eric Robinson, a CMU engineering alumnus, thinks accreditation will help the university.

“I think the new accreditation puts the engineering program on the same playing field as every other engineering program in Michigan. Employers will now treat the program with the respect that it deserves,” he said in an e-mail to Central Michigan Life.

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E-mail the author: Sara Fotino