CEAA January 2007 Meeting Summary

COMMITTEE ON ENGINEERING ACCREDITATION ACTIVITIES (CEAA)

26-27 JANUARY 2007

HILTON – SHORT HILLS
SHORT HILLS, NEW JERSEY

MEETING SUMMARY

This meeting summary was approved during the July 2007 CEAA Meeting.

1.      CALL TO ORDER AND INTRODUCTIONS – Noel

Franc Noel, CEAA Chair, called the meeting to order at 7:45pm. The committee members and guests introduced themselves, (Summary Attachment #1).

 2.       VICE PRESIDENT’S COMMENTS – Kam

Moshe Kam, EAB Vice President, gave a presentation on the 2007 Action Roster of the Educational Activities Board, (Summary Attachment #2). He discussed the following topics:

  • Pre-University Activities
  • University Level Activities
  • Post-University Activities
  • Public Education
  • The Funding of EAB Activities
  • EAB Accreditation Expenditures
  • The First Professional Degree in Engineering
  • IEEE’s Role in Accreditation
  • EAB’s Accreditation Projects in 2007
  • ABET – Participation Project and International Accreditation
  • IEEE’s Role in International Accreditation

3.      APC CHAIR’S REPORT – Baker

Dave Baker, APC Chair, gave a presentation on APC Activities, (Agenda Attachment). Topics included:

  • Proposed renumbered criteria
  • ABET Participation Project

4.   CSAB / ABET Report – Varanasi

Murali Varanasi, CSAB President, gave a presentation on CSAB. The following topics were discussed:

  • What is CSAB?
  • CSAB’s Responsibilities
  • CSAB’s Governance
  • CSAB Officers
  • CSAB / IEEE Cooperation
  • Key Issues and New Initiatives

During discussion, the IEEE on-line interim training project was discussed. Moshe Kam asked staff to arrange a telephone conference with PowerPoint to give CSAB a demonstration of the program when it is complete, (Action Item #1).

Franc Noel adjourned the meeting at 9:53pm.

Franc Noel called the meeting to order on Saturday morning, the 27th of January 2007 at 8:00am.

5.      REVIEW AND ADOPTION OF AGENDA – Noel

A Motion was made and approved to accept the agenda.

6.   APPROVAL OF JULY 2006 MEETING SUMMARY / ACTION REGISTER – Noel   

A Motion was made and approved to accept the July 2006 Meeting Summary and Action Register.

7.       PROGRAM EVALUATOR SELECTION - Sayle                      

During Executive Session the following program evaluators were approved:

Name:                                                

Barrett, Steven F.
Brogan, John Albert
Crilly, Paul
Davis, James P.
Davis, Nathaniel J., IV
Donohoe, J. Patrick
Fiez, Terri
Kuhl, Cass
Lake, Robin B.
Mannava, Phanindra K.
McDonald, James
Meldal, Sigurd
Nelson, J. Keith
Phillipd, Stephen M.
Rai, Suresh
Riskin, Eve A.
Boussalis, Helen
Soukup, Rodney J.
Vallett, David P.

The following program evaluator’s had their terms extended for one additional year:

Name:                                                 

Avers, C. Denny
Baum, Eleanor
Bechta-Dugan, Joanne
Bickart, Theodore
Brand, Jerry
Brown, Lewis F.
Burnham, Gerald Owens
Carroll, Bill D.
Case, Richard P.
Conry, Susan
Cooper, Kenneth
Daniels, Patricia
Davis, Karen C.
DeGroat, Joanne Elizabeth
Dickerson, Edward T. (ET)
Dodd, Curtis W.
Ernst, E. W.
Formby, Samuel
Foster, Ted M.
Fronek, Donald
Gonzalez, Mario J.
Harden, James C.
Hudgins, Jerry L.
Hughes, Joseph L. A.
Iyer, Ashok
Jones, Jr., Edwin C.
Kendrick, Larry E.
Kintner, Jr. Paul M.
Klayton, Alan
Koepfinger, Joseph
Kuckertz, Thomas H.
Kumar, K. S. P. (Pat)
Le Vine, David
Mack, Pamela Leigh
McCollough, W. Vance
Mitchell, Jerrel
Murphy, Arthur T.
Noel, Franc E.
Olivier, Philip D.
Orr, John A.
Osadciw, Lisa Ann
Phelps, Robert
Rajala, Sarah A.
Rezek, Edward A.
Rikoski, Richard A.
Riley, H. Bryan
Rowland, James R.
Sayle, William
Schrader, Cheryl B.
Schulz, Noel
Smith, Bruce
Sobo, Lydia
Soldan, David
Soma, Mani
Thomas, Gerald H.
Tonti, William R.
Trapp, George
Tredennick, Nick
Unnikrishnan, Raman M.
Vian, John L.
White, Jr., Samuel G.
Witt, Gerald L.                                    

These appointments of new program evaluators and re-appointments of evaluators whose terms were set to expire will be sent to the APC for approval, (Action Item #2).

7.   CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT - SUMMARY OF PEV EVALUATION SCORES - Vian

During Executive Session, John Vian gave a presentation on program evaluator scores, (Summary Attachment #3). It was suggested that ABET provide feedback on the PEVs in a format that can be easily conveyed to the program evaluator, (Action Item #3).

It was also suggested that ABET set this up on a website so that mentors could go up and obtain this information.

8.   REVIEW, VISITS AND EVALUATIONS FOR THE 2006-07 CYCLE – Noel

During Executive Session the committee discussed specific visits from the 2006-07 cycle.

9.       ELECTION OF CEAA / EAC APPOINTMENTS – Peterson

During Executive Session Michael McQuade was elected to replace Donna Peterson on the CEAA. Ms. Peterson is resigning effective July 2007, (Action Item #4).

10.   ABET Participation Project – Baker

Dave Baker gave a presentation on the ABET Participation Project, (Agenda Attachment). The committee discussed the ABET PEV application. A Motion was made and approved stating that “The CEAA will work with ABET to revise the PEV application form to provide adequate information on the competencies as well as society specific information to make decisions on selecting program evaluators.”

Dave Baker will form a subcommittee from the CTAA and the CEAA to re-work the IEEE PEV applications to include the ABET Competency Model. Larry Kendrick agreed to represent the CEAA on this working group. It was suggested that Moshe Kam and the IEEE Representative Directors on the ABET Board of Directors also be included. This group will suggest changes to the ABET PEV application. If ABET is willing to incorporate our suggestions into their application, IEEE will use the ABET PEV application. If ABET is not willing to incorporate suggested changes, IEEE will update our own applications and use them, (Action Item #5).

11.   ON-LINE PROGRAM EVALUATOR TRAINING - Jones / Fanelli                

Rozanna Fanelli, the consultant working with IEEE and Unreal Productions on the on-line PEV training program, gave a presentation with Ed Jones, (via conference call), on the status of the project. The committee looked at the program and made comments. The group was requested to log-on to the program and provide Ms. Fanelli with feedback and suggestions for improvement, (Action Item #6).

The group also discussed program evaluator training options for 2007. ABET has given the societies the option of doing their own training using 2006 training materials or having new program evaluators attend an ABET P.A.V.E. training session. Dave Baker will coordinate the CEAA and CTAA attendees to the ABET Train the Trainer session and sending committee members as Observers to the ABET P.A.V.E. PEV training session, (Action Item #7).

12.   ABET BOARD OF DIRECTORS UPDATE - King                 

Willis King, IEEE Representative Director on the ABET Board of Directors, gave a presentation on current ABET BoD activities, (Agenda Attachment). His report covered the following topics:

  • October 2006 ABET Board of Directors Meeting
  • Review of ABET Strategic Issues
  • ABET Partnership to Advance Volunteer Excellence (P.A.V.E.)
  • ABET’s New Financial Model
  • Harmonization of Criteria
  • ECEI

13.      CSAB UPDATE – Isaak

Jim Isaak, CSAB Liaison to the CEAA, spoke about role of the ABET societies in training, evolution of content, costs, etc. Diane Rover, CEAA member, went to last CSAB meeting – Diane will be the IEEE Representative to CSAB, attending their meetings.

14.      ECEDHA UPDATE – Bredeson

Jon Bredeson, ECEDHA President, gave a presentation on current ECEDHA activities, (Agenda Attachment).

He spoke about the following topics:

  • ECEDHA Annual Meeting
  • Sessions at 2007 ECEDHA Conference
  • Continued Initiatives
  • EC2000 Survey

15.   PROGRAM EVALUATOR ASSIGNMENT COORDINATOR REPORT – Sayle

Bill Sayle, CEAA Program Evaluator Assignment Coordinator, gave a presentation on the breakdown of the numbers of visits for the current accreditation cycle, (Agenda Attachment).  Bill spoke about the glitch in the ABET assignment system regarding availability dates for program evaluators. ABET considers the day before and the day after an accreditation visit in a PEVs availability dates. It was requested that when staff notifies PEVs to update their contact information and availability dates, they also ask notify the PEVs about the conflict date issue. Bill Sayle will provide the wording to staff, (Action Item #8).

16.   PROGRAM EVALUATOR TRAINING REPORT - Brand

Jerry Brand, CEAA Training Coordinator, reported on the PEV training sessions the CEAA sponsored in 2006 and their plans for 2007, (Agenda Attachment). Jerry advised that the CEAA would sponsor three workshops in 2007, (March in Florida in conjunction with ECEDHA, May in Newark with the IEEE CTAA, and June in Hawaii, in conjunction with the ASEE Annual Meeting.

17.   MENTORING UPDATE - Kendrick

Larry Kendrick, CEAA Mentoring Coordinator, reported on the mentoring process for the 2006-07 visit season. The committee discussed the what was successful, including the timelines, and what needed more attention. Multiple readers were assigned to new program evaluators and only one reader was assigned to experienced program evaluators. Feedback on performance issues needs to be decided.

18.      AWARDS – Mack

Pamela Leigh Mack, CEAA Awards Chair, reported that she has been working with Ed Jones and Joanne Bechta Dugan on trying to get nominations together for IEEE Awards. She asked for additional volunteers to work with her on this project.

19.   CEAA’S OPINION ON DUAL LEVEL ACCREDITATION – Orr

John Orr researched this topic for the CEAA. He presented a draft resolution to the committee, (Summary Attachment #4). John advised that the EAC of ABET only permits accreditation at a single level. John told the committee that Dick Seagrave, Past-President of ABET, is gathering this information for ABET. A Motion was made and approved to adopt the following resolution:

CEAA recommends the following resolution to EAB:

The EAB of IEEE is not in favor of a change to the current EAC policy of prohibiting accreditation of a program at more than one level in a given institution. 

The resolution will be communicated to Dick Seagrave at ABET with the understanding that it still needs to go through the formal IEEE approval process, (i.e. APC and EAB approval – Action Item #9). 

20.    CEAA FORMAL COMMENT ON ADVANCED CRITERIA – Cooper

Ken Cooper presented a paper on Advance Level Criteria to the committee, (Summary Attachment #5). He recommended that the CEAA support the 06-07 change to the criteria. The committee agreed to stay with the 2006-07 criteria changes. This will now go through the APC and EAB so that a formal response can be made to ABET, (for the June 2007 EAB Meeting – Action Item #10).

21.   SEC UPDATE – Dodd

Curtis Dodd reported that the Standards in Education Committee has new members and they have developed educational material related to standards. They are planning a Standards workshop. Curtis encouraged CEAA members to visit the Standards website or develop a module if they are so inclined. There are currently eight hundred and two (802) standards already available at no cost – that can be downloaded for free. 

22.  CEAA WEBSITE UPDATE - Noel

Franc Noel advised the committee that Vance McCollough has agreed to review the CEAA website and update it as appropriate, (Action Item #11).

23.   DEVELOP PROCESS TO IDENTIFY ALTERNATE EAC COMMISSIONER - Baker                    

Franc Noel introduced Joe Hughes as the second EAC Alternate Commissioner. Dave Baker advised that Moshe Kam has requested a process that would position candidates in the “cue” as upcoming commissioners. Alternate Commissioners and Commissioners are treated the same way. ABET rules require that both Alternates and new Commission members must attend an ABET Team Chair training session prior to the effective date of their appointment. Dave recommended that the CEAA review their Charter to see if it needs to be updated with a formal process for selecting Alternate EAC Commissioners, (Action Item #12). The position of Alternate should not be tied to a formal CEAA member position – rather it should be tied to elected candidates.  

24.   FUTURE MEETINGS - Noel

Franc Noel advised the committee that the next CEAA meeting would be in Arlington, Virginia on the 21st and 22nd of July 2007. He also requested that the CEAA Meeting in January 2008 be held in San Antonio, Texas.

25.   ABET ANGST – Noel

Franc spoke about the content and logistics of CEAA Meetings. It was suggested that the meetings may be too short to cover all the required material effectively and better use of time could be by handling some of the agenda items in subcommittees who would report back to the CEAA, (Action Item #13). 

The meeting was adjourned at 4:40pm.

 

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