1 Report from ABET Inc. 21 June 2008 Moshe Kam Alternate ABET Director Denver, Colorado

2 IEEE Representatives to ABET Fall 2007 Spring 2008 Fall 2008 Spring 2009

3 Highlights from the Spring Meeting of the ABET Board of Directors

4 Spring Meeting March 29,2008 at the Hilton Baltimore BWI Airport, Linthicum, Maryland IEEE staff and volunteers present: David Baker, Bruce Eisenstein, Doug Gorham, Moshe Kam, Willis King, Carolyn Solimine, Eric Tappert

5 Dual Level Accreditation was Approved Will allow institutions to seek accreditation for their engineering programs of the same name/discipline at two levels concurrently. i.e., bachelor's and master's Goes into effect with the accreditation cycle

6 Accreditation of On-line Programs A discussion on the subject exposed some reluctance to engage IEEE representatives recommended an aggressive plan to allow for routine accreditation of such programs Later - Moshe Kam appointed to chair an ad hoc committee addressing the issue

7 Financial Report ABET reserves continue to be low In the long term, ABET is looking to International Accreditation as a major source of revenue In response to the financial forecast, we have discussed the 2005 and 2006 forecasts that were demonstrated to be unrealistic

8 International Travel Policy ABET, at its sole discretion, may permit volunteer and/or staff travel to countries or locations with travel warnings only with the approval of the ABET Executive Director and the concurrence of the ABET Executive Committee The ABET Executive Director will provide the traveler with the information obtained from corporations knowledgeable in international travel, State Department public announcements or other information from in-country consular offices

9 The primary ABET liaison at each institution will provide the Executive Director with current information regarding personal safety or travel risks in the country or location Travel to countries or locations with travel warnings or security risks is voluntary and the individual ABET volunteer or staff member may decide whether they wish to proceed with such international travel

10 IEEE representatives response This policy may expose ABET and IEEE to serious liability IEEE will provide its own policy and will advise its volunteers as well as ABET about IEEEs concerns

11 New Proposal on Governance The Governance committee was presented with a proposal to re-arrange the ABET Board of Directors The proposal increases the size of the Board and transfers its real powers to other unelected and unaccountable bodies It has since been withdrawn

12 Summary Work on accreditation of on-line program has started Dual Level Accreditation was approved ABETs financial position continues to be difficult ABETs Travel policy and Board restructuring proposals create difficulties for IEEE Our representation to ABET is somewhat in flux

13 Questions or Comments?