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Session 1793

Civil Engineering Accreditation at the University of Florida and the Universidad Catolica del Norte, Chile

Patricio Tapia1, Kitti Manokhoon1, Dr. Fazil T. Najafi2

Graduate Student University of Florida1, Professor University of Florida2

Abstract

Accreditation is an important component in the long process of assuring the quality in the engineering education. Whereas universities in the USA have dealt with accreditation for a long time, universities in Chile are having the first steps by applying both the American and the European experience. This paper is intended to compare the accreditation process undertaken by the University of Florida (UF) and the Universidad Catolica del Norte (UCN) for the undergraduate Civil Engineering program.

A side to side analysis indicates that the criteria proposed by the CNAP for assuring quality in civil engineering education do not differ much from those proposed by ABET. On the other hand, the application of the first step of the CNAP (national commission for accrediting undergraduate programs) procedure has shown the lack of preparation of the UCN in terms of accounting with the appropriate information to accomplish with the self-evaluation process. Finally, the accreditation process is more likely to be a factor that both civil engineering programs has been assessing and developing in their programs to meet the standard, which affects the quality and performance of students.

Introduction

Civil Engineering program of the University of Florida (UF) is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) since 1936 until present with full accreditation status. The Universidad Catolica del Norte (UCN) is in the process of accrediting the civil engineering undergraduate program, following the directions provided by the Comisión Nacional de Acreditación de Pregrado (CNAP), created in 1999.

The criteria of ABET at the UF civil engineering program along with the accreditation and self evaluation at the UCN are presented.

“Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Education”

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Najafi, F. (2004, June), Accreditation Of Civil Engineering Programs At The University Of Florida And The Universidad Catolica Del Norte, Chile Paper presented at 2004 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--13603