How to Embark on a Successful ABET Process

ABET is a non-govenmental organization that accredits engineering, engineering technology, and other programs. ABET accredited programs have defined program educational objectives and student learning outcomes, and an established process for the continuous assessment and evaluation of student learning outcomes. ABET accreditation indicates that a program has successfully navigated the assessment and evaluation process.

In this workshop, ASU Associate Professor and Program Chair Treavor Boyer will take faculty through a one-day interactive program on the ABET accreditation process. Participants will leave this workshop with background knowledge on the ABET accreditation process and examples on how to embark on the ABET process including creating an assessment and evaluation plan, strategies for managing the process, and engaging faculty on data collection.

About the trainer: Dr. Treavor Boyer

Dr. Treavor Boyer is an Associate Professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment (SSEBE) at Arizona State University. Dr. Boyer serves as Program Chair for the Environmental Engineering undergraduate program, which launched in Fall 2017 and has over 110 students enrolled, and specialty area coordinator for the Environmental Engineering graduate program. As Program Chair, he works with faculty to develop new courses and update existing courses, makes teaching assignments, and leads assessment and evaluation activities for ABET accreditation. Dr. Boyer has participated in the ABET Fundamentals of Program Assessment workshop and served as program evaluator in mock ABET readiness visit to Andalas University, Padang, Indonesia, which required review of self-study report, three day on-site visit following typical ABET schedule, and follow-up reporting. Dr. Boyer’s teaching interests includes environmental chemistry, physical-chemical processes, and water treatment design. His research is focused on water sustainability, and spans drinking water and wastewater treatment, and natural aquatic systems. His engineering passion is to develop robust approaches to the treatment of water at various stages in its lifecycle so as to maximize water conservation, recover valuable materials, sequester harmful contaminants, minimize the production of waste byproducts, and advance the water–energy–food nexus. He strongly supports taking a systems-thinking approach to water quality and treatment that considers global drivers such as urbanization, climate change, biogeochemical cycles, sustainable engineering, and disruptive innovation. In 2012, he earned a National Science Foundation CAREER award for his efforts toward using urine source separation and treatment as catalysis for new research directions in wastewater treatment and resource recovery. Dr. Boyer earned his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in environmental engineering from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his B.S. degree in chemical engineering from the University of Florida. Dr. Boyer was previously an Assistant Professor and Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences at the University of Florida.