MINIMIZING ABET REVIEW PROCESS UNCERTAINTY: THE ROLE OF INNOVATIVE QUALITY ASSURANCE TOOLS

ABSTRACT: The new ABET accreditation system was first introduced to the American Engineering Education in the middle of 1990s. Since its introduction, majority of academic literature focused on the most appropriate procedures for forming Program Educational Objectives (PEOs) and student outcomes (i.e. A-K), giving little attention to the process of developing innovative quality assurance tools that can enhance accreditation success and minimize review process uncertainty. Based on a case study methodology at An-Najah National University (NNU) in Palestine, this paper aims at closing the aforementioned gap by proposing a novel form of ABET quality assurance tools that can increase the chance of having a successful ABET review process. The findings of the case study analysis illustrates the successful experience of NNU in getting accreditation for seven of its Engineering programs, it illustrates in particular a number of practical quality assurance tools that were developed and adapted by the Faculty of Engineering at NNU; these tools were found very useful in minimizing ABET review process uncertainty.