ABET’s coming to Rose!

Your involvement
Monday, Nov 5, 2012
 What’s ABET
• The major accrediting body for engineering and
many science programs in the US and around the
world.
• They visit us every 7 years to judge the quality of our
programs.
• Includes both CS and SE.
• See http://www.abet.org/home/.
 Why are they meeting with students?
• The ABET “program evaluators” (PEVs) need to
decide how well students here meet student
outcomes – their general criteria for CS and for SE,
and Rose’s own standards.
• Talking directly to students helps them decide this!
• There’s a PEV for CS and a PEV for SE coming.
 When & where? From Cary:
As I believe you are all aware, Rose-Hulman will be undergoing its next regularly scheduled ABET
accreditation visit this coming Sunday through Tuesday. There are 9 engineering programs
(including software engineering) and 1 computer science program up for re-accreditation. This is
a process that occurs every 6 years and is critical to Rose-Hulman’s mission and success.

As part of that visit, the ABET team members want to talk with students in the respective majors.
Based on the evaluators’ schedules and ours, 8th hour on Monday was deemed the best time for
CS and SE to do this, and your course meeting at that time was deemed the best in terms of
students to meet with the evaluators. The SE and CS program evaluators (PEVs) have asked to
meet with the SE and CS students separately, so we have divided you up as follows:

• If SE is your only major or your first major in a double/triple major program please report to
your classroom (M111). Shawn Bohner will introduce the SE PEV to you and then leave the
room so that only students are left.
• If CS is your only major or your first major in a double/triple major program please report to
the F225 department lab at 2:30 PM. I will introduce the CS PEV to you and then leave the
room so that only students are left.

For those of you in the 7th and 9th hour sections of 371, I believe your sections will meet as
scheduled, so do report to them. If you would also like to interact with the ABET PEVs you may
show up at 2:30 PM if your schedule permits in the above rooms as determined by your major.
 The PEVs want to ask you things!
• Cary: The evaluators are seeking student input on what your education is
like.
– They will ask questions about your courses, your faculty, your lab environments, the
department environment, advising, etc.
– Please speak openly and honestly with the evaluators. I serve as a program evaluator and
team chair for computing accreditation visits for ABET, and the input students provide is
very important in the overall evaluation.
– If you have any questions about this please do not hesitate to let me know. I thank you in
advance on behalf of all your colleagues in CSSE, students and faculty, for your time and
input in this very important process.
• We don’t want to coach you about answering – we want the PEVs to hear
your honest opinions.
• And, it’s fair for you to have thought about what they’ll be interested in.
• So, on the next few pages, for CS and SE, are:
– ABET’s Outcomes (goals for you at graduation)
– Rose’s Outcomes
– Rose’s Objectives (career goals for you)
CS – What are the ABET outcomes for you?
The program must enable students to attain, by the time of graduation:
(a) An ability to apply knowledge of computing and mathematics appropriate to the
discipline
(b) An ability to analyze a problem, and identify and define the computing
requirements appropriate to its solution
(c) An ability to design, implement, and evaluate a computer-based system, process,
component, or program to meet desired needs
(d) An ability to function effectively on teams to accomplish a common goal
(e) An understanding of professional, ethical, legal, security and social issues and
responsibilities
(f) An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences
(g) An ability to analyze the local and global impact of computing on individuals,
organizations, and society
(h) Recognition of the need for and an ability to engage in continuing professional
development
(i) An ability to use current techniques, skills, and tools necessary for computing
practice.
 CS – What are Rose’s outcomes?
Computer Science Student Outcomes (by graduation):
By the time students graduate with a computer science degree from Rose-Hulman, they will be able to:
1. Effectively apply a variety of programming languages, programming paradigms, operating systems,
networks, and software development tools
2. Anticipate complexities and problems involved in the development of large software systems
3. Analyze requirements, design software that satisfies those requirements, and implement that software
4. Analyze problems using ideas of problem complexity, models of computation, and decidability
5. Design algorithms using a variety of paradigms
6. Analyze algorithms in terms of correctness, as well as time and space efficiency
7. Communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing
8. Evaluate and discuss the legal, social, and ethical aspects of significant events that arise in the
computing industry
9. Identify resources for determining legal and ethical practices in other countries as they apply to
computing and software engineering
10. Collaborate effectively in small teams
11. Interact professionally with colleagues or clients located abroad and overcome challenges that arise
from geographic distance, cultural differences, and multiple languages in the context of computing and
software engineering
12. Explain the impact of globalization on computing and software engineering
13. Recognize the need for, and engage in, lifelong learning
14. Identify scalable solutions to problems and analyze the scalability of existing solutions under a variety of
constraints
 CS – What are Rose’s career objectives?
Computer Science Program Educational Objectives (5 years out):
Graduates from the computer science program will be prepared for many types of
careers in the computing industry and be prepared for graduate study in computer
science and in closely related disciplines. In the early phases of their careers, we
expect Rose-Hulman computer science graduates to be:
1. Graduate students and researchers.
2. Leaders in government and law as government employees, policy makers,
governmental advisors, and legal professionals.
3. Entrepreneurial leaders.
4. Business and technological leaders within existing organizations.
5. Actively involved in social and professional service locally, nationally, and globally.
6. Recognized by their peers and superiors for their communication, teamwork, and
leadership skills.
7. Software professionals in a variety of organizations, including ones doing
traditional software development, technological innovation, and cross-disciplinary
work.
SE – What are the ABET outcomes for you?
These actually are common to all engineering disciplines:
(a) an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering
(b) an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret
data
(c) an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within
realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health
and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability
(d) an ability to function on multidisciplinary teams
(e) an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems
(f) an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility
(g) an ability to communicate effectively
(h) the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions
in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context
(i) a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning
(j) a knowledge of contemporary issues
(k) an ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for
engineering practice.
 SE – What are Rose’s outcomes?
Software Engineering Student Outcomes (by graduation):
By the time students graduate with a Software Engineering degree from Rose-Hulman, they will be able to:
1. Apply software engineering theory, principles, tools and processes, as well as the theory and principles of
computer science and mathematics, to the development and maintenance of complex, scalable software
systems
2. Design and experiment with software prototypes
3. Select and use software metrics
4. Participate productively on software project teams involving students from both software engineering and
other majors
5. Communicate effectively through oral and written reports, and software documentation
6. Elicit, analyze and specify software requirements through a productive working relationship with project
stakeholders
7. Evaluate the business and impact of potential solutions to software engineering problems in a global
society, using their knowledge of contemporary issues
8. Explain the impact of globalization on computing and software engineering
9. Interact professionally with colleagues or clients located abroad and overcome challenges that arise from
geographic distance, cultural differences, and multiple languages in the context of computing and
software engineering
10. Apply appropriate codes of ethics and professional conduct to the solution of software engineering
problems
11. Identify resources for determining legal and ethical practices in other countries as they apply to computing
and software engineering
12. Recognize the need for, and engage in, lifelong learning
13. Demonstrate software engineering application domain knowledge
 SE – What are Rose’s career objectives?
Software Engineering Program Educational Objectives (5 years out):
Graduates from the software engineering program will be prepared for many types of
careers in software development. In the early phases of their careers, we expect Rose-
Hulman software engineering graduates to be able to:
1. Develop complex systems (including analysis, design, construction, maintenance,
quality assurance and project management) using the appropriate theory,
principles, tools and processes.
2. Use appropriate computer science and mathematics principles in the
development of software systems.
3. Solve problems in a team environment through effective use of written and oral
communication skills.
4. Have knowledge of current issues presently involved in effectively performing
duties as a software practitioner in an ethical and professional manner for the
benefit of society.
5. Practice the lifelong learning needed in order to keep current as new issues
emerge.
6. Develop software in at least one application domain.