DABCE (Degree Accreditation Board for Chartered Engineers)

In January 2005 , EC UK took over from the IEE, the secretariat function for DABCE (Degree Accreditation Board for Chartered Engineers).

DABCE was formed in 1994 by a small group of Professional Engineering Institutions as a mechanism for members to work together on accreditation matters. Membership is open to all institutions licensed to accredit academic courses. Since its inception membership has been extended and 16 Institutions are now represented.

DABCE's aim is to foster consistency in the process and application of accreditation in order to achieve high output standards that are approved by the member Institutions. One of the ways it can aid both institutions and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) is to undertake the accreditation of suitable mixed discipline, "unified" or integrated engineering degree courses and to coordinate joint accreditation, if requested.

This facilitation of accreditation through a single point of contact allows HEIs to have their programmes considered by a number of professional engineering institutions in the course of a single visit. Advantages include;

• only one set of submission documents needs to be completed;
• you are provided with only one point of contact throughout the process;
• a reduced number of Accreditors attends the visit;
• only one Visit Report is produced;
• only one Decision Letter is produced.

This can considerably reduce the work involved in the accreditation process for HEIs compared with a series of individual visit accreditation visits.

Board meetings are held 3 times a year and normally include a seminar in the afternoon; previous seminar topics have included UKSPEC Output Standards and International Developments . DABCE's current Chairman is Prof Bob Cryan, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Teaching) at Northumbria University.

With the EC UK now managing the DABCE secretariat, we hope to continue the good work undertaken by the IEE in maintaining the dissemination of best accreditation practice, identifying opportunities that increase DABCE's effectiveness and marketing DABCE to academic bodies.

If you would like to investigate whether a DABCE visit would suit your Institution's circumstances, please contact Paul Bailey, Senior Executive - Higher Education at the EC UK .