Accreditation of engineering degree programmes - current requirements and future challenges, the first Engineering Council conference of its kind, was hailed a success by the 80 participants.  Mainly representing professional engineering institutions or academia, they made the most of the opportunity to review how the engineering profession goes about accreditation at present and how the process can adapt to the changing environment in higher education.

Key points which became apparent during the day included the need to focus more on the value, rather than the cost, of accreditation.  Professional engineering institutions were encouraged to find ways of helping universities to protect the quality of courses in the face of severe pressures on budgets from 2010.  In considering the wider value of accreditation, many felt that it should be viewed as a developmental process, with continuing dialogue between universities and the professional engineering institutions encouraged.  It was agreed that this would be far more effective than the current approach, which places all the emphasis on a five-yearly visit.

The shift to an outcomes-based system of accreditation in 2004 was widely welcomed.  However, some participants from universities felt that the scope for innovation in designing degree courses was still limited by the tendency of accrediting panels to make specific demands about the structure of courses, even though UK-SPEC is intended to be non-prescriptive about this.

Amongst other highlighted challenges was the need to ensure that work-based delivery of academic learning, which is becoming more widely available, meets accreditation requirements.  

A General Medical Council presentation provided examples of successful practice that the engineering profession might learn from and consider applying in future, for instance including student representatives on accreditation panels. Another example, following the lead of the GMC, is that more could be done to ensure that the processes of accrediting engineering degrees, and publicising accreditation decisions and departments' progress, are transparent for the benefit of students and the public.   

Overall, the engineering profession already has some very good accreditation processes in place. Chairing the conference, Professor Bob Cryan, Vice-Chancellor of Huddersfield University, referred to the IUSS Select Committee's recent praise for the engineering profession as being open, accessible and joined-up, as well as the emphasis that has been placed on the vital role for engineers in tackling global challenges.  He reminded delegates of the importance of ensuring that the education of engineering students meets the standards set by the profession and equips them to be competent, innovative and ground-breaking.

The Engineering Council's Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Ramsay, concluded, "It was encouraging to hear a consistent voice amongst participants in support of quality and outcomes as being key to address the future challenge of UK HE.  We had some very good feedback from participants, and are now looking at establishing a webforum, to enable relevant stakeholder groups to keep discussion open on specific issues."

The full conference report and presentations can be seen on:
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