ROLE OF WASHINGTON ACCORD ON ACCREDITATION


  ROLE OF WASHINGTON ACCORD ON ACCREDITATION - Prof. Majumdar.ppt (Size: 338.5 KB / Downloads: 0)


INTRODUCTION

There are several international agreements governing mutual recognition of engineering qualifications and professional competence. In each of the agreements countries who wish to participate may apply for membership, and if accepted become members or signatories to the agreement. In a broad principle, each country must meet its own costs, and body making application must verify that it is the appropriate representative body for that country.


AGREEMENTS COVERING TERTIARY QUALIFICATIONS IN ENGINEERING


The Washington Accord signed in 1989 first- it recognises substantial equivalence in the accreditation of qualifications in professional engineering, normally of four years of duration.

The Sydney Accord signed in 2001 and recognises substantial equivalence in the accreditation of qualifications in engineering technology normally of three years of duration.

The Dublin Accord is an agreement for substantial equivalence in the accreditation of tertiary qualifications in technician engineering, normally of two years duration and it commenced in 2002.


THE BASICS


Accreditation assures quality.

It is a peer review process that assures the quality of postsecondary education students receive. Educational institutions or programmes volunteer to undergo this review periodically to determine if certain criteria are being met.

It is important to understand that accreditation is not a ranking system. It is simply assurance that a programme or institution meets established quality standards.

There are two types of accreditation- Institutional and Specialized.

This type of accreditation is granted to specific programme at specific level.


PROCEDURE AND EVALUATION GUIDELINES


There are 8 parameters having maximum 1000 points.
Parameters:
Organization and Governance, Resources, Institutional support, Development and Planning (150).
Minimum qualifying points-100.
Evaluation and Teaching-Learning Process (175).
Minimum qualifying Points-115.
{Based on past three years' record}.
Students' entry and outputs (150).
Minimum qualifying Points-100.
{Based on past three years' record}.
Faculty Contributions (150).
Minimum qualifying Points-100.
{Based on past three years' record}.
Facilities and Technical Support (75).
Continuous Improvements (75).
Curriculum (125).
Programme Educational Objectives (PEOs) - their compliance and outcomes (100).


ACCREDITATION CRITERIA


The programme gets the status “Accredited” for next 5 years from the date of issue of the letter from NBA, if it gets minimum score of 750 points and scores minimum qualifying marks in parameters specified above.

The Programme gets status “Provisionally Accredited” for next 2 years from the date of issue of the letter from NBA, if it gets a minimum score of 600 points. The institution may apply after overcoming the weaknesses to upgrade the status to “Full Accreditation” of the Programme.

The Programme gets status “Not Accredited” if it gets the score less than 600.