STATUS OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS ACCREDITATION ISECON, October 2001

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STATUS OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS ACCREDITATIONISECON
, October 2001

• John T.Gorgone, Bentley College
• David L. Feinstein, University of South Alabama

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IS ACCREDITATION EXECUTIVE COMMITEE
Dr. David Feinstein, Univ. of South Alabama Dr.
John T. Gorgone, Bentley College Dr. John C.
Henderson, Boston University Dr Willis K. King,
University of Houston Dr. Benn R. Konsynski,
Emory University Dr. Doris K. Lidtke, Towson
University Dr. Sorel Reisman, California State
University Dr. Jon A. Turner, New York
University Dr. Joe Valacich, Washington State
University Dr. Gayle J. Yaverbaum,Penn State
Harrisburg
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Agenda

• Overview of U.S. Accreditation
• Computing Accreditation Background
• Status of IS Accreditation
• Accreditation Process
• IS Accreditation
• Criteria Overview
• Questions

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Three Types of Accreditors

• Regional Accreditors
• Accredit public private two- four-year
  institutions.
• Comprehensive review of all institutional
  functions
• National Accreditors
• Accredit public private institutions,
  frequently single-purpose institutions
• Specialized Professional Accreditors

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Three Types of Accreditors

• Specialized Professional Accreditors
• Accredit specific programs or schools including
  business schools, accounting programs, computing
  programs, engineering schools and programs, law
  schools, medical schools, and health professional
  programs
• E.g. AACSB, ABET

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Purposes of Accreditation

• Assuring Quality
• Primary means to assure quality to students the
  public
• A signal that program meets at least minimal
  standards for its faculty, curriculum, student
  services, libraries and fiscal stability.

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Purposes of Accreditation

• Engendering Employer Confidence
• Accreditation status is important to employers
  when evaluating credentials of job applicants and
  
• when deciding whether to provide tuition support
  for current employees seeking additional
  education.
• Easing Transfer of Courses Among Colleges

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Who Benefits from Accreditation

• Students
• Employers
• Public
• Institution
• Reputation
• Department
• Program

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Five Key Features of Accreditation

• Self Study Summary of performance
• Peer Review People in the profession
• Site Visit Visit team review of program
• Action by Accrediting Organization
• Ongoing External Review Cycles up to 10 years

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Agenda

• Overview of U.S. Accreditation
• Computing Accreditation Background
• Status of IS Accreditation
• Accreditation Process
• IS Accreditation
• Criteria Overview
• Questions

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Computing Accreditation Background

• CS accreditation began in USA in 1986
• 166 accredited programs at 158 institution in USA
• Programs reviewed by faculty and qualified
  industry visitors (volunteers from universities
  and industry)
• Only programs located in regionally accredited
  institutions are eligible
• Process takes nearly 2 years.

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Agenda

• Overview of U.S. Accreditation
• Computing Accreditation Background
• Status of IS Accreditation
• Accreditation Process
• IS Accreditation
• Criteria Overview
• Criteria Details

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IS Accreditation Current Status

• Web survey of Draft Criteria (300 responses)
• Revision of Draft Criteria
• CSAB approved Criteria for testing- 7/00
• ABET EC approved pilot test for Fall 2001
• IS Criteria posted to web www.abet.org
• Documents prepared, Evaluators Trained
• 2001-2002 Program Review Cycle in progress

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IS Accreditation Current Status

• Program Selected, Self-study completed
• October 2001- Team Visit Completed
• July 2002 - Action on visit
• September 2002 Final Statement
• Next Cycle 2002-2003
• Fall 2002 additional visits

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IS Accreditation Current Status

• Review Revise materials
• Review Revise Proposed IS Criteria (August 2000
  version 5.2)
• ABET final approval of IS Criteria 11/3/01
• Identify IS programs interested in accreditation

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IS Accreditation Current Status

• Identify IS faculty and IS industry professional
  interested becoming program evaluators
• Membership in the ACM, the IEEE/CS, or the AIS is
  expected.  Good communication skills are
  necessary.
• Ph.D. In a computing discipline
• At least associate professor rank
• See www.csab.org for details application

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Agenda

• Overview of U.S. Accreditation
• Computing Accreditation Background
• Status of IS Accreditation
• Accreditation Process
• IS Accreditation
• Criteria Overview
• Criteria Details

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Process for Initial Accreditation

• Study the Criteria
• Be sure your program meets the Criteria
• Be sure all students in the program meet the
  Criteria
• Be certain your infrastructure meets the Criteria
• Be sure you have support from the Administration

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Process - Pre-visit

• Self-analysis of program
• does it meet CAC Criteria?
• Invitation issued by CAC (November)
• Prepare self-study and collect course materials
  (Fall prior to visit)
• Submit Request for Evaluation (January 31)
• Pay fee for evaluation (June 1)
• Submit Self-Study (July 1)

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Self-Study - 1

• One Volume Appendix
• Contents
• Objectives and Assessment
• Student Support
• Faculty
• Curriculum
• Laboratory and Computing Facilities
• Institutional Support and Financial Resources
• Institutional Facilities

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Self-Study - 2 - Appendices

• I. Information Relative to the Entire Institution
• II. General Information on the Unit Responsible
  for the Information Systems Program
• III. Finances
• IV. IS Program Personnel and Policies Towards
  Consulting, Professional Development, and
  Recruiting
• V. IS Program Enrollment and Degree Data
• VI. Admission Requirements

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Process - Visit

• Schedule visit (July - August)
• Work with your Administration to be sure they can
  meet with visitors
• Host 2-3 day visit (Sep.-Nov.)
• Prepare schedule with Team Chair
• Prepare course exhibits and space for visitors
• Be certain faculty, students, administrators
  are available for scheduled meetings

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Process - Post-visit

• Receive Preliminary Statement (March)
• Respond to Preliminary Statement (30 days)
• Preliminary report finalized
• Presentation at CAC Annual Meeting (July)
• Final Statement received (August - Sept.)

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Accreditation Actions

• Each program reviewed in Fall xx is voted on at
  the CAC Annual Meeting in July of xx1
• Programs are informed of Action in August of xx1

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Accreditation Actions Durations

• General
• Action Duration (Yrs)
• NGR Next General Review 6
• IR Interim Report 2
• IV Interim Visit 2
• SC Show Cause 1

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Agenda

• Overview of U.S. Accreditation
• Computing Accreditation Background
• Status of IS Accreditation
• Accreditation Process
• IS Accreditation
• Criteria Overview
• Questions

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IS Accreditation Objectives

• Assure graduates of an accredited program are
  adequately prepared to enter and continue the
  practice of information systems
• Stimulate the improvement of IS education
• Encourage new innovative approaches to IS
  education and its assessment
• Identify accredited programs to the public

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Philosophy

• Institutions and Programs define mission and
  objectives to meet the needs of their
  constituents -- enable program differentiation
• Programs demonstrate how criteria and educational
  objectives are being met

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Evaluative Criteria Structure

• Two documents
• Criteria for Accrediting Computing Programs in
  the United States
• eight Categories
• each category is divided into
• Intent
• Standards

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Evaluative Criteria Structure

• 2. Guidance for Interpreting the Criteria for
  Accrediting Programs in Computing in the United
  States
• Eight sections
• one per criteria category
• contents mapped to specific Standards

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Criteria Categories

• Objectives and Assessments
• Students
• Faculty
• Curriculum
• Technology Infrastructure
• Institutional Support/Financial Resources
• Program Delivery
• Institutional Facilities

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Agenda

• Overview of U.S. Accreditation
• Computing Accreditation Background
• Status of IS Accreditation
• Accreditation Process
• IS Accreditation
• Criteria Overview
• Questions

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Criteria Overview

• What is an Intent statement?
• An Intent statement is a high level description
  of a program that conforms to a particular
  Criteria Category.
• In order to be accreditable, a program must meet
  the Intent statement of every Category.

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Criteria Overview Example of an Intent Statement

• Category Faculty
• Faculty members are current and active in the
  discipline and have the necessary technical
  breadth and depth to support a modern information
  systems program.

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Criteria Overview The Standards

• Standards are a series of enumerated statements
  of how to minimally meet the Intent of a
  particular Category.
• Standards are both qualitative and quantitative
• Standards define minimum essential elements
• A program that satisfies all the Standards of a
  Category meets the Intent of that Category.

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Criteria Overview Examples of Standards

• Category Faculty
• One of the five standards in the Category
• III.1 Interests, qualifications, and scholarly
  contributions must be sufficient to
• teach the courses,
• plan modify the courses curriculum, and
• remain abreast of current developments in
  information systems.

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Agenda

• Overview of U.S. Accreditation
• Computing Accreditation Background
• Status of IS Accreditation
• Accreditation Process
• IS Accreditation
• Criteria Overview
• Questions
• Criteria Details available for discussion

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Questions

• What questions do you have about IS
  Accreditation?
• Criteria details are available for discussion as
  time permits.

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Criteria Criteria Details

• General introduction
• Detailed discussion of each Criteria category
  will include
• Intent
• Standards

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Criteria Categories

• Objectives and Assessments
• Students
• Faculty
• Curriculum
• Technology Infrastructure
• Institutional Support/Financial Resources
• Program Delivery
• Institutional Facilities

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Objectives and Assessments CategoryMotivation -
1

• Why include Objectives and Assessments in the
  criteria?
• Aligns CSAB/ABET accreditation with
• direction of regional accreditation bodies
• criteria of other program oriented accreditation
  bodies
• Demonstrates stable program direction in the face
  of natural program evolution

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Objectives and Assessments

• Motivation - 2
• Why are documented objectives important?
• Ensures alignment with stated mission and goals
• Provides program direction
• to plan appropriate program evolution
• to form the basis for decisions
• Enables effectiveness measurement of program
  activities
• Provides foundation for continuous improvement
• Addresses issue of increased accountability

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I. Objectives and Assessments
Intent

• The program has documented educational objectives
  that are consistent with the mission of the
  institution.
• The program has in place processes to regularly
  assess its progress against its objectives and
  uses the results of the assessments to identify
  program improvements and to modify the programs
  objectives.

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I. Objectives and Assessments
Standards

• The program must have documented, educational
  objectives.
• Objectives must include expected outcomes for
  graduating students.
• Mechanisms must be in place to periodically
  review the program and courses.

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Objectives and Assessments Standards (Contd.)

• Program assessment results must be used to help
  identify and implement program improvement.
• Program review and actions taken must be
  documented.

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II. Students
Intent

• Students can complete the program in a reasonable
  amount of time.
• Students have ample opportunity to interact with
  their instructors and are offered timely guidance
  and advice about the programs requirements and
  their career alternatives.
• Students who graduate the program meet all
  program requirements.

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II. Students
Standards

• Courses offered with sufficient frequency for
  students to complete the program in a timely
  manner.
• Program must be structured to ensure effective
  interaction between teaching faculty and students.

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Students Standards (Contd)

• Advising on program completion, course selection
  and career opportunities must be available to all
  students.
• Standards and procedures are established that
  ensure that graduates meet program requirements.

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III. Faculty
Intent

• Faculty members are current and active in the
  discipline and have the necessary technical
  breadth and depth to support a modern information
  systems program.

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III. Faculty
Standards

• Interests, qualifications, and scholarly
  contributions must be sufficient to
• teach the courses,
• plan and modify the courses and curriculum, and
• remain abreast of current developments in
  information systems.
• Must have a level of competence normally obtained
  through graduate work in information systems.

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Faculty Standards (Contd)

• A majority should hold terminal degrees.
• Some full-time faculty members must have a Ph.D
  in information systems or a closely related area.
• All faculty members must remain current in the
  discipline.

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IV. Curriculum
Intent

• The curriculum combines professional requirements
  with general education requirements and
  electives
• to prepare students for a professional career in
  the information systems field,
• for further study in information systems, and
• for functioning in modern society.

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IV. Curriculum Intent (cont)

• The professional requirements include coverage of
  basic and advanced topics in information systems
  as well as an emphasis on an IS environment.
• Curricula are consistent with widely recognized
  models and standards.

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IV. Curriculum
Standards Background Information

• Curriculum standards are specified in terms of
  semester-hours of study.
• (Thirty semester-hours generally constitute
  one year of full-time study and is equivalent to
  45 quarter-hours)
• A course or a specific part of a course can only
  be applied toward one standard.

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IV. Curriculum
Standards General

• Must include at least 30 semester-hours of study
  in information systems topics.
• Most contain at least 15 semester-hours of study
  in an information systems environment, as
  specified below.

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Curriculum Standards General (Contd)

• Must include at least 9 semester-hours of study
  in quantitative analysis as specified under
  quantitative analysis.
• Must include at least 30 semester-hours of study
  in general education to broaden the background of
  the student.

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IV. Curriculum
Standards IS 30 hrs

• Students take a broad-based core of fundamental
  IS material - at least 12 semester hours.
• The core must provide basic coverage of
• hardware and software
• modern programming language
• data management
• networking and telecommunications
• analysis and design and
• the role of IS in organizations.

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Curriculum Standards IS (Contd)

• Theoretical foundations, analysis, and design
  must be stressed within the program.
• Students must be exposed to a variety of
  information of computing systems.
• Students must become proficient in one modern
  programming language.

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Curriculum Standards IS (Contd)

• All students must take at least 12 semester hours
  of advanced course work in information systems
  that provides breadth and builds on the core to
  provide depth.

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IV. Curriculum
Standards IS Environment 15 hrs

• The 15 semester hours must be a cohesive body of
  knowledge to prepare the student to function
  effectively as an IS professional in the IS
  environment.

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IV. Curriculum
Standards Quantitative Analysis 9 hrs

• The curriculum must include at least 9 hours of
  quantitative analysis beyond pre-calculus
• Statistics must be included
• Calculus and discrete mathematics must be
  included

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IV. Curriculum
Standards - Additional Areas of Study

• Oral and written communication skills of the
  student must be developed and applied in the
  program.
• There must be sufficient coverage of global,
  economic, social and ethical implications of
  computing to give students an understanding of a
  broad range of issues in this area.
• Collaborative skills must be developed and
  applied in the program.

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V. Technology Infrastructure
Intent

• Computer resources are available, accessible, and
  adequately supported to enable students to
  complete course work and to support faculty
  teaching needs and scholarly activity

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V. Technology Infrastructure Standards

• Each student must have adequate and reasonable
  access to the systems needed for each course.
• Documentation for hardware and software must be
  readily accessible to faculty and students.
• All faculty members must have access to adequate
  computing resources for class preparation and for
  scholarly activities.

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V. Technology Infrastructure Standards (Contd)

• There must be adequate support personnel to
  install and maintain computing resources.
• Instructional assistance must be provided for the
  computing resources.

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VI. Institutional Support and Financial Resources
Intent

• The institutions support for the program and the
  financial resources available to the program are
  sufficient to provide an environment in which the
  program can achieve its objectives.
• Support and resources are sufficient to provide
  assurance that an accredited program will retain
  its strength throughout the period of
  accreditation.

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VI. Institutional Support and Financial Resources
Standards

• Support for faculty must be sufficient to enable
  the program to attract and retain high-quality
  faculty capable of supporting the program
  objectives.
• There must be sufficient support and financial
  resources to allow faculty members to attend
  national technical meetings with sufficient
  frequency to maintain competence as teachers and
  scholars.

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Institutional Support and Financial Resources
Standards (Cont)

• There must be support and recognition of
  scholarly activities.
• There must be office support consistent with the
  type of program, level of scholarly activity, and
  needs of the faculty members.
• Adequate time must be assigned for the
  administration of the program.

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Institutional Support and Financial Resources
Standards (Cont)

• Upper levels of administration must provide the
  program with the resources and atmosphere to
  function effectively with the rest of the
  institution.
• Resources must be provided to acquire and
  maintain laboratory facilities that meet the
  needs of the program.

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Institutional Support and Financial Resources
Standards (Cont)

• Resources must be provided to support library and
  related information retrieval facilities that
  meet the needs of the program.
• There must be evidence of continuity of
  institutional support and financial resources.

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VII. Program Delivery
Intent

• There are enough faculty members to cover the
  curriculum reasonably and to allow an appropriate
  mix of teaching and scholarly activity.

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VII. Program Delivery
Standards

• There must be enough full-time faculty members
  with primary commitment to the program to provide
  continuity and stability.
• Full-time faculty members must oversee all course
  work.
• Full-time faculty members must cover most of the
  total classroom instruction.

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Program Delivery Standards (Cont)

• Faculty members must remain current in the
  discipline.
• All full-time faculty members must have
  sufficient time for scholarly activities and
  professional development.
• Advising duties must be a recognized part of
  faculty members workloads.

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VIII. Institutional Facilities
Intent

• Institutional facilities including the library,
  other electronic information retrieval systems,
  computer networks, classrooms, and offices are
  adequate to support the objectives of the
  program.

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VIII. Institutional Facilities
Standards

• The library that serves the information systems
  program must be adequately staffed with
  professional librarians and support personnel.
• The librarys technical collection must include
  up-to-date textbooks, reference works, and
  publications of professional and research
  organizations.

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VIII. Institutional Facilities Standards (Cont)

• Systems for locating and obtaining electronic
  information must be available.
• Classrooms must be adequately equipped for the
  courses taught in them.
• Faculty offices must be adequate to enable
  faculty members to meet their responsibilities to
  students and for their professional needs.