Panel: information systems accreditation

While this proposal gives a background for the development of the Criteria for Accreditation of Information Systems Programs, the panel will concentrate on the Criteria, preparing for an accreditation visit, and new developments in IS accreditation.Program accreditation has been a very effective mechanism for assisting in quality assurance in programs in many disciplines, particularly at the baccalaureate level. Computer Science programs have been accredited by the Computing Sciences Accreditation Board (CSAB) beginning in 1986. Now over 160 computer science programs are accredited and more programs seek accreditation each year [1]. Since its inception, CSAB has been interested in expanding program accreditation beyond Computer Science. With funding from a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Criteria have been developed for accreditation of programs in Information Systems. These Criteria were approved CSAB in July 2000 and pilot accreditation visits were approved for the Fall of 2001, thereby allowing the possibility of accreditation of IS programs to begin in July 2002.With the integration of CSAB and the Accreditation Board For Engineering and Technology (ABET), IS accreditation will be done by ABET. The ABET Board has approved pilot visits for FAll 2001. The first pilot will be conducted by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET.