Student outcomes are assessed and evaluated annually using an a priori assessment and evaluation process. This annual cycle culminates in an all-day ABET Retreat in which department faculty conduct a comprehensive review of all assessment data and i) determine whether student outcomes are being attained, ii) determine the effectiveness of continuous improvement initiatives, and iii) formulate continuous improvement action items needed to address assessment results and/or further improve student outcomes. Additionally, program educational objectives and the department mission statement are reviewed and may be modified based on discussion and consensus.

All full-time departmental faculty participate in the annual assessment and evaluation process through active participation in the ABET Retreat and by serving on one of three working committees:

With the desire to get future ABET accreditation, the CEE program has in the past few years been following the outcome-based education approach that is consistent with ABET accreditation requirements. Here, the program faculty are responsible for setting the Student Outcomes (SOs) for their courses, judging the students' achievement at the end of the course and recommending improvements for their courses. Moreover, several surveys are carried out to gather feedback from both the students and the staff. Due to the recent shift of ABET criteria requirements, the program is now adopting ABET newly modified criteria which has been in effect since the past year. All in all, the above quoted activities and attempts have played vital roles in maintaining good quality educational practices of our program.

In order to assess and evaluate the extent to which the SOs are being attained, the CEE Program uses various processes. These processes are defined to keep data gathering efficient and effective, and the evaluation pertinent to the process of continuous improvement. To achieve these goals, two types of assessments, direct and indirect are performed. The indirect assessment is performed using surveys while the direct assessment results are obtained from student coursework-based evaluations. In its planning for the present and for future expanded assessment processes, the program faculty have suggested and adopted the ambitious assessment process of Figure 1. For the present reporting however, only assessments based upon the course marks (work) and course surveys are used. The remaining assessment tools of this figure will be applied appropriately and as necessary in the future.

Direct Assessment

The direct assessment of the outcomes usually relies on the coursework and uses a variety of tools that include combinations (as defined in the articulation matrix at the beginning of academic year) of final exam, midterm tests, quizzes, homework, laboratory works, assignments, practical, projects, presentations, etc. The assessment tools do however vary from course to course.

Indirect Assessment

Our indirect assessment involves conducting a variety of surveys. Upon completion of each course, a student survey is administered to gather feedback. Faculty members facilitate formal written surveys that specifically address the intended outcomes and collect responses from students who have finished their CEE courses. These surveys are conducted during class sessions and ABET retreat sessions. Furthermore, exit and industrial board surveys are periodically conducted at the end of each academic year to assess program eligibility. The indirect assessment is carried out every semester to ensure consistent evaluation.

To prepare for the assessment and evaluation of our courses and program, the entire program faculty engaged in several brainstorming meetings. These sessions focused on discussing various aspects related to seeking accreditation. The issues addressed in these meetings encompassed the following topics, among others:

The CEE program uses different tools and processes to assess and evaluate the extent to which its SOs are being attained. These processes are used to gather the data which is necessary for the assessments. Evaluation, in the form of interpreting the data, is then carried out in order to determine how well the outcomes are being attained. The results of both the assessment and evaluation processes are finally utilized for the continuous improvement of the program. The steps used for the assessment, evaluation and feedback to the continuous improvement of the program follow the following three steps:

1. Assessment tools of the SOs (i.e., collecting data) can be direct or indirect. Direct assessment of SOs usually relies on the course work, whereas indirect assessments of SOs are usually obtained by using surveys. This step includes designing forms of surveys and appropriate questions for the specific and applicable data.

2. The collected data is analyzed and compared to a pre-set performance indicator, which constitutes the evaluation processes.

3. Checking the degree to which the data evaluation results meet the pre-set targets will be the force for the continuous improvement processes.