2015 ABET Symposium

ABET is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization that accredits college and university programs in the disciplines of applied science, computing, engineering and engineering technology. ABET accredits over 3,400 programs at nearly 700 colleges and universities in 28 countries. ABET provides specialized, programmatic accreditation that evaluates an individual program of study, rather than evaluating an institution as a whole.

2015 ABET Symposium
Atlanta, GA
April 23-24, 2015

Constructive Disruption

Higher education is facing an unprecedented period of change. Technical educators have a strong history of embracing disruptive forces, but as institutions face growing pressures from external forces to rethink and transform the way they operate, even technical programs will find themselves impacted.

Over recent years, government has played a diminished role in funding higher education institutions. At the same time, online and blended learning are transforming how education is delivered, and student demographics are shifting, all while tuition climbs and emerging alternatives to traditional on campus education raise questions about the efficacy of conventional institutional and degree structures.

The 2015 ABET Symposium will explore these topics through the lenses of three high-profile plenary speakers: Chancellor of the State University of New York Nancy Zimpher will articulate the change imperatives facing higher education and explain why technical educators need to be agents for embracing change in their institutions. Deputy Director, Postsecondary Success of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Jason Palmer will offer insight on the growth in unconventional learning institutions and delivery methods as well as their implications for accreditation. Former Deputy Director of the National Security Agency (NSA) Chris Inglis will draw on his years at the agency to speak on the rapidly growing demand for cyber security professionals and the future of the nascent academic discipline.

For more information or to register, log on to www.abet.org/symposium.

Featured

  • University of Kansas Breaks Ground on Entrepreneurship Hub

    The University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kan., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new KU Entrepreneurship Hub, according to university news. The Hub is part of the university’s School of Business and will include spaces for experiential learning and programming.

  • Designing for Every Mind

    Learning environments have the power to shape not just what students know, but who they become. When a school is designed with genuine empathy—for the full range of ways students think, sense, and engage with the world—it becomes more than a building. It becomes a catalyst for growth, confidence, and belonging. That is the animating idea behind neurodiverse design, and it is one that is transforming how more architects and designers are thinking about school design.

  • Surging Demand for Student Housing Fuels Major Campus Investment Opportunities

    University leaders throughout the U.S. are accelerating plans to modernize and expand student housing as enrollment stabilizes and demand for on-campus living rebounds. Recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics indicates that total postsecondary enrollment is projected to grow through the end of the decade, with undergraduate enrollment alone expected to increase by more than 8 percent by 2030.

  • abstract illustration of school gym

    How the Gymnasium Can Serve as a Model for Learning Space Design

    Multipurpose gyms work because flexibility was built into the brief from the start, not retrofitted later. The same logic applies to academic spaces.