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The Development of Geology Degree Program Accreditation by the ABET C. Dale Elifrits, PhD Summary of General Criteria and Program-specific Criteria
Writing from Highland Heights, Kentucky, Dale Elifrits is Professor Emeritus of Geological Engineering and Associate Director Emeritus of Freshman Engineering at the Missouri University of Science and Technology and Director of Pre-Engineering (retired) and Visiting Professor of Geology at Northern Kentucky University. He is a Senior Emeritus Member of AEG and a Fellow and Registered Member of SME.
The Genesis of Geology Degree Program Accreditation
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t a 1999 meeting of the Association of State Boards of Geology (ASBOG), Robert E. Tepel suggested to ASBOG leaders that an accreditation process analogous to that of the Accreditation Board of Engineering Technology (ABET) and the work of the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) would help in the geologist licensure process. Three years later at its 2002 Annual Meeting, AEG initiated discussions about the future practice of the profession of geology as Tepel convened the first of a series of symposia entitled Visioning the Future of Engineering Geology: Sustainability and Stewardship. The series featured presentations addressing the needs of the profession from practitioners, faculty members, agency representatives, employers, and ABET representatives (see AEG Special Publication 19). These symposia illuminated the need for quality assurance in geology degree program requirements and opened the conversation about how the erstwhile-named Applied Science Accreditation Commission (ASAC) of ABET could provide this assurance by offering accreditation of geology degree programs. Fast forward: In May 2015, ABET’s executive leadership appointed an ad hoc Committee to examine opportunities for accreditation of science degree programs. Geology programs became the initial focus since ABET had accredited geology programs at foreign institutions using ASAC and its General Criteria. This paper’s author was appointed to represent the geology discipline. An extensive search was conducted to identify a professional society to be the Lead Society for geology program accreditation. After many conversations with and rejections by geo-centric professional societies, the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration (SME) agreed to assume this role. SME is a member society of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME), which is one of the five ABET founding societies, and has responsibility for geological engineering, mining engineering, geophysical engineering, and related programs. Also, SME has a wide breadth of professional geologists in its active membership. Winter 2020
Natural and applied science programs are now accredited by the Applied and Natural Science Accreditation Commission (ANSAC) of ABET. This commission is populated by professionals from the various societies of these disciplines who have gathered to work for quality assurance of science degree programs for their professional practice. ANSAC General Criteria are designed to be used in all science disciplines (https://www.abet.org/accreditation /accreditation-criteria/criteria-for-accrediting-applied-and-naturalscience-programs-2020-2021/). Each Lead Society is responsible for specific Program Criteria for that society’s discipline(s). During the past four years SME, through an ad hoc committee appointed by its Council on Education, promulgated geology and geoscience program-specific criteria. These were released by ANSAC/ABET in November of 2018 for public comment, revised in the fall of 2019 per the few comments received, and adopted for use in the fall of 2020. (Consult the site above and scroll down to find these program criteria.) The ad hoc committee from SME was composed of Jonathan G. Price, PhD, Nevada State Geologist Emeritus; William H. Wilkinson, PhD, Vice President Exploration-Africa, Freeport-McMoRan Inc.; and chaired by C. Dale Elifrits, PhD, Professor of Geological Engineering Emeritus, Missouri University of Science and Technology, who has more than 30 years of ABET experience, including serving as the geology program evaluator for the first geology program in the U.S. to be accredited by ANSAC/ABET. That committee consulted organizations such as AIPG, ASBOG, and many professionals in the practice of geology. These program criteria were largely crafted to reflect the ASBOG Task Analysis data as related to the needs of Professional Geologists in practice in the US.
Brief Summary of the Accreditation Process The ABET accreditation process is common to all four ABET commissions, of which ANSAC is one. But each commission operates independently of the others using its own criteria and determining its actions. Program Evaluators are trained by the commission for which they will undertake program accreditation reviews NB: This means that volunteer geology degree program evaluators are needed and AEG members are prime candidates—contact the author of this paper for further information or visit the ABET.org and examine how to become a program evaluator. Program Evaluator Candidates (PEV-Cs) are required to be SME members and are trained by ANSAC/ABET at ABET expense. PEV-Cs who successfully complete the ANSAC/ABET training will then attend the SME Annual PEV Update and Training at an SME annual meeting before completing an observation visit with an ANSAC campus visit team to be fully prepared to make program reviews. The annual
AEG NEWS 63(4)
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