The Accreditation Board for Engineers and Technology, Inc. (ABET)
has granted reaccreditation to all engineering majors within the
School of Engineering at Grand Valley State University.
Being accredited especially benefits graduates, said Chris
Plouff, engineering professor and coordinator of the reaccreditation
process. “Employers most commonly seek engineers who earned their
degree from an accredited school,” he said. “Also, if a graduate wants
to become a licensed professional engineer, they must come from an
accredited institution.”
The accreditation is based on an assessment of each program’s
objectives and outcomes and how they are met. The review process takes
nearly a year, ending with a visit from ABET representatives to the
university to tour facilities and meet with faculty, students and
community members. The first engineering program at Grand Valley
became accredited in 1999; each cycle lasts six years.
Plouff said becoming reaccredited validates the curriculum and
programs the school employs. “Being accredited is a signal to our
students, community and employers that our graduates come from
programs that meet the same standards of the best programs in the
country,” he said.
Accreditation, courses, laboratories and professional
relationships with area employers directly contribute to the nearly
100 percent job placement rate of Grand Valley’s engineering
graduates. “We hire Grand Valley graduates with confidence,” said
Nicholas Hayhoe, Grand Valley alumnus and engineer at Disher &
Development in Zeeland. “As an alumnus, I know that they will have not
only have theoretical education, but also great hands-on experience.”
About the School of Engineering
Since admitting the first 20 students in 1988, enrollment in the
engineering school has grown to nearly 750. The number of cooperative
education work experiences for engineering students increased by 42
percent in 2010, compared to 2009. Continued growth is predicted with
the designation of separate engineering majors, increased community
partnerships and the latest introduction of a master’s degree in
biomedical engineering, the only such program in West Michigan.
Rapistan founder James Sebastian is credited with originally
pushing for an engineering program at Grand Valley because of his
beliefs in skills training and internships. Today, Grand Valley’s
Seymour and Esther Padnos College of Engineering and Computing, which
includes the School of Engineering, is named for Seymour and Esther
Padnos, of Holland, in recognition of their support and their focus on
engineering design for environmental responsibility, a hallmark of the school.
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