My child was accepted to York for the new Civil Engineering program (last semester was the first class of freshmen).
Visited the Engineering Day open house. The faculty and administration were all great. I think there are about 15 freshmen in the current class. Not a bad size for a college with this student body…but I hope and they need the enrollment to continue and even grow. The new civil engineering facility is planned for fall of 2018 (I read that somewhere but cannot find it now anywhere on the website). No sign of construction from what I saw last month but they better get moving for 9/18.
Anyway… is there anyone else who is thinking about York for Civil Engineering for Fall 2017?.
Have you asked them about the process of seeking ABET accreditation and the expected timeline of such?
Civil engineering is a major where ABET accreditation is relatively important, due to the greater tendency of civil engineers to seek Professional Engineer licenses where ABET accreditation of one’s degree is helpful.
Agree with ABET certification question - it’s crucial for Civil. Reading the ABET.org site on how to get a program accredited, it looks to be an 18 month process. One specific requirement however stood out -
- HAVE AT LEAST ONE GRADUATE
Programs requesting an initial accreditation review must have at least one graduate prior to the academic year when the on-site review occurs.
IF I’m reading that correctly, they can’t begin the process with ABET until they’ve had a graduating class go through? So if you’re in an early graduating class, you won’t come out with an an ABET certified degre, and it would be another year or so before they get that designation? That would lead to me to concerns about the PE licensing process. First step is the initial test, usually taken last semester senior year. After passing that and graduating, you are designated an engineer in training. With 4 years of supervised experience you can take the final test for PE licensing. ABET certification of the undergrad program is required for taking the tests, unless there’s an exception somewhere allowing a program currently in ABET certification process (prior to accreditation) to qualify. Otherwise York Civil graduates wouldn’t be able to take the initial test until a year or two after graduation, after York receives ABET certification. That then would delay the final phase of PE cert as well. Realize that PE cert is financially valuable for Civil’s so you’re potentially sacrificing some salary for starting in a new and uncertified program. York does have ABET certification for their existing engineering programs so I’m sure they are quite aware of the process and how to get through it.
My other questions is if it would be more difficult to get that first job out of college without the Engineer in Training designation.
Please understand I’m not trying to be a Debbie Downer. My son is finishing up a Civl program so I’m more aware of the processes of ABET and PE licensing than I would otherwise be. It may well be that I’m not interpreting this ABET process correctly (hope that’s the case) but it’s likely worth checking into.
Best of luck! Civil Engineering should be a solid field for the future. Hope your son enjoys it!