ABET Self-Assessment, 2001

CSAC PROGRAM EVALUATION AUDIT

January 2000 Criteria

Institution	The University of Texas at El Paso		Visit Dates	October 28-30, 2001
Program Name	Computer Science		Team Chair

ABBREVIATIONS RELATED TO INTENTS AND STANDARDS
Use S to denote a standard is SATISFIED -- default.
Use C to indicate there is a CONCERN about a standard.
Use NS to denote a standard is NOT SATISFIED.
Use AI for ALTERNATIVE IMPLEMENTATION of a standard.
Use D to denote DEFICIENCY for an intent; i.e., an intent is not met.

I	Objectives and Assessments
Intent	The program has documented, measurable objectives, including expected outcomes for graduates. The program regularly assesses its progress against its objectives and uses the results of the assessments to identify program improvements and to modify the program’s objectives.



	Has the Intent of the category been met?
	Standards
1	The program must have documented, measurable objectives.	Section I-A: Objectives and Assessments Appendix VII-C-3 Objectives of Computer Science Department Appendix VIII: Measurable Outcomes for Objectives
2	The program’s objectives must include expected outcomes for graduating students.	Appendix VIII: Measurable Outcomes for Objectives
3	Data relative to the objectives must be routinely collected and documented, and used in program assessments.	Section I-B: Implementation of Objectives Appendix XXI: Measured Outcomes for Objectives, 2001 Appendix XVIII: Graduating Senior Survey Appendix XIX: Senior Exit Interviews Appendix XX: Alumni Survey
4	The extent to which each program objective is being met must be periodically assessed.	Section I-C: Assessments Appendix IX: Annual Review, 2000 Appendix X: Annual Review, 1999 Appendix XXI: Measured Outcomes for Objectives, 2001
5	The results of the program’s periodic assessments must be used to help identify opportunities for program improvement.	Section I-D: Program Improvement Appendix XXII: Department’s Process for Assessment
6	The results of the program’s assessments and the actions taken based on the results must be documented.	Section I-E: Program Evolution Section I-F: Program Current Status Appendix XXI: Measured Outcomes for Objectives, 2001 Appendix XXII: Department’s Process for Assessment

II	Student Support
Intent	Students can complete the program in a reasonable amount of time. Students have ample opportunity to interact with their instructors. Students are offered timely guidance and advice about the program’s requirements and their career alternatives. Students who graduate the program meet all program requirements.



	Has the Intent of the category been met?
	Standards
1	Courses must be offered with sufficient frequency for students to complete the program in a timely manner.	Section II-A: Frequency of Course Offerings
2	Computer science courses must be structured to ensure effective interaction between faculty/teaching assistants and students in lower division courses and between faculty and students in upper division courses.	Section II-B: Interaction with Faculty
3	Guidance on how to complete the program must be available to all students.	Section II-C: Student Guidance
4	Students must have access to qualified advising when they need to make course decisions and career choices.	Section II-D: Student Advisement Section II-E: Access to Qualified Advising
5	There must be established standards and procedures to ensure that graduates meet the requirements of the program.	Section II-F: Meeting the Requirements

III	Faculty
Intent	Faculty members are current and active in the discipline and have the necessary technical breadth and depth to support a modern computer science program. There are enough faculty members to provide continuity and stability, to cover the curriculum reasonably, and to allow an appropriate mix of teaching and scholarly activity.



	Has the Intent of the category been met?
	Standards
1	There must be enough full-time faculty members with primary commitment to the program to provide continuity and stability.	Section III-A: Faculty Size
		Section III-B: Faculty with Primary Commitment
2	Full-time faculty members must oversee all course work.	Section III-C: Faculty Oversight
3	Full-time faculty members must cover most of the total classroom instruction.	Section III-C: Faculty Oversight
4	The interests and qualifications of the faculty members must be sufficient to teach the courses and to plan and modify the courses and curriculum.	Section III-D: Interests, Qualifications, Scholarly Contributions Appendix XI: Faculty Qualifications
5	All faculty members must remain current in the discipline.	Section III-D: Interests, Qualifications, Scholarly Contributions Appendix XI: Faculty Qualifications
6	All faculty members must have a level of competence that would normally be obtained through graduate work in computer science.	Section III-D: Interests, Qualifications, Scholarly Contributions Appendix XI: Faculty Qualifications
7	Some full-time faculty members must have a Ph.D. in computer science.	Section III-D: Interests, Qualifications, Scholarly Contributions Appendix XI: Faculty Qualifications
8	All full-time faculty members must have sufficient time for scholarly activities and professional development.	Section III-E: Scholarly Activities
9	Advising duties must be a recognized part of faculty members’ workloads.	Section III-F: Support for Advising

IV	Curriculum
Intent	The curriculum is consistent with the program's documented objectives. It combines technical requirements with general education requirements and electives to prepare students for a professional career in the computer field, for further study in computer science, and for functioning in modern society. The technical requirements include up-to-date coverage of basic and advanced topics in computer science as well as an emphasis on science and mathematics.




	Has the Intent of the category been met?
	Standards
1	The curriculum must include at least 40 semester hours of up-to-date study in computer science topics.	Section IV-D: Course Requirements of Curriculum Appendix XIII: Degree-Plan Flowchart
2	The curriculum must contain at least 30 semester hours of study in mathematics and science as specified below under Mathematics and Science.	Section IV-D: Course Requirements of Curriculum Appendix XIII: Degree-Plan Flowchart
3	The curriculum must include at least 30 semester hours of study in humanities, social sciences, arts and other disciplines that serve to broaden the background of the student.	Section IV-D: Course Requirements of Curriculum Appendix XIII: Degree-Plan Flowchart
4	The curriculum must be consistent with the documented objectives of the program.	Section IV-D: Course Requirements of Curriculum Appendix XIII: Degree-Plan Flowchart
	*Computer Science*
5	All students must take a broad-based core of fundamental computer science material consisting of at least 16 semester hours.	Section IV-D: Course Requirements of Curriculum Appendix XIII: Degree-Plan Flowchart
6	The core materials must provide basic coverage of algorithms, data structures, software design, concepts of programming languages, and computer organization and architecture.	Section IV-D: Course Requirements of Curriculum Appendix XIII: Degree-Plan Flowchart Appendix XXIII: Core Hours Summary
7	Theoretical foundations, problem analysis, and solution design must be stressed within the program’s core materials.	Section IV-D: Course Requirements of Curriculum Appendix XIII: Degree-Plan Flowchart Appendix XV: Course Descriptions Appendix XVI: Course Descriptions for UTEP CS Curriculum 2002

8	Students must be exposed to a variety of programming languages and systems and must become proficient in at least one higher-level language.	Section IV-D: Course Requirements of Curriculum Appendix XIII: Degree-Plan Flowchart
9	All students must take at least 16 semester hours of advanced course work in computer science that provides breadth and builds on the core to provide depth.	Section IV-D: Course Requirements of Curriculum Appendix XIII: Degree-Plan Flowchart
	*Mathematics and Science*
10	The curriculum must include at least 15 semester hours of mathematics.	Section IV-D: Course Requirements of Curriculum Appendix XIII: Degree-Plan Flowchart
11	Course work in mathematics must include discrete mathematics, differential and integral calculus, and probability and statistics.	Section IV-D: Course Requirements of Curriculum Appendix XIII: Degree-Plan Flowchart
12	The curriculum must include at least 12 semester hours of science.	Section IV-D: Course Requirements of Curriculum Appendix XIII: Degree-Plan Flowchart
13	Course work in science must include the equivalent of a two-semester sequence in a laboratory science for science or engineering majors.	Section IV-D: Course Requirements of Curriculum Appendix XIII: Degree-Plan Flowchart
14	Science course work additional to that specified in Standard IV-13 must be in science courses or courses that enhance the student's ability to apply the scientific method.	Section IV-D: Course Requirements of Curriculum Appendix XIII: Degree-Plan Flowchart
	*Additional Areas of Study*
15	The oral communications skills of the student must be developed and applied in the program.	Section IV-D: Course Requirements of Curriculum Appendix XIII: Degree-Plan Flowchart
16	The written communications skills of the student must be developed and applied in the program.	Section IV-D: Course Requirements of Curriculum Appendix XIII: Degree-Plan Flowchart
17	There must be sufficient coverage of social and ethical implications of computing to give students an understanding of a broad range of issues in this area.	Section IV-D: Course Requirements of Curriculum Appendix XIII: Degree-Plan Flowchart

V	Laboratories and Computing Facilities
Intent	Laboratories and computing facilities are available, accessible, and adequately supported to enable students to complete their course work and to support faculty teaching needs and scholarly activities.
Intent
	Has the Intent of the category been met?
	Standards
1	Each student must have adequate and reasonable access to the systems needed for each course.	Section V-A: Computer Facilities Available for Use in Computer Science Programs Section V-B: Student Access
2	Documentation for hardware and software must be readily accessible to faculty and students.	Section V -C: Documentation
3	All faculty members must have access to adequate computing facilities for class preparation and for scholarly activities.	Section V-D: Faculty Access
4	There must be adequate support personnel to install and maintain the laboratories and computing facilities.	Section V-E: Support Personnel
5	Instructional assistance must be provided for the laboratories and computing facilities.	Section V-F: Instructional Support

VI	Institutional Support and Financial Resources
Intent	The institution’s support for the program and the financial resources available to the program are sufficient to provide an environment in which the program can achieve its objectives. Support and resources are sufficient to provide assurance that the program will retain its strength throughout the period of accreditation.


	Has the Intent of the category been met?
	Standards
1	Support for faculty must be sufficient to enable the program to attract and retain high-quality faculty capable of supporting the program’s objectives.	Section VI-A: Attracting and Retaining High Quality Faculty
2	There must be sufficient support and financial resources to allow all faculty members to attend national technical meetings with sufficient frequency to maintain competence as teachers and scholars.	Section VI-A: Attracting and Retaining High Quality Faculty
3	There must be support and recognition of scholarly activities.	Section VI-A: Attracting and Retaining High Quality Faculty Section VI-B: Faculty Professional Activities
4	There must be office support consistent with the type of program, level of scholarly activity, and needs of the faculty members.	Section VI-C: Office Support
5	Adequate time must be assigned for the administration of the program.	Section VI-D: Time Assigned for Administration
6	Upper levels of administration must provide the program with the resources and atmosphere to function effectively with the rest of the institution.	Section VI-E: Adequacy of Resources Section VI- F: Administrative Leadership Appendix IX: Annual Review, 2000 Appendix X: Annual Review, 1999
7	Resources must be provided to acquire and maintain laboratory facilities that meet the needs of the program.	Section VI-G: Laboratory and Computing Resources
8	Resources must be provided to support library and related information retrieval facilities that meet the needs of the program.	Section VI-H: Library Resources Section VII-A: Library
9	There must be evidence that the institutional support and financial resources will remain in place throughout the period of accreditation.	Section VI-I: Continuity of Institutional Support

VII	Institutional Facilities
Intent	Institutional facilities including the library, other electronic information retrieval systems, computer networks, classrooms, and offices are adequate to support the objectives of the program.
Intent
	Has the Intent of the category been met?
	Standards
1	The library that serves the computer science program must be adequately staffed with professional librarians and support personnel.	Section VII-A: Library
2	The library’s technical collection must include up-to-date textbooks, reference works, and publications of professional and research organizations such as the ACM and the IEEE Computer Society.	Section VII-A: Library
3	Systems for locating and obtaining electronic information must be available.	Section VII-A: Library
4	Classrooms must be adequately equipped for the courses taught.	Section VII-B: Classroom Equipment
5	Faculty offices must be adequate to enable faculty members to meet their responsibilities to students and for their professional needs.	Section VII-C: Adequacy of Faculty Offices

Notes: A course or one specific part of a course cannot be counted towards meeting more than one of the quantitative criteria. Some of the topics in the computer science segment could be covered in courses offered outside the academic unit that administers the computer science program.

Route to csac@abet.org with Short Form, Visit Report Forms, and Preliminary Statement.

Primary contact:	David G. Novick, Chair

Telephone number: ______________________ FAX number: __________________	915-747-5480	FAX Number:	915-747-5030

Electronic mail:	novick@utep.edu

Standard I-1. The program must have documented, measurable objectives.

Standard I-2. The program’s objectives must include expected outcomes for graduating students.