ASU’s School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment receives new ABET accreditation for two undergraduate degree programs

SSEBE ABET accreditation

The School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University, is proud to announce that two of the school’s bachelor’s degree programs have been granted accreditation for the first time ever by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, or ABET. 

The school’s bachelor’s degree program in construction management and technology has been accredited by the Applied and Natural Science Accreditation Commission and the school’s bachelor’s degree program in environmental engineering has been accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission. 

In addition to these new accreditations, the school’s bachelor’s degree programs in construction engineering and civil engineering received renewed accreditations. 

ABET is the global accreditor of college and university programs in applied and natural science, computing, engineering and engineering technology. 

“We are absolutely delighted to receive news of the accreditation of all of our undergraduate degree programs,” says Ram Pendyala, the director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment. “Our programs provide students the knowledge and skills they need to be successful professionals and tackle complex infrastructure and environmental challenges.” 

“I take great pleasure in congratulating our faculty, staff, students and partners on this achievement and am grateful for their hard work and dedication to quality and curricular innovation,” he adds. 

ABET accreditation assures that programs meet standards to produce graduates ready to enter critical technical fields that are leading the way in innovation and emerging technologies and anticipating the welfare and safety needs of the public.

ABET’s voluntary peer-review process is highly respected and sought worldwide because it adds critical value to academic programs in the technical disciplines in which quality, precision and safety are of the utmost importance.

Developed by technical professionals from ABET’s member societies, ABET criteria focus on what students experience and learn. ABET accreditation reviews look at program curricula, faculty, facilities and institutional support. They are conducted by teams of highly skilled professionals from industry, academia and government with expertise in the ABET disciplines.

ABET is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization with ISO 9001:2015 certification. It currently accredits 4,361 programs at 850 colleges and universities in 41 countries and regions.

Learn more about ABET, its member societies and the accreditation criteria used to evaluate programs.

Building a sustainable environment

The School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment’s vision of building a better world can be seen through the innovative research being carried out across campus and in the creation of new degree programs aimed at fulfilling the needs of society. The environmental engineering program, which was launched in 2017, looks to educate tomorrow’s engineers to solve complex environmental problems and design systems at the human, urban and planetary scale.

In recognition of the interdisciplinary nature of environmental engineering challenges, the degree incorporates courses from other programs in the Fulton Schools including chemical engineering and environmental resources management. Engineering courses build on a solid foundation in chemistry, biology, geology, physics and mathematics. Courses cover fundamental engineering concepts applied to environmental processes and environmental engineering design, as well as applied learning experiences including required internship or research experience and a capstone design course.

The all-encompassing program not only earned a current ABET recognition but for all graduates from the program since its first cohort of graduates in December 2019. 

“ABET accreditation is a key recognition of quality and achievement for engineering programs, and provides students with the foundation to pursue professional licensure,” says Treavor Boyer, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment and the undergraduate environmental engineering program chair. 

A one-of-a-kind construction program

Established more than 50 years ago to serve the construction industry of Arizona and the Southwest, and now as one of the top programs in the country, the Del E. Webb School of Construction teaches the core principles of design, cost estimation, and planning, and prepares graduates to lead and manage the entire building process, including the maintenance, operation, renovation or decommissioning of existing facilities.

The Del E. Webb School of Construction is housed in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, which is home not only to the construction management and technology and construction engineering programs, but also the civil engineering, environmental engineering and sustainable engineering programs. This unique collaboration enables faculty, students, alumni and industry partners to help address and solve issues related to the construction and sustainability of the built environment in the community, both locally and globally.

Read more about how the Del E. Webb School of Construction has continued to build a legacy over the past 50 years. 

In addition to the recent ABET accreditation, the construction management and technology program continues to be accredited by the American Council for Construction Education, or ACCE. The program has been continuously accredited by ACCE since July 14, 1977. It is one of the few programs to hold both accreditations simultaneously. 

“Our new ABET ANSAC accreditation qualifies our students for some scholarships that are only available to students of ABET-accredited programs,” says Tony Lamanna, the Del E. Webb School of Construction programs chair and Sundt Professor of Alternative Delivery Methods and Sustainable Development. “Conversely, ACCE accreditation opens some doors for our students that ABET does not.”