Alumni Advisory Committee Meets to Help with ABET Accreditation

The newly formed Alumni Advisory Committee held its first meeting in early August, to help the department define educational objectives and assessment tools to evaluate those objectives. Zaki Bassiouni, chair of the Petroleum Engineering department at LSU and member of the national Engineering Accreditation Committee, presented an overview of the ABET 2000 accreditation process. Professor Gregory Griffin, coordinator for the accreditation process for the department, led the group through a list of current objectives and offered background information for new ideas.

The committee suggestions included more interaction with local industries for undergraduate students; greater emphasis on building teamwork and communications skills; and increased emphasis on environment, health, and safety issues within the curriculum. One major topic of discussion was a desire for more emphasis on open-ended problem solving, even in lecture courses that usually deal with specific core subject areas.

Yvette Golda (B.S. 1996) agreed to serve as chair for the committee, and Todd Peltier (B.S. 1997) worked as secretary. Alumni interested in attending next year’s Alumni Advisory Committee meeting, or in participating in occasional surveys related to curriculum, should contact Dr. Griffin at griffin@che.lsu.edu for more information.

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