Changes in education are rapidly evolving to meet learner and employer needs. Combinations of traditional degrees, certificates, and other professional development credentials are being sought by today’s learners. Employers welcome this trend to maintain a workforce with up-to-date skills. However, employers are challenged to be confident about what learning outcomes have been achieved in the plethora of certificates offered. Thus, there is a need and opportunity for ABET to provide quality assurance and certificate recognition for learners, employers, educators, and society. To further ABET Strategic Goals, the Board of Directors recently approved proceeding with piloting ABET recognition of certificate programs. This session presents the work of the ad hoc committee that investigated piloting ABET’s entry into this space. We provide background and overview the committee’s results that includes draft criteria, policies and procedures, and self-study materials.
