Information Technology and Management Program (ITM) at Illinois Tech Earns ABET Accreditation, becoming the first ABET-accredited Information Technology program in Illinois
The Computing Accreditation Commission (CAC) of ABET recently completed its assessment of the Bachelor of Information Technology and Management Program within the School of Applied Technology at Illinois Tech and has accredited the program.
Accreditation by ABET means that the undergraduate Information Technology and Management (ITM) program meets the strict ABET standards. The ITM program was evaluated onsite by an ABET team that consisted of professionals from academia, industry, and government. ABET accreditation ensures that graduates of the ITM Bachelor Program have met the educational requirements necessary to enter the applicable professions, provides opportunities for the industry to guide the educational process to reflect current and future needs, enhances the mobility of professionals and ensures graduates of ABET-accredited programs can employ their talents internationally.
ABET accreditation sets the global standard for programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and engineering technology. The ABET accreditation review process is an intensive team effort involving more than 2,000 professionals from academia, industry, and government that carry out every aspect of ABET accreditation. The reviewers know their profession’s dynamic and emerging workforce needs and review academic programs to ensure they provide the technical and professional skills graduates need to succeed.
ABET accreditation communicates to prospective students, peers, and the hiring professionals that the program has received international recognition for its quality, promotes best practices in education, directly involves faculty and staff in self-assessment and continuous quality improvement processes, is based upon learning outcomes rather than teaching inputs, and can more easily determine the acceptability of transfer credits.
“I would like to congratulate the Information Technology and Management department on earning ABET accreditation,” said Robert Carlson, Dean of the School of Applied Technology at Illinois Tech. “It is a distinct honor to be the first information technology ABET accredited program in Illinois. I would also like to thank Ray Trygstad, Industry Professor and Associate Chair of Information Technology and Management, and the entire ITM department, for their outstanding job ensuring that the ITM program meets the strict criteria of the ABET accreditation panel.”
Ray Trygstad, who is an ABET Program Evaluator himself and managed the department’s accreditation process, said “This represents a team effort by our ITM faculty and staff to ensure that curriculum, course delivery, and assessment meets ABET standards, and all necessary programs are in place; to assemble an entire bookcase full of documentation; and to host the ABET Program Evaluation Team. This all came close on the heels of our submission to receive designation as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense from the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. We are excited to have received both designations.”
Information Technology and Management’s accreditation dates from October 2014. Thus, everyone who has received the Bachelor of Information Technology and Management (BITM) degree since December 2014 is now a graduate of an ABET-accredited program.
