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I found this article in the paper last week – is it a great idea or does it bend the rules too far? If we want to educate well-rounded engineers, is the system broken? Accredited or not, getting an engineering degree from Stanford will set you up for life. However, if accreditation is a problem, how can other schools follow in their footsteps?

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“Stanford is training a new type of engineer for a fast-changing world and James Plummer wants to get the word out that students needn't be a total techie to apply.

'We're looking for kids who think of the world in terms of finding solutions to big problems, like global warming, international development, the environment," Plummer, dean of the School of Engineering, said in an interview. "We want to attract students ... who might have a wider world view" than those in the traditional math- and science-laden programs featured at the nation's top technical schools.

'We are not - and should not be - a technical institute," Plummer told the university's Faculty Senate last month. "If (students) come here, they can take advantage of all the other pieces of this campus, which are equally as good as the School of Engineering."

The approach has advantages when recruiting the kind of students Stanford wants, Plummer said. But it has also brought the engineering school some grief, both from the professional group that accredits it and from the employers who hire the graduates.

Although accreditation guidelines have changed in recent years, they still require that students take a certain number of specific technical classes - a more traditional program with a heavy load of math and engineering.

'We try to encourage diversity in (engineering) programs, since that's the strength of the American system," said Kate Aberle, deputy executive director of ABET, which provides accreditation for Stanford's undergraduate engineering programs. "But there is a certain body of knowledge the engineering community feels students must have."

Accreditation's edge
Stanford's classes in areas like "negotiation" and "entrepreneurship," or even multidisciplinary classes where engineering students work with students from business, law and medicine don't always satisfy those bottom-line requirements.

Stanford's engineering school is ranked second in the nation behind MIT. The school grants about 350 bachelor's, 1,100 master's and 270 doctoral degrees each year.

Still, Stanford's push to broaden the student experience has had consequences, Plummer said.

"We end up on the edge of an accreditation," he said. "We have not yet failed to get accredited. But it's a tricky thing every year - or every six years."

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 Read the article here: http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-03-22/bay-area/18842156_1_engineering-accreditation-students