This fall, the Winona State University General Engineering program received an ABET accreditation, opening up a myriad of new job and career opportunities for engineering students at Winona State. This accreditation is awarded to an engineering program that meets certain criteria for excellence in their curriculum, as well as certain qualifications within their faculty. The greatest effect of this accreditation is that students who graduate with an engineering degree from an ABET accredited program often have an easier time finding jobs and are more sought after by leading engineering companies. In addition, new prospective engineering students will be drawn to Winona State to study in this accredited program.
ABET accreditation opens many doors for engineering students at Winona State. According to Dr. Sarah Phan-Budd, chair of the Winona State Physics department that houses the general engineering program, “There are some firms, like 3M, for instance, that wouldn’t hire our graduates until we got this accreditation. And there are these exams that you need to take to become an engineer, and some of our students were not allowed to take these exams until we got this accreditation.” In addition, students graduating with an ABET-accredited degree will have easier admission to grad school.
Third year student studying General Engineering: Industrial Statistics Skylar Votaw says that ABET accreditation “could enhance the credibility of [her] degree, open up more career opportunities, and make it easier to pursue professional engineering licenses or further education.” She aims to apply her engineering skills in various fields after she graduates and believes that Winona State is a great place to teach her how.
But ABET doesn’t just evaluate the engineering program. According to the Dean of the College of Science and Engineering, Dr. Nicole Williams, “They go meet with chemistry, math, English. They go meet with other programs because they also want to make sure the gen-eds are meeting what we say they’re meeting.” This assures that students who graduate from the Winona State engineering program are well-rounded future engineers.
The general engineering program, however, is not just set apart by the accreditation it has received; beyond the qualifications of the faculty and the rigorous curriculum is a culture that seeks to promote student success above all else.
“Engineering is not always the most welcoming discipline, and physics is not always the most welcoming discipline for everyone. And that’s one of the things that we really do work on… being welcoming to all of our students,” Dr. Phan-Budd said. “There’s some universities that really have this idea with engineering that it should just be sink or swim and I think we really try to nurture our students more than that.”
This accreditation means a lot of good things for Winona State engineering students. However, the program must continue to fulfill these requirements, maintain an outstanding curriculum, and never forgo the dedication it took to earn this accreditation in the first place. If that can happen, the future of the Winona State general engineering program looks very bright indeed, and from it will come a new generation of inspired and well-educated engineers shaping the face of tomorrow.
