Your Guarantee of Hiring the Best Finding the best people means casting the widest possible net. Your head office may be in British Columbia. But if the best candidate for the job comes from Newfoundland or Alberta, how can you be sure their education is equal and grounded in high standards? Through the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers and its Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB), seasoned Professional Engineers volunteer their time and expertise to evaluate and accredit undergraduate engineering programs across the country. Accreditation assures you that the engineering education offered at Canadian universities meets high standards and is relevant to the challenges businesses face today. The Board also evaluates the accreditation systems used in other countries, as well as their engineering programs, to ensure that when an engineering graduate is licensed as a P.Eng., he or she has the engineering education, experience, and ethical knowledge to make a long-term contribution to your company. The accreditation process First, a university invites the CEAB to evaluate an engineering program. The CEAB sends a detailed survey questionnaire to the university, which is completed and returned. Then, a qualified team of Professional Engineers is selected to visit the university and conduct a thorough evaluation of the program. Members of the evaluation team interview officials ranging from the university president and dean of engineering to faculty members and students. They also carefully evaluate the engineering school's laboratories, computer facilities and libraries to make sure they meet the latest standards, and review recent student work to ensure the quality of their performance. After the evaluation team has completed its report, the CEAB meets, reviews everything it has learned about the program, and determines whether it meets the high standards that have earned Canadian engineering education and Canadian engineering an international reputation for excellence. Once accredited, programs must continue to meet those standards, as proven through reviews conducted by CEAB every three to six years. The Result The result and the advantages are clear. The profession that sets the standards for licensure and professional conduct also sets the standards for an engineering education. With the input of industry, Canada's university community and Professional Engineers who are meeting today's business challenges, it assesses what is required of tomorrow's engineers to ensure the effectiveness and validity of its accreditation criteria and procedures. That's one reason why Professional Engineers are helping to make Canada one of the most prosperous, safest and healthiest nations in the world. TOP