2008 Woodie Awards
Zander leads iE&M toward accreditation
Katie Jones
Issue date: 1/14/08 Section: News
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Dr. Zander received her Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and PhD from the University of Minnesota. She joined Clarkson in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Clarkson and Dr. Zander's main goal for the future of the iE&M program is to obtain ABET accreditation for the iE&M degree. If this goes through, it will be the very first in the country to be accredited as both an engineering and management degree option. One requirement is that the program director have a Professional Engineering (PE) license, which Dr. Zander does.
The main benefit of receiving an accredited engineering degree is that the student is allowed to sit for the Fundamentals of Engineering exam in April of their senior year, and later on they can take the Professional Engineering exam, which is required to receive the PE license. A graduate without an ABET accredited degree can eventually sit for the PE exam, but more time is required after graduation and there are other strict requirements.
The program can be accredited in August 2009 at the earliest, but if the program receives accreditation then students graduating in 2008 and later will all have accredited degrees.
The major change that will happen to the iE&M program in the near future is that a capstone senior design class will be required. Engineering students are currently all required to complete a senior design class, but currently iE&M students are not required to take one, although they have the option.
Because of her expertise and background in environmental engineering, Dr. Zander also plans to incorporate concepts and issues regarding sustainability to the iE&M curriculum. However, students won't be able to see many specific changes to the program during the next semester; most of the changes will begin during the next academic year.
Dr. Zander is "excited to work with the students in the program and is looking forward to being [part] of the first dually accredited program in the country."
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