What is JABEE? - General Information about JABEE
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Name of Organization: Japan Accreditation Board for Engineering Education |
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Founded: November 19, 1999 |
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Aims: JABEE was founded with the aim of ensuring, by collaborating with academe and industry respectively, and by accreditation under standardized criteria, the international equivalency of engineering education programs to develop engineers provided by Japanese institutions of higher education, such as universities, and contributing to the development of society and industry through the promotion of engineering education and the training of international engineers. |
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JABEE is an independent organization that oversees of the delegation of member societies in specific academic and engineering disciplines. These member societies are represented on JABEE Board of Directors. |
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JABEE’s purpose is to accredit engineering education programs, not whole institutions. This is achieved by conducting an examination, the results of which are used to reach a formal accreditation decision. |
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JABEE examines and accredits each program individually in cooperation with the relevant discipline-specific committees both in member societies and in JABEE itself. |
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Activities of JABEE: To achieve the aims described above, JABEE shall carry out the following activities: |
(1) Establishing accreditation criteria and procedures, conducting examinations and accreditations, and publicizing the accreditation of engineering education programs provided by institutions of higher education
(2) Training Examiners to examine engineering education programs
(3) Designating, administering, and coordinating partner organizations from the field of accreditation to examine engineering education programs
(4) Conducting surveys and issuing proposals about the examination and accreditation of engineering education programs
(5) Coordinating collaboration with academe and industry respectively in the accreditation and examination of engineering education programs
(6) Promoting understanding of the examination and accreditation of engineering education programs
(7)Enhancing international mutual recognition of and information exchange in the examination and accreditation of engineering education programs
(8) Other activities necessary for achieving the purposes of JABEE
Stakeholders of JABEE
History of JABEE:
| 1999 November |
Establishment of JABEE Dr. Hiroyuki Yoshikawa was appointed as the founding president of JABEE. |
| 2000 March | Memorandum of Understanding was signed with ABET, USA. |
| 2001 June | Admitted as a provisional member of the Washington Accord. |
| 2002 February | Memorandum of Understanding was signed with Engineers Australia. |
| 2002 April | The first 3 programs were accredited. |
| 2004 November | Memorandum of Understanding was signed with Accreditation Board for Engineering Education of Korea. |
| 2005 June | Admitted
as a signatory to the Washington Accord. Dr. Hideo Ohashi was appointed as the second president of JABEE. |
| 2005 December | Memorandum of Understanding was signed with Institute of Engineering Education Taiwan. |
| 2006 February | Admitted as a Full Member of Asia-Pacific Quality Network (APQN) |
| 2007 January | Memorandum of Understanding was signed with China Association for Science and Technology. |
| 2007 August | Network of Accreditation Bodies for Engineering Education in Asia (NABEEA) was established. Dr. Masataka Tanigaki was appointed as the Chair of NABEEA. |
| 2008 December | Seoul Accord was established and JABEE is one of the six signatories. |
JABEE commenced accreditation of programs leading to Bachelor’s degree in 2001 and programs leading to Master’s degree in 2007. As of the year 2007, JABEE has accredited 368 programs from 151 institutions (Bachelor’s degree) and 2 programs from 2 institutions (Master’s Degree.). The numbers of accredited programs per year are shown in the table below:
| year | Bachelor | Master |
| 2001 | 3 | - |
| 2002 | 32 | - |
| 2003 | 67 | - |
| 2004 | 84 | - |
| 2005 | 95 | - |
| 2006 | 65 | - |
| 2007 | 19 | 2 |
The followings are the progress of JABEE accreditation system:
| 2000 | First version of accreditation criteria, procedures and guide for self-inspection reports were published, and 20 pilot accreditation visits were implemented to check the validity of these documents and make improvements for subsequent versions. |
| 2001 | JABEE reorganized
its Commissions and Committees to adapt them to the beginning of
accreditation activities and commenced formal accreditation. (Figure 2:
JABEE Accreditation Process) JABEE applied for provisional membership in the Washington Accord, and the application was approved by a unanimous vote of the Signatories. |
| 2003 | Based on the experiences of accreditation activities gained from 40 formal and 90 pilot examination visits and accreditations implemented in 2001 and 2002, the first version of the criteria, procedures and guide for self-inspection were reviewed and amended. |
| 2004-2006 | In addition to the
preceding 13 disciplines, some programs were newly accredited in
additional 3 disciplines. Herewith plural programs are accredited in all
16 disciplines. JABEE has emphasized training of reviewers to accommodate increasing on-site visits. Enough number or observers participated in the on-site visits, including those with industrial background. Study on the Accreditation of Master’s Level
Programs JABEE started a feasibility study on accreditation of Master’s level programs. A working group was set up to complete an accreditation policy, criteria, procedures and methods. The preparatory work, including pilot accreditation, was finished in the year 2006. |
| 2007 | The accreditation documentation for accreditation of Master level programs was published in March, 2007 and Accreditation Committee for Master’s Level Programs inaugurated. The first two programs leading Master’s degree were accredited. |
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