Work in progress — Leveraging accreditation efforts to foster innovation in engineering education

In its continued quest for excellence in engineering education, the College of Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez (UPRM) has unified accreditation activities, formal studies in engineering education, and work on social, ethical, and global issues under a holistic umbrella in the reformed Office for Strategic Engineering Education Development (SEED). This integrated approach is founded on the philosophy that a holistic preparation of engineering professionals with diverse academic activities will spawn important impacts beyond the borders of UPRM, and the recognition that achieving and measuring these impacts requires implementation of best practices coupled with formal assessment and research. This paper will describe the framework, strategies and procedures that underpin the new SEED Office. As leadership and active participation of the faculty are essential to advancing and maintaining educational innovation, the SEED strategy will support faculty to implement classroom best practices based on research and assessment outcomes. The authors contend that success of the new SEED Office activities will engender a world-class engineering educational environment at UPRM.