The smaller engineering school and its industrial advisory board: an effective partnership?

The Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) is a significant stakeholder in an engineering educational program and hence can fulfill a key role in assessment activities. smaller (non-Ph.D. granting) schools of engineering have the opportunity to interact with their Boards on a more personal level than do major research institutions, with a concomitantly more immediate impact on how academic programs are constructed and operated. The present paper examines how IABs can fruitfully work with these programs to help realize their goals and objectives. It also presents survey results culled from academic leaders of over 50 such programs, which elucidate the present status nationwide of JAB interactions, as well as the level of interaction sought by engineering administrators. Several practical suggestions for integrating JAB personnel in an engineering program´s assessment activities are presented, in the interest of forging a mutually advantageous partnership, and (not just incidentally) with a view to strengthening a program´s standing with respect to accreditation criteria.