April 3, 2013
In
this article featured on Al Fanar, a higher education news site, the question
is raised as to how American accreditors can weigh academic freedom against the
value of having quality assurance in educational programs across the globe.
ABET past president Karan Watson was interviewed on the matter and gave ABET's take on the matter.
Watson offers that trying to
accredit programs despite cultural differences is a step in the direction of
bringing other cultures and our own to some middle ground that can foster
positive relationships abroad.
The article shows an interesting aspect of how
ABET accreditation affects the international community's notion of academic
freedom and shows that this is something that ABET takes into consideration.
Read the article here.