University Accreditation Requirements Could Create Positive Opportunities for Increasing Professional SPE Membership

Abstract While recent economic events have restricted opportunities for technical professionals in some geographic areas of the petroleum industry, it has boosted opportunities in others. This shift has forced many petroleum engineers to look outside their traditional marketplaces for new or continued employment or advancement opportunities and has increased the need for verification of university credentials of foreign applicants In Europe and North America, engineers rely on non-governmental, outside agencies, like the USA based Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology Inc. (ABET), to prove their engineering programs have met established quality standards by achieving accreditation. For engineering programs in emerging markets, like the United Arab Emirates (UAE), there had been no need for accreditation beyond national organizations. However, with the accelerating global demand for professional graduates to be able to certify their credentials, several private and public universities in the UAE have just completed or are in the process of accrediting their programs. Demanding transparency and consistency, accreditation is a rigorous process whose standards force universities to refocus their output and strive for continuous improvement. One standard addressing lifelong learning opportunities, for example, requires that a program meet not only the needs of its current students but also the needs of its alumni, a group largely ignored in the past.