CLARKSVILLE, TN – Austin Peay State University’s Department of Engineering Technology has achieved full ABET accreditation for its mechatronics concentration without any citations, marking a significant milestone that addresses both employer demands and student recruitment needs.
The accreditation, awarded by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), represents the gold standard for engineering and engineering-related programs. Austin Peay is now one of three colleges across the state to offer nine or more ABET-accredited degree programs.
“ABET specifically commended our service to Fort Campbell,” said Dr. Ravi Manimaran, professor and chair of the Department of Engineering Technology. “The ABET team told us that serving the military through an engineering technology program, offering evening classes, is not very normal among the programs they review.”
Through the accreditation of academic programs, recognition of credentials and assessment of student learning, ABET supports excellence in education worldwide. With ABET quality assurance, students, employers and the communities they serve can be confident that a program or credential meets the standards needed to prepare graduates for a global workforce.
The mechatronics concentration transitioned from Siemens certification to pursue ABET accreditation based on overwhelming student and employer demand. Dr. Matthew Anderson, an associate professor and the lead faculty member for the accreditation effort, said the department received weekly inquiries from prospective students about ABET status because employers prefer candidates with a degree from an ABET-accredited institution.
The accreditation process took five years from program inception and required a comprehensive 104-page self-study report. ABET evaluators then conducted an on-site visit to verify facilities and interview faculty.
“It’s not easy,” Anderson said. “It’s expensive for a university and involves extensive data collection showing we’ve assessed student outcomes and taken steps to improve. But this is the standard that the industry wants and students need.”
ABET accreditation provides significant advantages for graduates, including automatic international recognition through the Sydney Accord and enhanced transferability for students pursuing graduate degrees. For military-affiliated students, who comprise approximately 30% of the university’s population, it ensures credits transfer to any mechatronics program, ABET-accredited or not, if their duty station changes.
The mechatronics concentration will undergo reaccreditation in 2026 to align with other ABET-accredited engineering technology concentrations (electrical engineering technology, manufacturing engineering technology, mechanical engineering technology and the associate degree program in electronics engineering technology), after which the program will follow the standard six-year reaccreditation cycle.