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Engineering Society of Hong Kong
9/F Island Beverley
No 1 Great George Street
Causeway Bay Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2895 4446
Fax: +852 2577 7791
Email: hkie-sec@hkie.org.hk
URL: www.hkie.org.hk
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Accreditation Process:
The Engineering Society of Hong Kong was founded in 1947 and sets standards for the training and admission of engineers. The HKIE has established close relationship with engineering institutions throughout the world and it has signed agreements for reciprocal recognition of professional qualifications with engineering authorities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, the Mainland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. It has also signed agreements of co-operation with other organizations in Europe, the Mainland, North America and Southeast Asia.
In June 1995, the HKIE joined the Washington Accord as one of the signatories. The HKIE takes very seriously its responsibilities with regard to the Washington Accord and to fostering, maintaining and developing bilateral and international agreements for the mutual recognition of qualifications. This is undertaken through links with a number of international engineering initiatives which have been established to harmonise qualifications and to recognise accreditation methods and standards; the Washington Accord, Federation of Engineering Institutions of South East Asia and the Pacific (FEISEAP) and European Federation of National Engineering Associations (FEANI) are examples.
In June 2001, the Institution became a founding signatory to the Sydney Accord. Under this Accord, higher diplomas and associate degrees accredited by the HKIE are recognized by other signatories including Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom. On multilateral recognition of engineers' and technologists' qualifications, the Institution is a founding member of the Engineers Mobility Forum and the Engineering Technologists' Mobility Forum. The former is to provide a framework for the recognition of experienced professional engineers by responsible bodies in each of the signatory economy, while the latter is to facilitate multilateral recognition of technologists' qualifications.
In June 2008 the Accreditation Criteria for Engineering Degree Programmes was revised by the HKIE and approved by their Accreditation Board.
The Process and Terms
The HKIE undertakes professional accreditation to evaluate the standard and quality of engineering degree programs. In doing so it takes into account a number of factors about the programs and the universities which offer them. The quality of an engineering degree program depends on more than just the curriculum and syllabus. The caliber of the academic staff, the entry standards, staffing levels, teaching methods, facilities, funding and method of assessment are just some of the factors which influence the quality of the educational experience.
Programs are accredited for a period up to five years. The HKIE may grant full accreditation for the normal cycle of accreditation of five years. Alternatively, the HKIE may grant full accreditation for a term of less than five years, either to bring it in line with the accreditation cycle of other programs or to monitor a program early in relation to any conditions, requirements and/or concerns which may have emerged during the accreditation process.
The HKIE has an Accreditation Panel (not to be confused with visiting teams) which is a group of appropriately qualified senior members, selected by the HKIE's Accreditation Board, to participate in professional accreditation exercises, on behalf of the HKIE. In addition, professional engineers from overseas, with appropriate expertise are invited by the Accreditation Board to be included on the Panel.
Accreditation visits are an important part of an accreditation exercise. They enable the HKIE to assess, at first hand, qualitative factors, such as facilities, intellectual environment, morale, professional attitudes and the quality of staff and students. For programmes which are being planned by a university, the HKIE will arrange consultation visits by experts as appropriate in each case. On such visits, the experts shall only comment and advise on the proposed programmes and shall not commit the HKIE to granting accreditation to a programme. It should be noted that the accreditation visits are only a part of the full accreditation exercises.
The HKIE undertakes professional accreditation to evaluate the standard and quality of engineering degree programmes. In doing so it takes into account a number of factors about the programmes and the universities which offer them. The quality of an engineering degree programme depends on more than just the curriculum and syllabus.
The quality of the graduates is an important consideration in the evaluation of an engineering programme. The degree programme must define outcomes that they expect of their graduates consistent with their educational objectives and the needs of the discipline; and describe the processes that are used to measure and evaluate these
outcomes. In addition, the calibre of the academic staff, the entry standards, staffing levels, teaching methods, facilities, funding and method of assessment are just some of the factors which influence the quality of the educational experience.
