CSAB is the lead ABET member society for accreditation of degree programs in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Data Science, Information Systems, Information Technology, and Software Engineering. It is a co-lead society for Cybersecurity Engineering and Systems Engineering, and a cooperating society for Biological Engineering, Computer Engineering, and Information Engineering Technology.
In its lead society capacity, CSAB has responsibility for the development of accreditation criteria and for the selection, training, and assignment of program evaluators. CSAB is represented by three members on the ABET Board of Delegates and more than 85 members on the Applied and Natural Sciences Accreditation Commission (ANSAC), Computing Accreditation Commission (CAC), Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC), and Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission (ETAC) of ABET.
CSAB is governed by its Board of Directors whose members are appointed by its member societies, the world’s three largest technical, educational, and scientific societies in computing and statistics: The Association for Computing Machinery, Inc. (ACM), the American Statistical Association (ASA), and the IEEE-Computer Society (IEEE-CS). CSAB was established by the ACM and IEEE-CS in 1985. ASA joined the organization in 2021. The CSAB Constitution is available here.
CSAB’s Committees are responsible for strategic planning and assessment; criteria development; selection, training, and assignment of program evaluators; quality assurance of volunteers; awards and recognition; constituency relations; and nominations and appointments to CSAB and ABET offices.
Current Strategic Priorities
- Maintain relevance and currency in the context of a rapidly changing profession.
- Broaden and improve constituent and stakeholder outreach.
- Build and enhance the volunteer pool.
- Develop a sustainable financial model in an evolving professional context and manage risk appropriately to ensure organizational sustainability and growth.
By the Numbers
ABET-Accredited Computing Programs by Discipline
Updated annually Oct. 1
ABET-Accredited Computing Program Growth
Volunteers by Discipline
Note: Many volunteers are approved ABET Experts in multiple disciplines.
Volunteer Countries of Residence
United States
Canada
Australia
Bangladesh
Colombia
Egypt
India
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Malaysia
Mexico
Morocco
New Zealand
Oman
Palestine
Panama
Peru
Portugal
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Turkey
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
History
In the 1960s and 70s, computing degree programs began multiplying across the country. The largest associations representing the computing profession, including the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the IEEE Computer Society (IEEE-CS), responded by developing model curricula for universities. As these became the widely recognized standards upon which to develop computing programs, the next natural step was to consider creating a body to professionally accredit such programs.
In the early 1980s, the ACM and IEEE-CS established a joint committee to investigate the possibility of an independent accreditation agency sponsored by the two societies through an independent corporation. (The model for the organization was ABET, of which CSAB is now a member.) The joint task force completed its work with the creation and incorporation of CSAB (then the Computing Sciences Accreditation Board) in 1984. CSAB consisted of a Board of Directors, with all members appointed by one or the other of the founding societies, and the Computer Science Accreditation Commission (CSAC) also made up of members of the societies. The Board set strategy and managed the volunteer operations, while the CSAC carried out the actual accreditation visits and determined accreditation actions. CSAB accredited its first programs in 1986.
With the growth in accredited programs through the 90s, an issue arose regarding the jurisdiction of programs with both “computer science” and “engineering” in their title. The decision, to comply with the requests of the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation (COPA), was that programs named “computer science and engineering” required separate accreditations by CSAB for computer science and by ABET for computer engineering. This implied that there would have to be two accrediting teams making separate visits and taking separate actions. This presented problems for such programs, and even caused several programs to consider renaming themselves. An ad hoc committee created to address this issue concluded that the best approach would be to integrate CSAC with ABET and recommended this to the organizations. In 1998, CSAB and ABET signed a Memorandum of Understanding to “integrate” their activities. In 2001, CSAC merged into ABET and became what is now ABET’s Computing Accreditation Commission.
CSAB is currently the lead ABET member society for accreditation of degree programs in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Data Science, Information Systems, Information Technology, and Software Engineering.
While the actual accreditation process is now handled primarily by ABET, CSAB recruits and coordinates the hundreds of volunteers who carry it out. CSAB nominates them to serve on ABET’s Computing Accreditation Commission, Engineering Accreditation Commission, and Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission, and trains and assigns them to be program evaluators in specific computing disciplines. CSAB also develops the program-specific accreditation criteria in the discipline for which it is designated the lead society.
CSAB maintains a Board of Directors whose function is the same as when the organization was founded and whose members are still appointed by the founding societies. CSAB also has three appointed representatives on the ABET Board of Directors who bring the computing accreditation perspective of CSAB and the broader computing profession’s perspective to ABET.
Much more on the history of CSAB can be found in this article from ACM’s Inroads.
Leadership
2024-25 CSAB Board of Directors
Executive Committee
Paul Leidig – President – Grand Valley State University
Mihaela Sabin – Vice President (ACM) – University of New Hampshire
Sandra Gorka – Secretary/Treasurer (ACM) – Pennsylvania College of Technology
David Hunter (ASA) – Pennsylvania State University
Mary Jane Willshire-Fairley – Past President (IEEE-CS) – Software and System Engineering Associates (ret)
Andrew Phillips – Executive Director and Assistant Secretary of the Corporation, ex officio
Representative Directors
Jean Blair (ACM) – United States Military Academy
Scott Murray (ACM) – Procore Technologies
Shari Plantz-Masters (IEEE-CS) – Regis University
Rajendra Raj (IEEE-CS) – Rochester Institute of Technology
Chris Taylor (IEEE-CS) – Milwaukee School of Engineering
Alternate Representative Directors
Bill Dafnis (ACM) – Florida Institute of Technology
Beth Hawthorne (ACM) – Northeastern University
Kelly McConville (ASA) – Bucknell University
Sanaa Sharafeddine (IEEE-CS) – American University of Beirut
Patrick Widener (IEEE-CS) – Oak Ridge National Laboratory
ABET Representative Delegates
David Hunter (ANSAD; BoDel) – Pennsylvania State University
Lois Mansfield (CAD; BoDel) – Raytheon (ret.)
Donna Reese (CAD; EAD; BoDel) – Mississippi State University (ret.)
Pearl Wang (CAD) – George Mason University (ret.)
Mary Jane Willshire-Fairley (ETAD) – Software and System Engineering Associates (ret)
Chair of the ABET Computing Area Delegation (CAD)
Paul Leidig – Grand Valley State University
Executive Committee
Paul Leidig, President
Mihaela Sabin, Vice President
Sandra Gorka, Secretary-Treasurer
David Hunter
Mary Jane Willshire-Fairley, Past President
Andrew Phillips, ex officio
ABET Board Delegate Nominations Committee
Donna Reese, Chair
Mary Jane Willshire-Fairley
Paul Leidig
Mihaela Sabin
Sandra Gorka
David Hunter
Lois Mansfield
Pearl Wang
Andrew Phillips, ex officio
Admissions Committee
Lawrence G. Jones, Chair
Rajendra Raj
Beth Hawthorne
Paul Leidig, ex officio
Assignments Committee
Chris Taylor, Chair
Stan Thomas
Andrew Phillips
Paul Leidig, ex officio
Awards and Recognition Committee: Fellow Awards Subcommittee
Paul Leidig, Chair
Lois Mansfield
Donna Reese
Pearl Wang
Andrew Phillips
Mary Jane Willshire-Fairley
Awards and Recognition Committee: Recurring Awards Subcommittee
Mary Jane Willshire-Fairley, Chair
David Hunter
Paul Leidig, ex officio
Constituent and Stakeholder Outreach Planning Committee
Rajendra Raj (IEEE-CS), Chair
David Hunter (ASA)
Mihaela Sabin (ACM)
Paul Leidig, ex officio
Criteria Committee
Mihaela Sabin, Chair
Kelly McConville
Heikki Topi
Shari Plantz-Masters
Sandra Gorka
Sanaa Sharafeddine
Chris Taylor
Beth Hawthorne
Kathy Ensor
Jean Blair
Bill Dafnis
Donna Reese
Paul Leidig, ex officio
PEV Recruitment and Selection Committee: CS Subcommittee
Sanaa Sharafeddine, Chair
Bruce McMillin
Michael Oudshoorn
Mary Jane Willshire-Fairley
Paul Leidig, ex officio
PEV Recruitment and Selection Committee: CY Subcommittee
Beth Hawthorne, Chair
David “Hoot” Gibson
Rajendra Raj
Ed Sobiesk
Paul Leidig, ex officio
PEV Recruitment and Selection Committee: DS Subcommittee
Scott Murray, Chair
David Hunter
Paul Leidig, ex officio
PEV Recruitment and Selection Committee: IS Subcommittee
Sandra Gorka, Chair
Carolyn Jacobson
Shari Plantz-Masters
Paul Leidig, ex officio
PEV Recruitment and Selection Committee: IT Subcommittee
Sandra Gorka, Chair
Carolyn Jacobson
Shari Plantz-Masters
Scott Murray
Paul Leidig, ex officio
PEV Recruitment and Selection Committee: SwE Subcommittee
Chris Taylor, Chair
Sigurd Meldal
Paul Leidig, ex officio
Nominations Committee
Mary Jane Willshire-Fairley, Chair
Members appointed annually by member societies (ACM, ASA, IEEE-CS)
Paul Leidig, ex officio
Quality Assurance Committee
Lois Mansfield, Chair
Rajendra Raj
Andrew Phillips
Paul Leidig, ex officio
Training and Mentoring Committee
Donna Reese, Co-Chair, Training
Cary Laxer, Co-Chair, Mentoring
Sandra Gorka
Carolyn Jacobson
Sigurd Meldal
Scott Murray
Michael Oudshoorn
Ed Sobiesk
Paul Leidig, ex officio
Fellows
The CSAB Fellow Award is given in recognition of individuals who have given sustained, quality service to the computing profession and to computing education through the activities of CSAB. Please review the Fellows Nomination Guide page for further information.
Gordon L. Bailes – East Tennessee State University
Keith Barker – University of Connecticut
Jean R.S. Blair – United States Military Academy
Henry Bauer – University of Wyoming
Della T. Bonnette – University of Louisiana
Taylor I. Booth – University of Connecticut
Andrew Borchers – Lipscomb University
J. Thomas Cain – University of Pittsburgh
Robert L. Cannon – University of South Carolina
Susan E. Conry – Clarkson University
David Cordes – University of Alabama
Neal S. Coulter – University of North Florida
Gerald L. Engel – University of Connecticut
Elizabeth Glazer – CSAB, Inc
Raymond Greenlaw – University of Namibia
Harold Grossman – Clemson University
Lawrence G. Jones – Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
John Impagliazzo – Independent Consultant/Hofstra University
David P. Kelly – Bluefin Robotics
Willis K. King – University of Houston
Patrick M. LaMalva – CSAB, Inc.
Cary Laxer – Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Paul Leidig – Grand Valley State University
Jim Leone – Rochester Institute of Technology
Doris K. Lidtke – Towson State University
Ming T. Liu – Ohio State University
Lois Mansfield – Raytheon
Kenneth E. Martin – University of North Florida
Bruce McMillin – Missouri University of Science and Technology
Raymond E. Miller – University of Maryland
Scott Murray – Procore Technologies
Allen Parrish – University of Alabama
Andrew Phillips – United States Naval Academy
Arthur L. Price – ABET, Inc.
Barbara Price – Georgia Southern University
Rajendra Raj – Rochester Institute of Technology
Donna Reese – Mississippi State University
William E. Richardson – CSAB, Inc.
Kay G. Schulze – United States Naval Academy
Stephen Seidman – Texas State University
Charles Slivinsky – University of Missouri-Columbia
Edward Sobiesk – United States Military Academy
Stan Thomas – Wake Forest University
A. Joe Turner – Clemson University
Elizabeth Unger – Kansas State University
Murali R. Varanasi – University of North Texas, Denton
Patrick J. Walsh – IBM (retired)
Pearl Y. Wang – George Mason University
Mary Jane Willshire-Fairley – Software and System Engineering Associates
John Werth – University of Texas at Austin
John White – Association for Computing Machinery
Gayle Yaverbaum – Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg
Frank Young – Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Stuart H. Zweben – Ohio State University
Pat Walsh Memorial Award
The Pat Walsh Memorial Award is CSAB’s highest honor, and honors a CSAB volunteer whose rare commitment and enduring impact has made CSAB a better organization.
2024
Lawrence G. Jones – Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
Outstanding Contribution Awardees
The Outstanding Contribution Award is presented to CSAB volunteers with at least three years of sustained service who have made a significant positive impact on CSAB operations, computing accreditation, or computing education. Send nominations with proposed citations by May 31 to csab@csab.org.
* indicates the award was received twice.
Keith Barker – University of Connecticut
Bruce H. Barnes – National Science Foundation
Jean Blair – United States Military Academy
Andrew Borchers – Lipscomb University
David A. Cook – Draper Laboratory
Roger Elliott – Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
David L. Feinstein – University of South Alabama
Harold Grossman – Clemson University
Ben M. Huey – Arizona State University
David Hunter – Pennsylvania State University
John Impagliazzo – Hofstra University
Lawrence G. Jones* – Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
David P. Kelly – Bluefin Robotics
Patrick M. LaMalva – CSAB
Jim Leone – Rochester Institute of Technology
Bruce McMillin – Missouri University of Science and Technology
Sigurd Meldal – Mostly Sunny LLC
Scott Murray – HCA Healthcare
Michael Oudshoorn – Northwest Missouri State University
Allen Parrish* – United States Naval Academy
Andrew Phillips – United States Naval Academy
Arthur L. Price – Avaya, retired
Barbara A. Price – Georgia Southern University
Rajendra Raj – Rochester Institute of Technology
Srinivasan Ramaswamy – ABB, Inc.
Harry Reif – James Madison University
Kay G. Schulze – United States Naval Academy
Mark Sebern* – Milwaukee School of Engineering
Stephen Seidman – Texas State University
Charles Slivinsky – University of Missouri
Stephanie Smullen – The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga
Edward Sobiesk – United States Military Academy
Judith Lopez Solano* – University of North Florida
Mark Stockman – University of Cincinnati
Stanley Thomas – Wake Forest University
Heikki Topi* – Bentley University
Elizabeth A. Unger – Kansas State University
Mary Jane Willshire-Fairley – Software and System Engineering Associates
Frank H. Young – Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology