CSAB Admits American Statistical Association as Full Member

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 23, 2021

Contact:
Liz Glazer, Executive Director
CSAB, Inc.
(410) 339-5456
lglazer@csab.org

Baltimore, MD, USA — CSAB is pleased to announce that the American Statistical Association—the world’s largest community of statisticians—has been admitted to the organization as a full member, effective immediately. ASA joins the world’s two largest professional and technical societies for computing, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the IEEE Computer Society (IEEE-CS), to promote and assure quality in computing and computing-related education through accreditation.

As the lead ABET member society for computing, CSAB is responsible for developing accreditation criteria and selecting, training, and assigning program evaluators in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Data Science, Information Systems, Information Technology, and Software Engineering. There are currently more than 600 ABET-accredited undergraduate degree programs in these fields spanning the United States and 25 other countries worldwide.

“This is very exciting news for the computing community,” said CSAB President Donna Reese, Professor Emerita of the Computer Science and Engineering Department at Mississippi State University. “The studies of statistics and computing have always shared commonalities, but this is the first formal opportunity we’ve had collaborate in terms of curricula and accreditation criteria, particularly in Data Science. CSAB prides itself on rapidly responding to the need for quality assurance in new and emerging fields of study. Its work in developing data science accreditation criteria and partnership with ASA are prime examples.”

“ASA is delighted to join ACM and IEEE-CS in their efforts to ensure quality in the degree programs in this great new field,” said Kathy Ensor, ASA President-Elect. “Making sure the graduates have the statistical and other preparation they need is good for the students and for the marketplace.”

As a full member of CSAB, ASA will have voting representation on its Board of Directors, as well as on its Criteria and Nominating Committees, among other important bodies. Its members will be eligible to serve as CSAB/ABET program evaluators and to be nominated to by CSAB to serve on ABET’s accreditation commissions.

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For nearly 40 years, CSAB has been promoting and assuring quality in computing education through accreditation.

Since its founding in 1839, the ASA has supported excellence in the development, application, and dissemination of statistical science through meetings, publications, membership services, education, accreditation, and advocacy.