Academia
Panamericana de
Ingeniería
Academia
Pan-Americana de Engenharia
Pan
American Academy of Engineering
Declaration of Montevideo
FORUM: "ACCREDITATION IN THE REGIONAL CONTEXT"
Prepared by the Rapporteurs with the consensus
of the participants in the Forum
Montevideo, October 10, 2003
We, Engineers of the Americas,
Summoned by the Pan-American Academy of Engineering to participate in the Forum on "Accreditation in a Regional Context " in Montevideo, Uruguay with the sponsorship of the Pan-American Union of Engineering Associations and the Uruguayan Association of Engineers and
Whereas
In our world today, and in particular in our hemisphere, there is a clear trend towards an increasing interrelationship among all our countries.
All countries of the hemisphere are committed to sustainable development and the protection of our environment as fundamental principles that help in the creation of wealth and greater opportunities for work of our people.
All engineers play a special role, through their leadership and professional practice, in achieving satisfactory levels of development and in the preservation of our habitat, in every country of this hemisphere.
The last decades of the 20 th century have witnessed an enormous growth of engineering programs, with denominations and professional competencies for engineers, graduating from such programs, which could create overlappings or doubts about their professional competencies. A quality assurance program should oversee the fact that the title of engineer be used only in relation to the appropriate professional practice.
The existence of recognized principles at international level, supported by experience, of certain guiding factors for accreditation of engineering programs, which incorporate elements such us: a self-evaluation by the educational institution offering the program; a clear definition of minimum quality standards for engineers; an on-site evaluation by peers without any conflict of interests; accreditation is granted for a finite period of time and must be revaluated at the conclusion of that time. An accreditation system must be recognized and accepted by educational institutions, industry, the organisations of engineers and the government.
A quality assurance system must take into account the very diverse, pluralistic and multiform nature of institutions of higher education, as well as the mission of the institution and the particular conditions of the countries.
An accreditation system assures that minimum quality standards are met for a given program, which allows certifying professional competencies of the engineer graduating from that program.
We declare:
1.- That it is desirable that all countries of this hemisphere have a sustainable quality assurance system for engineering programs, based on the principles described "ut supra" and with the participation of professional engineers.
2 .- That an accreditation system is of vital interest for our countries because such a mechanism gives an assurance that our engineers keep pace with scientific and technological advances, the changing needs of society and increasing competitivity.
3.- That an accreditation system based on internationally recognized principles, as those mentioned in this Declaration, constitute a mechanism among countries, for mutual recognition of engineering programs and professional competencies of their graduates.
4.- That the Panamerican Academy of Engineering commits itself to seek agreements which would allow to build a consensus on the basic criteria for national o regional accreditation system, already in existence or yet to be established.
5.- That we are guided by our conviction that the adoption of a system of accreditation in all of our countries, brings with it an increase in the competitiveness of the engineering products or services offered by our countries.
Eng. Guillermo Ernesto Bendinger Dr. Eng. Vladimir Yackovlev
Rapporteur Academician for the Forum Rapporteur Academician for the Forum
