Engineering dean delivers keynote speech at ABET Symposium in Nashville

School of Engineering Dean Dr. Jenna Carpenter was the keynote speaker at the annual ABET Symposium on April 20 in Nashville, Tennessee. Carpenter’s topic, “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: The Key to a Resilient Future for Engineering Education,” was delivered before more than 700 engineering educators and professionals from around the world. 

Carpenter, the founding dean of Campbell’s engineering school and its award-winning undergraduate program, has been an ABET program evaluator for over a decade, traveling to other schools to evaluate their programs for accreditation. Campbell’s program earned ABET accreditation in August of last year after launching the school in 2016.

The ABET Symposium is the flagship event for accreditation, assessment and the global exchange of ideas in STEM education. Carpenter said attendees have the opportunity to collaborate with ABET expert, dive into program assessment and accreditation best practices and discuss the top issues facing higher education.

“The theme of the ABET Symposium this year was ‘Building a More Resilient World,’ and engineering is certainly key to our ability to do so,” Carpenter said. “Moreover, making sure that engineering captures the range of talent that exists in our nation is essential if engineering is going to realize this role.”

The 2022-23 academic year has been a big one for Carpenter, who started last summer as acting president of the American Society for Engineering Education after serving a year as president-elect. Carpenter’s platform for the year was “weaving students into engineering instead of weeding them out.”

The School of Engineering saw its first graduating class walk the stage in 2020 and has since grown to become one of the most inclusive programs in the nation, recognized nationally for its hands-on curriculum. 


Learn more: https://symposium.abet.org