Does accreditation matter?

[changturkey]

I was reading the Waterloo CS brochure, when I found a line about their CS program being accredited by the Canadian Council of CS ect. ; does it matter if a program is accredited, I mean CS isn't as strict with standards as engineering, right? From these two lists, http://www.cips.ca/?q=node/288 and http://www.cips.ca/?q=node/288 I noticed that there aren't many schools, or atleast schools I would like to attend. Some thoughts?

[Tony]

changturkey @ Tue Nov 04, 2008 7:10 pm wrote:

does it matter if a program is accredited

Yes. A program needs to be accredited, in order to grant you a degree.

[Dan]

Tony @ 4th November 2008, 7:36 pm wrote:

changturkey @ Tue Nov 04, 2008 7:10 pm wrote:

does it matter if a program is accredited

Yes. A program needs to be accredited, in order to grant you a degree.

From cips? ummm no.

I think u of t would be hurt to know they can't grant CS degrees...



Edit: my point being there is an accreditation for universitys and some induvdial programs that do matter however cips is not one of them, any one can give there "accreditation" to a university.


Edit 2: For a real list of accredited universitys see http://www.aucc.ca and for CS in ontario you can see there database at http://oraweb.aucc.ca/pls/dcu/dcu_e2?REF_ID=23337991&SORT_BY=1


Edit 3: It should also be noted that profesional schools like engnering need addtional acredation and computer engerning and software engering probaly fall in to this category however computer science is noramly a B.S.c degree excected in some univeritys witch give it it's own degree.

[changturkey]

What exactly does CIPS accreditation provide?

[Dan]

Acording to the CIPS website the quafications for being accrediated by them are:

Quote:

Accreditation:

* Promotes and advances all phases of computer and information science education with the aim of promoting public welfare through the development of better-educated computer professionals.
* Fosters a cooperative approach to computer and information science education between industry, government, and educators to meet the changing needs of society.
* Provides a credible, independently verifiable method to differentiate accredited programs from non-accredited programs that may not adhere to important industry standards.
* Signifies that a program has a purpose appropriate to higher education and has resources and services sufficient to accomplish its purpose on a continuing basis.
* Provides an opportunity to the educational institution for improvement and self analysis, and shows a commitment to continuous improvement.

As far as what it provieds, it means the school can say they are accrediated by CIPS in there CS brochure :p So basicly it is like CIPS saying they recomened the program.

The reason why i dought the qaulity of there "accrediation" is they seem to leave out ALOT of very good univeristys in canada witch offer CS degrees (or B.S.c in CS) and are accredieted by the aucc.

[changturkey]

Of those schools in listed in CIPS, which one(s) have a great rep?

[Dan]

changturkey @ 7th November 2008, 8:04 pm wrote:

Of those schools in listed in CIPS, which one(s) have a great rep?

Limiting your school choice to those in the CIPS list is just silly, there are schools that i would consdier to have a better rep for CS that are not on the list then some that are.

Also i don't think you should be picking a school based on rep but based on what you are looking for in a learning enverment and where you think you will learn and do your best.