Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Endorses SWEBOK, CSDA
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., 9 December, 2008—Top-ranked engineering college Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology has announced the endorsement of the IEEE Computer Society’s Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK) and Certified Software Development Associate (CSDA) programs.
The Indiana-based college, whose computer engineering and electrical engineering programs top U.S. News & World Report’s annual college rankings for specialized engineering colleges, was an early adopter of the CSDA program that the Computer Society launched in May, 2008. As a result of this effort, Rose-Hulman has agreed to endorse, help fund and facilitate the CSDA as an exit exam for its graduates to help prepare them for their professional careers.
“This examination verifies, for Rose-Hulman and for employers, that our students did succeed in learning major content of this body of knowledge, and thus that they stand out as qualified bachelor’s-level software engineers,” said Cary Laxer, chair of Rose-Hulman’s Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering.
The CSDA gives Rose-Hulman graduates a credential for establishing a solid base of software engineering development skills that distinguishes them from graduates that don’t hold a certification. Furthermore, the 1,900-student college uses CSDA results to gauge the effectiveness of its curriculum in software engineering.
Rose-Hulman, which boasts a nearly 100 percent career placement rate, has also adopted SWEBOK as the foundation for its software engineering curriculum.
“We used SWEBOK recommendations to decide our approach, content, and depth, in building a bachelor’s degree program that would advance the careers of our software engineering graduates,” said Steven Chenoweth, associate professor of computer science and software engineering. “Our major employers are excited about the qualifications of our software engineering majors.”
Rose-Hulman alumnus Tori Wenger, Senior Engineering Manager for Rockwell Collins, an Iowa-based aviation electronics firm, stated CSDA provides an industry benchmark for measuring students’ educational progress. “It provides a model for software engineering students similar to that provided by the ACT and SAT for high-school students and by the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam for students in other engineering disciplines. For the educational institutions whose students take the exam, it allows a means of independently assessing the software engineering program,” Wenger said. “While a single test can never encapsulate an entire four-year degree, this exam still provides a good measuring stick.”
As consumer confidence with technology grows and the volume of products containing software increases, Wenger said the professional software community needs to be even more diligent in developing consistently high-quality products.
“One key way to do this is through industry standards and sharing best practices. One of the objectives of SWEBOK is to promote a consistent view of software engineering worldwide. CSDA and SWEBOK provide an excellent way to ensure that new graduates are equipped with the knowledge they need to be successful,” Wenger said.
The CSDA is one of two professional software development certifications the Computer Society offers. The other, the Certified Software Development Professional certification, is tailored to mid-career professionals. For more information on certifications, go to http://www2.computer.org/getcertified.
About Rose-Hulman
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is a 1,900-student private college located in Terre Haute, Ind., that specializes in undergraduate engineering, science and mathematics education. Rose-Hulman has been ranked the number one college or university that offers the bachelor’s or master’s degree as its top degree in engineering. The ranking is based on a national survey of deans and senior faculty conducted by U.S. News & World Report’s annual college guide. Rose-Hulman’s computer science and software engineering programs are accredited by the Computer Accreditation Commission and the Engineering Accreditation Commission, respectively, of ABET. The software engineering program is the only ABET accredited software engineering program in India.
About the Computer Society
With nearly 85,000 members, the IEEE Computer Society is the world’s leading organization of computing professionals. Founded in 1946, and the largest of the 39 societies of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Computer Society is dedicated to advancing the theory and application of computer and information-processing technology, and is known globally for its computing standards activities.
The Computer Society serves the information and career-development needs of today’s computing researchers and practitioners with technical journals, magazines, conferences, books, conference publications, and online courses. Its Certified Software Development Professional (CSDP) program for mid-career professionals and Certified Software Development Associate (CSDA) credential for recent college graduates confirm the skill and knowledge of those working in the field. The CS Digital Library (CSDL) is an excellent research tool, containing more than 250,000 articles from 1,600 conference proceedings and 26 CS periodicals going back to 1988.
