IHLs must put in place the mechanism for credit transfer and exemption to allow alternative educational pathways . A maximum of 50 % of the total credit units are allowed for lateral credit transfer from a similar level programme . However only 30 % is allowed for credit exemption from diploma level to degree level . A programme shall have clear policies on credit transfer .
Criterion 5 : Teaching and Support staff It must be demonstrated that the teaching staff have the competencies to cover all areas of the programme and are fully aware of the outcomebased approach to education . In addition , teaching staff shall be sufficient in number and capability to accommodate student-staff interaction , advising and counselling , service activities , professional development , and interaction with practitioners and employers . This is to ensure the quality of the engineering technology programme and the attainment of its stated outcomes . As a guide , a viable engineering technology or engineering technician department would be expected to have a minimum of eight full-time teaching staff in the particular engineering discipline and 30 % of the lecturers / instructors must have a professional certification or at least two years of relevant industrial work experience . The full-time equivalent teaching staff to student ratio shall ideally be 1:15 for engineering technology programmes and 1:20 for engineering technician programmes , or better to ensure effective delivery .
There shall also be sufficient , qualified and experienced technical and administrative staff to provide adequate support to the educational programme . It is recommended that each technical staff shall be in charge of not more than two laboratories .
Criterion 6 : Facilities The quality of the environment in which the programme is delivered is regarded as paramount to providing the educational experience necessary to accomplish the Programme Outcomes .
There must be adequate teaching and learning facilities such as classrooms , learning support facilities , study areas , information resources ( library ), computing and information technology systems , laboratories and workshops , and associated equipment to cater for multi-delivery modes .
Since engineering technology programmes require substantial practice-oriented learning , sufficient and appropriate experimental and practical facilities must be available for students to gain substantial experience in practice-oriented learning as well as in understanding and operating engineering equipment and in designing and conducting experiments . The equipment must be reasonably representative of modern engineering practice .
Support facilities such as hostels , sport and recreational centres , health centres , student centres , and transport must be adequate to facilitate student life on campus and to enhance character building .
Criterion 7 : Quality Management Systems The IHL and the faculty must ensure that there exists a quality management system to oversee and monitor the overall achievement of the programme objectives . These include the controlling , managing , directing , organising and supervising of the overall management system of the IHL . It must have adequate arrangements for planning , development , delivery and review of engineering technology programmes together with the academic and professional development of its staff . Essential elements of a sound Quality Management System are :
( i ) Institutional Support , Operating Environment , and Financial Resources ( ii ) Programme Quality Management and
Planning ( iii ) External Assessment and Advisory System ( iv ) Quality Assurance
Way Forward
All existing and new engineering technology and engineering technician programmes are highly encouraged to adhere to the manuals at all stages from start of a new programme and preparation of Self-Assessment Reports ( SAR ) of existing programmes for eligibility to be accredited by ETAC en-route for the graduates to register with the BEM .
REFERENCE
ETAC Manual , 2015 . Engineering Technology Programme Accreditation Manual , Engineering Technology Council , Board of Engineers Malaysia .
MQA Manual 2011 . The Programme Standards for Engineering and Engineering Technology , Malaysian Qualifications Agency .
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