ASA Joins Two Largest Societies for Computing as CSAB Member

The American Statistical Association is now a full member of CSAB, joining the world’s two largest professional and technical societies for computing: the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and IEEE Computer Society (IEEE-CS).

As the lead ABET member society for computing, CSAB is responsible for developing accreditation criteria and selecting, training, and assigning program evaluators in computer science, cybersecurity, data science, information systems, information technology, and software engineering. There are currently more than 600 ABET-accredited undergraduate degree programs in these fields worldwide.

As a full member of CSAB, the ASA will have voting representation on its board of directors and criteria and nominating committees, among other important bodies. ASA members will be eligible to serve as CSAB/ABET program evaluators and be nominated by CSAB to serve on ABET’s accreditation commissions.

There are two distinct ABET groups working on data science program accreditation criteria: the Applied and Natural Sciences Accreditation Commission (ANSAC) and Computing Accreditation Commission (CAC). As a CSAB member, the ASA has the opportunity to influence the development processes of these criteria, which are currently at different stages. The CAC process is further along, so the CAC criteria are public for a first reading.

The ASA is planning a series of information sessions to allow members to ask questions and provide input. Sign up to learn more. If you have questions, you may reach out to ASA Executive Director Ron Wasserstein.