The visit team leaves campus on Tuesday afternoon, and for most program chairs the hardest part feels finished. It is not. Between the exit meeting and the commission's vote in July, a program has two formal chances to respond to what the team found, and how it uses them can change the final action. ABET's Accreditation Policy and Procedure Manual for the 2026-27 review cycle sets the timeline.

At the exit meeting

The visit ends with an exit meeting at which the team presents its preliminary findings orally to the institution's chief executive officer or a designee. The team also leaves a copy of each Program Audit Form, which records the findings for each program, with the dean or another academic officer. The findings at this stage are preliminary: the team recommends, and the commission decides.

The first window: seven days

After the exit meeting, the institution has seven days to send the team chair corrections of errors of fact in the oral presentation or the Program Audit Forms. This is a narrow window for narrow fixes: a wrong course number, a miscounted faculty member, a policy the team did not see that exists in writing. It is not the place to argue a finding.

The draft statement

The team chair then prepares a draft statement for the institution, setting out the findings for each program and the shortcomings cited: Deficiencies (a criterion, policy or procedure not met), Weaknesses (compliance too thin to protect quality) and Concerns (compliance that could slip).

The second window: the 30-day due process response

The institution has 30 days from receiving the draft statement to submit its due process response. This is where a program shows what it has done since the visit: a policy adopted, a course revised, an assessment cycle completed, a laboratory upgraded. The response must be uploaded to ABET's accreditation management system as a self-contained file.

A strong response follows the draft statement finding by finding. For each one, it says what changed, gives the date, and attaches the evidence: the approved document, the minutes, the revised syllabus, the data. A plan without evidence of action carries less weight than a completed change, and a response that disputes a finding is strongest when it points to a document the team had.

After 30 days

Information that arrives after the 30-day period is accepted only with the team chair's agreement, and only if it could materially affect the action and was not available during the 30 days. It must be uploaded before the July commission meeting.

The decision

The commission votes on accreditation actions at its July meeting. The final statement incorporates the due process response and any changes from that meeting, and the institution receives it, with a summary of the accreditation actions, no later than August 31 of the year after the review. The public status in ABET's listing reflects the effective date of the most recent final action.

A calendar to keep

A program visited this fall can expect the draft statement in the months after the visit, a due process response due 30 days after it arrives, a commission vote the following July, and the final statement by the end of August. Block the 30 days on the department calendar the moment the draft arrives, and start gathering evidence for every finding the day after the exit meeting.

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