Nomination Deadline: January 30

This award is named for E. Walter LeFevre, PhD, PE, Dist.M.ASCE who endowed this award to recognize actions in promoting ethics, professionalism and licensure. The award was established by action of the Society in 2007. Walt LeFevre was widely recognized and highly respected for his extensive contributions to engineering education and practice, accreditation of engineering programs, and leadership of engineering professional organizations.

Recent winners

  • 2024: School of Environmental, Civil, Agricultural, and Mechanical Engineering, University of Georgia (Large Program); Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, United States Coast Guard Academy (Small Program)

View all winners

Rules

  1. The award may be made annually to a civil engineering, civil engineering technology, or related program that is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) of ABET or the Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission (ETAC) of ABET.
  2. The Committee on Education (COE) shall recommend to the Executive Committee the recipient of the award based on its evaluation of the nominations presented. Multi-year recipients shall show continued improvement and incremental achievement.
  3. Two awards may be given annually to reflect the diversity of programs (e.g., size) as determined by the selection committee.
  4. An award submission shall consist of:
    1. A cover letter signed by the nominator (letter of transmittal),
    2. A Walter LeFevre Award Nomination form (PDF)
    3. A narrative evaluation (not to exceed three pages) detailing the extent to which the curricula a program support ethics, professionalism, and licensure and describing program activities that promote these topics.  Consideration is given to improvements over previous Academic Years (up to four years) and their assessment.  In addition, any innovations in curriculum or programmatic initiatives that promote ethics, professionalism, and/or licensure may be submitted and highlighted and will enhance the submission. Any data or statistics demonstrating the commitment to promoting ethics, professionalism, and/or licensure or other documentation supporting the commitment to those topics may be included.  Examples may include, but are not limited to, the percentage of graduates in a particular Academic Year who took the Fundamentals of Engineering exam while enrolled in the program, the percentage of those graduates who passed the exam while enrolled in the program, the percentage of eligible faculty who are licensed in a US jurisdiction, external letters of support highlighting achievements in emphasizing professionalism, ethics, or licensure, and participation in other programs in these areas.  
  5. Criteria for selecting award recipients will be based on a subjective evaluation of the extent to which the curricula and program support ethics, professionalism, and licensure and describe program activities that promote these topics.  Evaluation of any improvements over time demonstrated by the program and innovations developed and employed by the program to support the furtherance of these topics will be favorably considered.  Data, statistics, and other supporting documents submitted that assess the impact of activities or demonstrate a commitment to these topics will be evaluated.  Examples could include the percentage of graduates in a particular Academic Year who took the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, the percentage of those graduates who passed the exam, and the percentage of eligible faculty who are licensed in a US jurisdictions.  The submission quality, clarify, effectiveness, correctness, and conformity to the requirements will be considered.  
  6. The award consists of a crystal award. Up to 2 Honorable Mention awards per category, consisting of a plaque, may be presented to other deserving programs.  This can recognize a program that has demonstrated truly original, novel, creative, or inspired innovations in curriculum, courses, activities, or events that promote ethics, professionalism, and licensure with significant and positive impact that is documented and assessed.  
  7. Past recipients of the Walter LeFevre award shall be eligible to receive the award multiple times provided the evaluation shows additional performance which justifies receiving the award again.
  8. The details of the award-winning program shall be publicized through an article in an ASCE publication.

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