Postsecondary Education : Portfolio Guidelines

Postsecondary Education: Student Affairs
Guidelines for a Learning Portfolio

One of the requirements for you as a student in the Master's Degree in Postsecondary Education: Student Affairs is a learning portfolio to be begun the first semester and completed the last semester. You are expected to construct your learning portfolio in consultation with your advisor, designing a portfolio that is best suited to you.

A learning portfolio is an ongoing, cumulative record of your perspectives and philosophies, achievements, and examples of your work. It is intended to be a vehicle that assists you in reflecting upon and demonstrating your learning. The faculty believe that student affairs professionals must be reflective practitioners. The learning portfolio is intended to assist you in establishing the habit and practice of reflecting upon what you do.

When completed, your learning portfolio will provide a comprehensive view of your personal, intellectual, and professional development during the program. It may also convey your capabilities and suggest your potential.

Purposes of a Learning Portfolio

A learning portfolio provides opportunities for you to do the following:

• reflect upon and record your learning from your postsecondary education program.
• articulate your perspectives and learning.
• document the quality and quantity of your growth and development as a professional.
• demonstrate what you have learned from a variety of sources related to student affairs.
• demonstrate learning inside and outside the classroom.
• furnish documents useful in your professional career, including job searches and positions on college and community committees and boards.

Questions for Reflection

To assist you in reflecting upon your varied experiences while earning your degree, the program has developed the following set of questions:

• How does student affairs fit into academe?
• What is your philosophy of student affairs?
• What are the values central to the student affairs profession?
• How are your values reflected in what you do?
• Who has influenced you and why? Who are/were the people who impacted you, the people who influenced your professional development?
• What were the paths, and risks you took, that got you to where you are today?
• As you reflect upon your various experiences, ask yourself, "What would I do differently as a result?"
• How have conferences and workshops contributed to your understanding of the profession? How have these influenced your commitment to student affairs?
• Which book or authors or ideas made you think differently?
• Which experiences have made you think differently?
• What skills do you have? Which ones do you want to develop?
• What events in the history of higher education have changed your thinking regarding higher education in general, and student affairs in particular?
• For what principles/values would you risk your job or resign?

Learning Experiences to be Included

The learning portfolio is intended as a record of your experiences, both inside and outside the classroom. Some areas you may want to consider include the following:

• Formal education.
• Paid experiences.
• Volunteer experiences.
• Internships and practica.
• Collaborative scholarship with faculty and professional staff.
• Presentations and attendance at conferences.
• Other education and training.
• Research conducted as a graduate student.

Preparation of a Learning Portfolio

The following are some considerations as you prepare your learning portfolio:

• A structure that presents a portfolio that is clear to yourself and any potential reviewer. (We have included a sample structure at the end of these guidelines).
• A table of contents with material referenced to enable speedy recovery of material. Tabs are recommended.
• Professional in style and appearance. Written items error free and grammatically correct.
• An accurate representation of your work.
• A focus on your capabilities as a leader, as a follower, and as a team player.
• A focus on the content of what and how you learned.

In addition, we would like you to select examples of your work that reflect your views and capabilities. These can be letters, snapshots, video/audio tapes, projects, logs, tests, computer work, collaborative projects/assessments, transcript, copy of awards or honors, resume, documents you designed (for example, a flyer, agendas, reports), video of you in action, documents to which you contributed, evidence of specific skills (for example, writing), position statement on leadership, letter to editor.

Developing a Professional Portfolio from Learning Portfolio

Although the primary purpose of the learning portfolio is to give you an opportunity to reflect upon and document your learning inside and outside the classroom, your learning portfolio can be developed into a professional portfolio. The reasons for developing a professional portfolio include the following:

• Provides evidence of your capabilities and competencies.
• Demonstrates readiness for a position.
• Provides basis for assessing future potential.
• Use for job interviews.
• Use when seeking positions with civic organizations.
• Increases self-confidence.
• Gain academic recognition or professional recognition.
• Provides a basis for appraisal.

A professional portfolio will be helpful to you in job searches, applications for scholarships or awards, and interviews for positions on committees and boards. You can select items from your learning portfolio to create a professional portfolio that is relevant to a specific situation.

Sample Structure of a Learning Portfolio

Cover Page

Table of Contents

Overview

This can include a philosophy of student affairs, a philosophy of leadership, and depending upon a student's interests and expertise, a philosophy of a specific area, for example, a philosophy of teaching and learning or a philosophy of residence life. This statement could also include the student's perspective and stance as a professional who tries to live with integrity.

Personal, Professional, and Community Goals

Outcomes

For each outcome, describe the content and level and methods of achievement, including in class and out of class experiences. One structure to use is the following:

Postsecondary Outcome Statement
Introductory comments
Achievements: Knowledge, Skills, Values
Methods (specify method by which you achieved the outcomes, for example, class/es, extra reading, practica, committee service, etc.)

If you have a supporting document related to any of these outcomes, then refer the reader to the "Supporting Documents" section.

Honors, Commendations, Certificates/Licenses

Program Assessment

Supporting Documents

A context needs to be provided for the documents you select for your portfolio. The context might include why, when, and how it was created and your contribution to the document.

Note that examples of your work can go in the relevant section of the body of your portfolio or in an "Appendix" or "Supporting Documents" section. If you have a number of documents that link to more than one outcome, a separate section may be more useful.