Welcome to the UMA Prior Learning Assessment Portfolio Template site. This site is designed to provide you with information about the UMA portfolio assessment process, as well as give you a recommended structure to set up your own Google Site. For instructions on how to create a Google Site, please visit the Google Sites Tutorial.

UMA students interested in earning credit for college-level learning gained outside the classroom are invited to submit a portfolio to document the learning. A separate and unique application must be prepared for each course for which portfolio assessment credit is sought.

Students should first contact Haley Brown to begin the conversation of applying for prior learning credit. If appropriate, Haley will refer the student to an instructor who normally teaches the course(s) to find out the specific learning objectives of the course(s). Students should obtain a detailed course syllabus and include as part of their portfolio. Students may find in reviewing the course learning objectives that they would benefit greatly from taking the course in question.

If, upon examination of the course syllabus, a student believes that he/she can demonstrate that he/she has met at least 70% or more of the course’s learning outcomes, he/she may decide to submit a portfolio. If a CLEP, DSST or Challenge exam is available for the specific courses, the student is required to complete the exam in lieu of a portfolio.

College credit is not awarded simply for experience or time spent on some task. Credit will only be awarded if the student can demonstrate in writing that he/she has mastered at least 70% of the desired learning outcomes of the course in question. In addition, the student must demonstrate that the learning which took place has applications outside the situation in which it originally occurred. For this reason, the narrative piece of the student’s portfolio is particularly important. Failure to write a thorough and comprehensive narrative paper may result in denial of the requested credit. The narrative should also satisfy the rigorous standards of any college term paper, and may be rejected for reasons of form as well as content.

Demonstrating that 70% of the learning outcomes have been met does not GUARANTEE that credit for prior learning will be awarded. Students who do not think they will be able to meet even this minimum standard should consider alternate ways to satisfy the requirement(s) in question, if it is possible (consult with the UMA Advising Center).

Before submitting a portfolio for credit, you must have the approval from a faculty member who will be a reviewer of the portfolio.

All Google Site portfolio submissions must include the following elements:

• Application Form

• Resume

• Course Syllabus (for the course for which the student is seeking credit)

• Personal Narrative

• Knowledge & Competencies Essay

• Job Descriptions/Performance Evaluation(s)

• 3 Letters of Recommendation

• Supporting Documentation:

  • Workshops & Trainings

  • Professional licenses or certificates

  • Membership and activity in professional organizations or in labor relations

  • Awards, citations, or other examples of achievement recognized by others (if applicable)

  • Books, papers, or manuals written, edited or significant contributions made (if applicable)

  • Experiences as a lecturer, panelist, instructor, etc. (if applicable)

• Bibliography

• Other information (as requested by faculty) (if applicable)

You will need to "share" your portfolio with Haley Brown when you are ready to submit it for review, as she will keep your portfolio up-to-date with the process. You can share it by clicking on the Share icon on the option panel above (it is the icon with the + on it).

For more information, please click on the Portfolio Assessment Handout link below. You may also click on the Frequently Asked Questions link under the Home link above.

Contact Haley Brown:

207-621-3130

hbrown120@maine.edu

For instructions on how to create a Google Site, please visit the Google Sites Tutorial.

For instructions on how to upload files into Google Drive, please download this walkthrough.