The Portfolio Process

The Portfolio is a written presentation of your knowledge, skills, and accomplishments.

The portfolio process serves as a self-diagnostic tool designed to be an enlightening and empowering experience. It helps you to identify and take pride in what you have learned while also helping you see the ways in which you can learn and accomplish more. In the process of creating the Portfolio, you will clarify the depth and breadth of your acquired knowledge. The portfolio process will also help you become more self-directed in planning your career. Knowing more about where you have been, provides the basis for making informed choices regarding your professional, personal, and academic goals. The student will submit a Portfolio containing the claims-for-credit to faculty experts for assessment.

Bay Path University, in accordance with the standards set forth by the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), uses faculty experts to assess all portfolios. Assessors are content experts in the discipline addressed in the claim for credit.

Claim for Credit Essay

What is a Claim for Credit?

A claim for credit is an essay that documents the college-level learning gained from your experiences. Each claim for credit can be worth one to four credits in a specific subject area and is normally seven to ten pages in length. The claim must demonstrate that the learning acquired is applicable across multiple contexts, is a result of a significant amount of experience and, and is based on both theory and practice. You will also be required to submit documentation to support your claim outlining the hours of training.

How does an essay become a claim for credit?

Bay Path University utilizes a course equivalency system for presenting and evaluating experiential learning claims. This means students are to draw parallels between the course competencies (as indicated on a course syllabus) and the knowledge gained through experience. Begin by selecting courses from the Bay Path University course catalogs that match the college-level knowledge, competencies, and skills to be covered. The Prior Learning Course will address the process of locating and selecting courses that are a good fit for your college-level learning. Course objectives (or course competencies) found within the course syllabus are identified outcomes that will guide your writing of the claim for credit. These course competencies indicate the knowledge and skills that you should demonstrate in order to write a successful claim for credit.

If a course match cannot be located in the Bay Path catalog, students have the option of developing a claim based on a course description from another institution. Acceptable institutions must receive accreditation by a regional accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. The student must contact the college or university chosen to obtain a copy of the course syllabus. Please discuss this option with the Coordinator of Prior Learning Assessment.

What are some examples of documentation that can support a claim for credit?

Students submitting claims for credit will be required to provide proper documentation as evidence to support the claim. Examples of possible documentation include, but are not limited to,

• Samples of your work products
• Job descriptions
• Awards and commendations
• Certificates of attendance
• Annotated bibliography
• Verification letters from employers or others who have first-hand knowledge of your abilities, or
• Proof of membership in professional or trade organizations

What are the limitations of presenting a claim?

You can create a claim for credit by challenging almost any college course but, as stated earlier, each degree program at Bay Path University has its own set of Core, Major and General elective requirements and not all programs will be a good fit for the prior learning process.

Many programs have courses that fulfill the residency requirements for a Bay Path degree; the student cannot satisfy these courses by writing a claim for credit. Additional types of courses that students cannot satisfy by the writing of a claim include:

• The basic computer skills prerequisite for the prior learning course
• The two English courses that are prerequisites for taking the prior learning course
• Senior thesis or capstone courses
• Independent study courses
• Internships, practicums or field experience courses
• Student Teaching courses
• Graduate-Level courses
• Any courses that would result in a duplication of credits on the student’s transcript

What are the guidelines for presenting a claim?

If it is determined in consultation with your academic advisor, that there are prior learning credits that you could attempt in connection with your degree program, the following guidelines will apply:

• It is expected that you will demonstrate college-level writing
• The course objectives/course competencies of the course being challenged must be sufficiently addressed
• The essay must explain how the learning was acquired
• The essay must indicate a general understanding of the subject
• The essay must contain both theory and practice appropriate to the subject
• The evidence must demonstrate an appropriate application of theoretical knowledge
• The supporting documentation must be established to be authentic
• The portfolio must be submitted electronically

How Claims Receive Assessment

Claims undergo a review process to determine if they meet the standards for college-level learning. All claims receive grades on a Pass or Fail basis, with a passing grade indicating that the student work is equivalent to a grade of C- or better. Students can submit their portfolio only once. The Assessor has the following options when grading a portfolio:

• Pass the portfolio and award the credit. Partial credit for a claim is not allowed (Assessors will review claims based on the number of credits requested)
• Deny the petition for credit; or
• Request further evidence, which will aid the assessor in the final credit determination.
• Allow the student to rewrite a portion of the portfolio (30-day extension)

The Prior Learning Coordinator takes all requests for further evidence. These requests could include but are not limited to, additional documentation and rewrites of a portion of the narrative or a student interview. So concerns may be addressed immediately, students have access to all assessor feedback. This request for further evidence does not constitute a second submission, but rather an extension of the original submission. Students have 30 days to resubmit all or part of the claim as outlined by the faculty assessor. All submissions, whether original or as part of an extension, are subject to the deadlines set forth in the Prior Learning Handbook.

Because the time associated with this process will vary depending on the results of the faculty assessment, students wishing to participate in the prior learning process must pay particular attention to time constraints associated with graduation. In addition to planning for the time needed for the course itself (6 weeks), students must also consider the time needed to complete any additional claims for credit and the time needed for portfolio evaluation. As stated in the PLA Self-Assessment, Bay Path recommends a minimum of six months remaining before graduation for consideration as a candidate for this process. Portfolios submissions must occur at least four (4) months prior to graduation.

Example of a Claim

• Instructors will teach the claim format in the prior learning course. A sample format is below:
• Introductory Paragraph(s)
• What specifically did you do? (You do not want to say, I was a manager – Instead say, I managed 10 employees and addressed conflicting issues among co-workers).
• Where did the learning take place? (Name the company, agency, and/or learning environment.) Describe the setting in which the learning occurred. When did the learning take place? During what time? If it was a job, was it part-time or full-time? If part-time, how many hours per week? I volunteer, how many hours can you determine and document? Who was involved in this learning? Mention supervisors, professionals, and teachers who were involved in your learning (this is primarily to determine who can provide verification or documentation for you).
• How does the learning you have described relate to the essay you are presenting?

The body of the essay must reflect your learning experience, skills, and knowledge. Narrative claims should:

• Convey in your own words the knowledge and skills gained from your experiences. What did you learn about managing that might be useful in supervising 10 employees?
• Use your specific “how-to skills” as examples of the general and higher-level ideas that preside over your area of expertise or profession.
• Validate your learning experience, skills, and knowledge by addressing the course objectives.
• Refer only to personal experiences, not assumed ones. You may petition for credit in basic supervision or interviewing techniques only if you have directly supervised people or interviewed people in a variety of settings. The assessor reviews the claim to see whether it contains both experience and knowledge.
• Use your learning experiences as a frame of reference for acquired college-level knowledge. The claim cannot be a story of your experience, nor can it be a research paper, which represents only ideas and principles but never mentions your personal experience. There must be a relationship in the claim between the knowledge you discuss, the research for the area and your experience. For example, it is not acceptable for you to write about your experience as a supervisor followed by a research paper on theories of supervision. There would be no connection between your experiences as a supervisor and those theories.
• Connect your experience and your knowledge to your application of those skills. You must respond/answer to each objective fully and provide some examples of you experiences to support your statements.
• Follow the American Psychological Association format (APA).

Additional guidelines for writing a claim for credit:

• Course objectives are outcome statements identifying what the student will learn by taking a specific class at an educational institution. Once you have the course objectives, list each objective and respond to them one-by-one to determine if you have the learning experiences.
• If the learning involved substantial reading, including a bibliography of that reading. Cite all research and quotations used in your claim using APA guidelines.
• If the learning involved discussions with professionals, summarize those discussions and follow APA guidelines for citing interviews. If you need to research any part of an objective, i.e., theories or history, you must use the appropriate APA format.
• If the learning involved training, present records of the training including time spent and the subject matter involved (materials, course outlines, etc.).
• Discuss how your abilities have enabled you to take on new tasks or how your actions have developed from the learning.
• Seek help with your writing. If writing is difficult for you, try recording and typing your thoughts. If you need assistance with writing, click on the theTutor.com link in the left-hand navigation in your Prior Learning Canvas classroom.

Appeal Process for Prior Leaning Claims for Credit

There is no guarantee that a submitted portfolio will result in an award of credit. Assessors base their evaluation of claims on national standards established by the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) and on CAEL expertise in the subject matter.

Appeals may occur when the institution denies the student credit for their claim. The Assessment Committee will review appeals. The decision of the Committee is final. Appeals must meet the following criteria:

• An appeal must be in writing on a signed Portfolio Appeal Form (See Appendix C)
• Submit appeals to the Coordinator of Prior Learning Assessment at Bay Path University within 30 days of the student’s receipt of notification of denial of credit.
• In filing the petition for reconsideration, the student agrees to provide any additional information or supporting materials requested by the reviewing faculty.

Fees Associated with Prior Learning

• Tuition for the 3-credit Prior Learning Assessment course is $1,200.00.
• Students will create a portfolio consisting of one claim for credit the prior learning course.

Assessment of the initial claim is at no extra charge for students who successfully complete the Prior Learning Course. Assessment of additional claims will follow the fee schedule below ($400 per 1-4 credit claim):