JUNIOR YEAR REVIEW: UPDATING THE PORTFOLIO AND ADDRESSING THE COMPETENCIES

During the junior year you are expected to update the portfolio you began earlier. Ideally you should have been updating it all along; at the least you need to have collected materials which can be used as supporting evidence to show that you have fulfilled most or all of the competencies. You may choose to work on your own, following this handbook, or, if you want the assistance of an instructor, you may enroll in the second module of GS206: Portfolio Development: Addressing the competencies. Like the first module, this also meets for 3 weeks and carries 1 credit for a grade of Credit/No credit.

What you need to do and why

First, the why: Self-assessment of your progress in fulfilling your educational goals and university and major competencies will be used to help plan the last terms of your enrollment at APU and assist your advisor(s) in helping you meet those goals. Your advisor can also better advise you about plans for meeting longer range educational and career goals (ie. applying for graduate school, identifying career opportunities, etc.). We don't expect that at this point you will have completed all the major requirements or even have met all the university competencies

Now what you need to do:

1. Update your autobiography to reflect achievements, new interests, since you first wrote it.
2. Update your educational and personal goals.
3. Update your resume to reflect work experience, planned practicum, etc.
4. Address the university-designated competency requirements
1. Address the major competency requirements
2. Prepare your education plan to line out how you expect tocomplete your program at APU.
5. Submit the portfolio to your major department's secretary, identifying your major advisor. Some departments invite you to select a second reader from within the department; others designate the second reader.

What happens next?

Procedures vary from department to department. The department secretary will see that your portfolio is directed to the appropriate faculty members. Your advisor and other reader(s) will review the portfolio and write out comments. Afterwards your advisor will meet with you to review the portfolio and comments; consult about plans for completing the degree program; indicate the readers’ acceptance of your self assessment where they believe the documentation supports it; and, if necessary, recommend areas that may need additional work, lining out a plan with you that might include taking an additional class, reworking a paper, or other activity.

Whose responsibility is it to get me started?

You can probably guess the answer to this one. While most advisors will remind you, it's primarily up to you to include it in your plans for the junior year.