Student Portfolio

Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies

Department of Academic and

Human Development

Mansfield University, Mansfield, PA

Student:______

Graduation Year:______

Graduation Semester:______

Academic Advisor:______

B.A. Liberal Studies Portfolio Guide

The Student Portfolio is a record of each student’s academic goals, objectives, accomplishments, and future plans. The portfolio is designed to serve as a resource for students, advisors, professors, internship supervisors, and prospective employers, among others. As a measure of the Liberal Studies program’s effectiveness, a sample of the portfolios submitted are reviewed by the faculty at the completion of the student’s senior year. A well-done portfolio demonstrates a student’s skills, knowledge, abilities, attributes, and values across a variety of tasks and objectives. The portfolio contents are based on the goals and outcomes of the general education program and the Liberal Studies program, and Mansfield University's Academic and Human Development faculty. Each content or competency area should contain the best sample or demonstration of a student’s ability in that area.

The sections and content areas of the portfolio are:

  • Foreword to the Portfolio: Concise one paragraph summary including the student’s name, degree, areas of academic concentration, what brought them to Mansfield University, how they have grown and changed as a result of their Mansfield experience, and their plans after graduation from Mansfield. This paragraph should merely be a summary; students will provide detailed information in the other sections of the portfolio.
  • Goal Statements & Career Planning:
  • Your Personal Strategic Plan, including a statement of your values, vision, mission, and strategies:
  • Values: A list of the ideals by which you will guide your life. (For example: honesty, hard-work, loyalty, healthy.)
  • Vision: The vision statement is intended to succinctly indicate the type of individual that you wish to be and the type of life you wish to have in the future. (For example, “I aspire to have a satisfying and productive career in management, and a happy home and family.”)
  • Mission: The mission statement is intended to provide a brief description of your purpose and contribution to society. (For example: My mission is to create an environment in which the individuals I manage have opportunities to grow and develop professionally, and to use their skills and talents in unique ways.)
  • Strategies: The strategies are the actions you will take to help you achieve are vision and mission. (For example, one strategy to achieve the above vision and mission might be to attend ongoing management and leadership trainings and workshops.)
  • A neatly typed Reflection Paper
  • A copy of your Mansfield University Academic Record.
  • A typed and properly formatted professional Resume.
  • A Career Research Project in which you have explored a possible career, including its duties and responsibilities, the types of organizations in which the career is found, the type of education and ongoing training required to acquire and advance in the career, the job outlook for this career in the next 5-10 years, and the salary structure for the career.
  • A Professional Cover Letter appropriate for sending to a prospective employer or graduate program.
  • A copy ofyour Strengths Inventory, such as Strong Interest Inventory (SII),StrengthsQuest, FOCUS, or any similar survey available through Mansfield University.
  • Applied Experience: (as part of your resume) Include a summary ofa significant internship (LS 4495), service learning, or volunteer experience and how you applied specific principles and concepts from your Mansfield University classes to the experience.
  • University/Community Contributions (as part of your resume):Include a summary of your contributions to the university and larger community. Examples could include your participation in organizations, clubs, teams, social service projects, volunteer activities, committees,and other service to your community and Mansfield University. Highlight your leadership roles and any offices that you held in such activities. Write a detailed summary, in reverse chronological order, that expands on the information in your résumé.
  • Additional Academic Accomplishments (as part of your resume): Include up to four other significant academic accomplishments that demonstrate the full range of your skills and abilities. Examples could include creative writing samples, artistic projects, theater reviews, video or audio materials that you created, PowerPoint presentations, K-12 lesson plans and classroom management documents, study abroad experiences, field trips and other experiential learning activities.
  • Awards and Honors (as part of your resume):Include up to four other significant awards, honors, and certificates that you received for demonstrating knowledge or skills in a particular area, outstanding scholarship, honor roll, Dean’s list, honor societies, attendance, extra-curricular activities, athletic accomplishments, and social contributions.

Components of the Capstone Project/Reflection Paper & Resume

Table of Contents

  1. Goal Statements and Career Planning
  1. Personal Strategic Plan
  2. Reflection Paper

Your reflection paper should be 5-7 pages in length. Your paper must reflect your original thoughts on the general education courses that you successfully completed and how these courses have contributed to a better or different understanding of the world. Put differently you should answer the following questions as you complete this paper. Your paper should reflect a thoughtful and thorough review of your perspective on your education. Use the questions provided below to guide you, but feel free to answer your own questions and share your thoughts above and beyond the prompts given.

Note: You will want to refer to the General Education Distribution Requirements and your transcript to complete this task.

Foundations of Knowledge:

First Year Seminar: What did the first-year seminar course mean to you? Did you develop an interest in a certain field of study because of this course? Did the instructor or other students in the course help you to transition into college? Thinking back on your freshman year what advice might you offer freshman or do differently? What did you not learn that you might have expected to learn in the course?

Written Communication and Oral Communication: How will you demonstrate to a potential employer that you are a college educated individual through your ability to communicate?

Approaches to Knowledge:

Humanities: What courses did you take to fulfill this requirement and what do you now know as a result of successfully completing the course. Give concrete examples. You might write something like this “I am now better able to make a solid and professional argument for why I have the beliefs that I and have a better appreciation for the opinions of others. My philosophy class help me to think critically about my position on abortion”

Natural and Physical Science and Social and & Behavioral Sciences: How does natural science differ from social sciences?

How did study each of these areas, did your approach to learning differ in a significant way? If not described how they were approach, if so, described how they were different.

Global Perspectives:

Which track did you chose to complete and why. Talk about how or if these courses allow you think more globally and what does thinking more globally mean to you? Again, give an example.

Themes

What thoughts do you have as a result of completing a COURSE A, Course B, and Course C that you did not have been taking the class?

How does your minor connect to the general education courses?

Finally, if you have completed the Strong Interest Inventory, FOCUS 2, Meyers-Briggs or StrengthsFinder, discussed the results as they apply to your overall university experience and as a potential graduate student or employee.

  1. Senior-Year Goal Statement
  2. Academic Record
  3. Resume : Be certain to include such information as:
  4. Applied Experience
  5. University/Community Contributions
  6. Additional Academic Accomplishments
  7. Awards and Honors
  8. Career Research Project (if you completed this in another department_
  9. Professional Cover Letter
  10. Strengths Inventory Reflection Statement(optional* but highly recommended if you have completed Strengths)

B.A. Liberal Studies – Senior Year Goal Statement

Use this sheet in your senior year at Mansfield University to record your professional and personal goals. Begin with your goals for employment and/or graduate school following Mansfield University, and then work backwards chronologically. Indicate your goals for each year, including the present term. Be as specific as possible.

1. Date:______

2. Student’s Name:______

3. Advisor’s Name:______

4. Minor(s):______

5. Year in which you plan to graduate:______

6. Semester in which you plan to graduate: ___May ___August ___December

7. Your preferred employment setting:

(e.g. federal or state agency, county or local agency, large company, small business, community or nonprofit organization, hospital or public health, K-12 education, college or university)

8. Goals for your senior year and before graduating from Mansfield University

  • Goal 1:
  • Goal 2:
  • Goal 3:
  • Goal 4:

9. Goals for 1-2 years after graduation from Mansfield

  • Goal 1:
  • Goal 2:

10. Goals for 3-5 years after graduation from Mansfield University

  • Goal 1:
  • Goal 2:

B.A. Liberal Studies Portfolio Evaluation Sheet

Department of Academic and Human Development

Student’s Name:______

Reviewer’s Name:______

Date of Review:______

Basic Standards / Present (Yes) / Absent (No)
All class papers signed off on cover
All assignments in portfolio have been revised (if needed)
All work professionally typed
Portfolio cover and side label present & readable
OVERALL BASIC STANDARDS
Presentation & Appearance / Excellent / Good / Fair / Poor / Comments
Table of Contents is clear and legible
Section dividers are clearly placed & accessible
Overall organization & display of contents
OVERALL PRESENTATION & APPEARANCE
Technical
Presentation / Excellent / Good / Fair / Poor / Comments
Section 1: Forward to the Portfolio (clearly stated, complete)
Section 2a: Personal Strategic Plan (clearly stated, complete)
Section 2b:Senior Year Goal Statement (clearly stated, complete)
Section 2c: Academic Record (neatly displayed)
Section 2d:Resume (professionally formatted)
Section 2e: Career Research Project
Section 2f:Professional Cover Letter (clearly stated, professionally formatted)
Section 2g: Strengths Inventory (neatly displayed)
Section 3: Writing Skills
(appropriate work, neatly displayed, corrected, signed off)
Section 4: Critical Thinking Skills (appropriate work, neatly displayed, corrected, signed off)
Section 5: Research Skills
(appropriate work, neatly displayed, corrected, signed off)
Section 6: Applied Experience (appropriate work, neatly displayed, corrected, signed off)
Section 7:University/ Community Contributions
(appropriate materials, clearly presented)
Section 8: Additional Academic Accomplishments (appropriate materials, clearly presented)
Section 9: Awards & Honors (appropriate materials, clearly presented)
OVERALL TECHNICAL PRESENTATION

B.A. Liberal Studies Written Assignment Evaluation Sheet

Department of Academic and Human Development

Student’s Name:______

Reviewer’s Name:______

Date of Review:______

Area Evaluated / Ratings
Basic Format / Yes / No / Comments
Paper conforms to guidelines 5-7 Pages
Double spacing throughout
One-inch margins all around
Page numbers in upper right corner
Appropriate 12 point font size throughout
Title page with correct identifying information
Format Consistent with APA Style/MLA (____ pts.)
Technical Effectiveness / Excellent / Good / Fair / Poor / NA
Logical flow and organization of paper
Use of section headings and subheadings
Sentence structure and grammar
Paragraph structure built around thesis sentence
Spelling and punctuation
Citation of references in the text
Documentation of quotations
Overall Technical Effectiveness (____ pts.)
Scholarship / Excellent / Good / Fair / Poor / NA
Content of paper addresses the assignment
Conclusions and opinions backed by evidence
Suitable coverage of the available literature
Depth of analysis of topic area
Other:
Overall Scholarship (____ pts.)
Additional Comments: / __ Paper is suitable for portfolio
__ Paper is not suitable
__ Paper is suitable with revisions
__ Other recommendation:
Overall Score or Grade______

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