Navigating the CPS Portfolio Process

(Answers to Frequently Asked Questions)

• A maximum of 30 units can be earned through writing the portfolio. During the past several years, CPS students have earned an average of 16 units through both portfolio submissions.

• Students have three opportunities to submit portfolio essays. Each essay may be evaluated a maximum of two times: the original essay and the redeveloped essay (upon recommendation of the essay evaluator.) There are no other opportunities for Portfolio Submission.

• Please note: Effective spring 2008, the writing courses have been renumbered INTD 300, 307, and 308 (formerly IS 300, 307, and 308.)

  FIRST SUBMISSION: First submission portfolio essays are developed during the first two writing courses, INTD 307, “Experience and Critical Writing” and INTD 308, “Advanced Expository Writing.” Since strong writing skills are required to complete the major courses, students must receive at least a C- in these two courses in order to continue in any CPS program. Grades of “Incomplete” are not allowed in INTD 307 and/or INTD 308. Your Writing Instructor will be responsible for submitting your first portfolio submission to the Portfolio Evaluation Center in San Francisco upon completion of INTD 308.
  
• SECOND SUBMISSION: Students who have been given permission by the essay evaluator to redevelop essays submitted during the first portfolio submission will have an opportunity to do so in INTD 300, “The Critical Thinking Seminar.” Students may also write new essays during this course. The INTD 300 instructor will help students revise essays and/or offer advice on writing new ones for their second portfolio submission. Students will receive one-unit of academic credit for INTD 300. All students must take INTD 300, whether or not they plan to submit a second set of portfolio essays. Your Writing Instructor will be responsible for submitting your second submission to the Portfolio Evaluation Center upon completion of INTD 300. Please note that INTD 300 carries its own workload requirements for all students.
  
• THIRD SUBMISSION: Students who wish to submit a third set of portfolio essays may do so by registering and paying for the CPS Extended Education course, “America in the 1930s.” New essays submitted in this course may not be redeveloped. Please note that “America in the 1930s” awards three units and carries its own workload requirements for all students.
  

PORTFOLIO EVALUATIONS

• Portfolio evaluators are selected on the basis of their strong academic backgrounds and their commitment to competence-based evaluation of college-level learning.
• The evaluation of portfolio essays takes approximately 8 to 10 weeks from the time of submission to the Portfolio Evaluation Center. Students will be notified when their portfolios have been received by the Center.
• Portfolios and their accompanying evaluations will be mailed to students after the evaluation process is complete. Students who have not received their evaluations by two weeks before the start of INTD 300 and/or “America in the 1930s” may contact Tina Lieu at (415) 422-2133 or email her lieut@usfca.edu.
• Approximately two weeks after the essays have been evaluated and units assigned, the Registrar’s office will post these units to your USF academic record/Degree Evaluation. Degree Evaluations reflect the number of units and courses students need for degree completion. These Evaluations help students and their instructors determine areas in which to write essays that will ultimately satisfy the students’ degree requirements.
• Students may also access their Degree Evaluations online by using USFconnect with their Username and Password. Log into http://usfconnect.usfca.edu. Click on the Student tab; under “Student Self Service,” select Click here, click “Student Records”, and then click on Degree Evaluation to see your Evaluation. If portfolio units are not shown on the Degree Evaluations, students should contact the CPS Records Coordinator in the Registrar’s Office at (415) 422-6830.
• Since each portfolio is evaluated individually, cohort members do not usually receive their portfolio evaluations back at the same time.
  

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:

• Although students submit their portfolios to their Writing Instructors at the end of their writing courses, students may, with faculty approval, send their portfolios to CPS in care of USF, 2130 Fulton Street, San Francisco, 94117-1047, attention “CPS Portfolio Evaluation Center.”
• All portfolios will be returned to students via UPS ground. Students who want to pick up their portfolios at the San Francisco office, should notify Tina Lieu at lieut@usfca.edu.
• Students must keep copies of all material in their portfolios; additionally, students must not include originals and/or irreplaceable materials such as adoption papers, naturalization papers, etc. in their portfolios.
• Recommended length for experiential essays is a minimum of 7 and a maximum of 12 pages.
• Bibliographies are required for all experiential essays except for The Spiritual Autobiography.
• A “Petition for Academic Credit” form must accompany each essay in the students’ portfolios. The Petition is available from the Regional Campuses, the Portfolio Evaluation Center, or from the students’ Writing Instructors. There is also a facsimile of the Petition in the students’ Portfolio Handbook.
• Questions regarding appropriate experiential essay topics should be directed to the students’ INTD 307, INTD 308, INTD 300, and/or “America in the 1930s” instructors.