POLICIES

1.  Students must be enrolled in a degree or a certificate program at AACC.

2.  Students must have taken English 111 or be eligible to take the ENG 111 course.

3.  Students must have completed at least six college credits at AACC. Any credits awarded for courses by portfolio assessment do not count as resident credits.  

4. Students must have at least five years of experiential learning outside of the classroom in an applicable field of study.

5. As of now, the portfolio assessment of prior learning program is available in four areas: architecture, business, engineering technologies and human services.  See the list of applicable courses. 

6. Students must contact the Records Office at 410-777-2834 to determine their eligibility for portfolio assessment program and the number of credits they could earn by this process. 

7. Students must pay the portfolio assessment program application fee of $50, the online tutorial access fee of $100 and any other required registration fee to enroll in this program.  These fees are valid for a period of four consecutive semesters excluding summer terms, starting with the semester when the applicant first pays the fees.

8. In addition to the fees stated in (7) above, students must pay an assessment fee of $100 per course evaluation. In the event that a student submits a portfolio containing material for multiple course evaluations, each evaluation will be assessed a fee of $100.

9. Portfolio submissions: a) All completed portfolios must be submitted to the Office of Learning Outcomes Assessment (LOA); b) at least one portfolio must be submitted in the same semester in which POR-300 is completed; and c) additional portfolios may be submitted within two academic years of completing POR-300.

10. Additional fees may apply for supplementary assessments such as site visits or for faculty member’s time for any extended portfolio evaluation process.

11. The program application fee and the tutorial access fee are non-refundable.  Portfolio assessment fee may be refunded only if the portfolio is not submitted or assessed.  In the event that credit for portfolio is denied by faculty, all fees are non-refundable. 

12. All fees are subject to change.

13. Students must submit TWO COPIES of each portfolio. One copy will be returned to the student after assessment and the college will retain the other.

14. Prior to developing a portfolio students must request a copy of learning objectives for courses from the academic department chair/director responsible for the courses. 

15. The successful assessment of a higher-level course does not presuppose course competencies that are demonstrated for its prerequisites; competencies for prerequisites must be demonstrated independently.

16.  Portfolio assessment credit will be recorded and clearly indicated as “PLA credit” on student transcript and will not impact student’s GPA.

17. A maximum of 15 credits earned through portfolio assessment and by departmental exam can be used towards an associate degree at Maryland Community Colleges. Students seeking a certificate at the college can earn up to 25% of credits required for certificate by portfolio assessment. 

18.  If a faculty assessor finds the portfolio lacking in certain expected areas of evaluation, he or she has the right to request additional information or require other forms of assessment such as tests and interviews with the student.

19. In the event a faculty assessor denies credit for portfolio, the student has the right to appeal the decision to the Office of LOA.  The student may submit a written petition within 30 days of the decision and pay a fee of $100 to cover the second evaluation of the portfolio. The second assessor’s decision will be final.

20. AACC does not allow portfolio evaluation for course credits already included in student’s transcript.