PORTFOLIO REQUIREMENTS AND GUIDELINES PUAD 692 The MPA Capstone Course James Madison University Master of Public Administration Department of Political Science 2100 Miller Hall (MSC 7705) Harrisonburg, VA 22807 540.568.6149 puad@jmu.edu Revised December 2008
A Professional Portfolio for the MPA Student Why a Professional Portfolio? Beginning in Spring 2009, all Master of Public Administration (MPA) students at James Madison University will be required to prepare a professional portfolio in order to fulfill degree requirements. The portfolio serves as the program s comprehensive examination, and successful completion and a satisfactory evaluation of the portfolio replace a formal, written examination. The portfolio will be prepared, presented, and evaluated during the capstone course, PUAD 692, but students are encouraged to save academic and professional artifacts for the portfolio throughout their program tenure. PUAD 692 must be scheduled during the final spring semester in the program of study. Approved portfolios are filed with and maintained by the MPA Coordinator. The purposes of the portfolio are: To document student competencies in established academic and professional areas To document student development over the course of study To encourage conscious public service through reflexivity and self-assessment To demonstrate knowledge, skills, and abilities to prospective employers To provide students an opportunity to develop and refine personal and professional development goals, and To provide students and faculty an opportunity to assess the MPA program. What is a Professional Portfolio? A portfolio is a collection of materials ranging from research papers to videos of presentations to press clippings to illustrative documents from group projects. Some of the materials for the portfolio are collected from previously completed work. These pre-existing artifacts typically are derived from coursework, internships, or professional work completed during the course of the MPA program. Other materials are productions prepared to meet specific objectives for the portfolio document. Each portfolio includes both artifacts and productions. In addition to the materials, the portfolio also includes captioning for all materials, a reflective component, and professional documents (e.g., a resume, a philosophy of professional practice statement). All portfolios are required to be developed in an electronic format. Final copies are submitted on a CD or DVD. How is a Professional Portfolio Developed? Development of a high quality professional portfolio is designed to be a rewarding process, but it will require thorough planning, meticulous attention to detail, a substantial time commitment, and openness to constructive criticism and feedback. The capstone course is primarily dedicated to the development of the portfolio, but students should expect to spend considerable effort outside of class time preparing the document. Meeting all preliminary deadlines is essential to completing a successful portfolio by the final submission deadline. Failure to meet any deadline could jeopardize the ability to graduate on time. MPA Portfolio Guidelines 2
Portfolio Components: Minimum Requirements I. Cover Sheet The cover sheet should provide basic identifying information, which should include, at a minimum: 1) Student name, 2) Submission Date, 3) Program and Degree Information, 4) Concentration Area, and 5) Student Contact Information II. III. IV. Table of Contents A standard table of contents listing all materials with correct page information. Active links are encouraged to facilitate review and downloading. Resume A current professional resume should be included; students interested in pursuing doctoral education should also include a curriculum vita. Statement of Philosophy of Professional Practice A one-page statement of the student s primary motivation for public service, a discussion of the philosophical or theoretical perspectives that have influenced managerial and professional orientation, and a statement of guiding principles for public service and managerial decisionmaking. V. Statement of Professional Goals A 1-2 page statement of career and professionals goals. This should include a description of any past and present work experience and how that experience influenced future goals. It should also include a set of short-term goals (up to two years out) and long term goals (five to ten years out). The statement may include a discussion of plans to obtain particular education, training, certifications, or skills; involvement in professional organizations; significant community involvement; and/or other relevant professional or service-oriented activities. VI. VII. Artifacts and Productions Between ten and twenty captioned documents must be included in the portfolio. See Portfolio Materials for more information. Competency-Document Matrix The competency-document matrix is a standard form required for all JMU MPA portfolios. The matrix identifies the documents used to meet each professional or academic competency. This matrix form is included as an attachment to these guidelines. MPA Portfolio Guidelines 3
Portfolio Materials Artifacts Portfolio artifacts are papers, reports, documentation of presentations, projects, instructional materials, in print or other media forms, from work experience, military service, or other professional activities. It should also include materials generated during academic study, such as coursework. These artifacts may have been designed, developed or conducted either by the student as an individual or as a member of a team; in either case the material should be clearly captioned. Productions Productions are similar to artifacts in that they may be in any number of formats. The key difference is that productions are activities that are designed to demonstrate particular competencies for the portfolio. Typically, some competencies are going to be either undocumented or weakly documented via available artifacts. The productions allow an opportunity for purposeful planning of activities that will shore up the weakest areas of the portfolio. As well, productions may be used to highlight specialized skills that are particularly relevant to the short- or long-term goals of an individual student. Productions may be individual efforts or group collaborations. All productions should be approved by the PUAD 692 instructor prior to commencing work. Captions A caption is a standardized introduction for each artifact or production. Captions should be approximately one page in length, and should include the document number and title, the source of the document and its origination date, a summary of the document, a rationale for its inclusion in the portfolio, and a list of illustrated competencies. An example of a caption is included on the following page. MPA Portfolio Guidelines 4
Caption Component Example Number Document 33 Title Benefit-Cost Analysis Memo: Kirkville Sewer Project Analysis Origination PUAD 641 (Public Budgeting) Origination Date 14 January 2009 Summary (descriptive) This memo was the product of a group assignment that required the development of a full benefit cost analysis comparing three proposed sewage projects. Rationale (persuasive) Our group received a score of 93% on this assignment. I was primarily responsible for the calculations associated with Scenario 1 and with drafting the initial memorandum. I provided informal leadership for the group by keeping us on task and facilitating agreements when there were differing opinions among my colleagues. This project was especially challenging because I was not previously familiar with infrastructure vocabulary, but by the end I became quite adept at interpreting the regulations that governed the projects. Our group learned a lot about capital project planning in a limited amount of time. The analysis really drove home the importance interest rates and bond ratings in evaluating capital proposals. And, while the concept of benefit-cost analysis is very appealing on a rational level, it became clear that the results are heavily influenced by assumptions of the analyst. In particular, the benefit-cost analysis proved difficult in terms of monetization of non-market externalities (e.g., the effect of sewer odors on quality of life) and the determination of an appropriate discount rate Demonstrated Benefit-cost analysis, public budgeting, written communication, Competencies and Skills group participation, leadership, and utilization of technology MPA Portfolio Guidelines 5
Other Guidelines 1) Only electronic portfolios will be accepted. The portfolio should be recorded to CD or DVD for final submission. The disc should be labeled (see below) with the student s full name, JMU student identification number, and the date of submission. Gary Richard Kirk, 109999999, 25 May 2011 2) The portfolio should not contain hyperlinks to external documents. The document should be self-contained. Thus, active links should refer only to documents included within the final portfolio or available on the media on which the portfolio is recorded. 3) The portfolio must include a total of 10-20 artifacts or productions. Of these, at least three must be productions. All productions should be approved by the PUAD 692 instructor before completion. 4) Portfolio materials are not limited to text documents. Also consider adding slide shows, photographs, video files, or other media. The portfolio offers a chance to be creative in addition to being thorough and thoughtful. 5) The portfolio should not include material protected by copyright unless it is the property of the student. Exceptions may be made in instances where appropriate permissions have been obtained and appropriate credit is given. 6) The portfolio should not include confidential material or information. All portfolio materials should be deemed appropriate for public review. In the case of potentially sensitive materials, a letter of permission from an authorized agent should accompany the materials. 7) Any references to academic or professional sources should be cited using the formatting guidelines from Public Administration Review. 8) Editing of artifact documents is permitted. Any artifact that is altered for the portfolio must indicate the extent of revision in the caption title and summary. MPA Portfolio Guidelines 6
Portfolio Evaluation A student completing the portfolio as part of the requirements for PUAD 692 is to turn his/her portfolio in to the course instructor. A student who submits a portfolio deemed unsatisfactory by the instructor will have one opportunity to resubmit the portfolio. Portfolios will become the property of the MPA Program, and will not be returned. Each student, therefore, should make a personal copy of his/her portfolio. Portfolio Review Each student portfolio will be evaluated by the instructor for PUAD 692. To successfully pass the portfolio, the student must earn a B or better on each competency requirement. Passing the portfolio is equivalent to passing the comprehensive examination requirement of the JMU Graduate School. It should be noted that the grade in PUAD 692 is NOT the same as the portfolio grade. It is possible to receive a passing grade in PUAD 692 without passing the portfolio requirement. A passing portfolio is required to graduate from the MPA program. Appeal of an Unsatisfactory Grade If the portfolio is deemed unsatisfactory, the student may resubmit the portfolio to the instructor of PUAD 692. The student should consult with the instructor to develop a strategy before resubmitting the portfolio. The portfolio may only be resubmitted once. If, upon reevaluation of the portfolio by the instructor, the student does not receive a passing portfolio grade, the student may choose to appeal the decision to the MPA Coordinator. If the MPA Coordinator is the instructor of PUAD 692, then appeals may be made to the Chair of the Department of Political Science. Appeals must be made in writing within two weeks of notification of the grade on the reevaluated portfolio. The MPA Coordinator or the department Chair will appoint a committee of three faculty members not involved in the original review to hear the appeal within three weeks of the appeal. The student has the right to appear in person before that committee. The committee may overturn or confirm the instructor s evaluation of the portfolio. The decision of the committee is final. Any further appeals must be taken to the Dean of the Graduate School. MPA Portfolio Guidelines 7
Portfolio Evaluation Student Name: Submission: Original Resubmitted Evaluator: Date: Core Content Area: 1) Public Management/Behavior 2) Public Budgeting 3) Human Resources Management 4) Legal Environment 5) Social, Political, Economic Processes and Institutions Concentration: Indicate Concentration Name: 6) Concentration Competency Analytical Skills: 7) Research Design 8) Research Implementation 9) Program Evaluation Interpersonal Communication: 10) Written Communication 11) Oral Communication Professional Skills: 12) Decision-making 13) Utilization of Technology 14) Leadership 15) Group Participation Administrative Profession: 16) Cultural Competency 17) Ethical Action Score (Pass=84+) Other Competencies (Not Evaluated): 18) Language Skills 19) Student Defined OVERALL SCORE: Circle One: PASS FAIL Signature of Evaluator: Date: Narrative Comments Attached MPA Portfolio Guidelines 8
Portfolio Competency-Document Matrix Public Management/Behavior Public Budgeting Human Resources Management Legal Environment Soc.ialPolitical/Econ. Processes & Institutions Concentration Competency Research Design Research Implementation Program Evaluation Written Communication Oral Communication Decision-making Utilization of Technology Leadership Group Participation Cultural Competency Ethical Action Language Skills Student Defined Document Example, 33. BCA Memo X X X X X 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 MPA Portfolio Guidelines 9