JANET BACHANT'S PERSONAL WEB SITE

The purpose of this study is to complete the preliminary steps of developing your individualized curriculum, known as your "Degree Program," as a result of thinking about and researching your educational and career goals. In particular, you will explore your interest in your field of choice and options available within that field. After the initial meeting with the mentor, you are expected to read the Student Planning Guide and to attend the monthly academic planning seminars, held from 6--8PM on the third Tuesday of each month. Every student should bring at least 8 copies of one document that he or she would like to present for group feedback. These meetings are very helpful in that they give you an opportunity to meet other students and also enable you to get a first hand look at the beginning, middle and end of the academic planning process. Attendance is required.

The activities to be completed by the second meeting are:
1. Attend the group academic planning seminar, once a month.
2. Attend a portfolio workshop ASAP where you will receive a copy of The Student Planning Guide,essential to completing this study.
3. Read through the Student Planning Guide and note questions for the second meeting. Pay particular attention in the Guide to pages 3-41.
4. See Marcelina Delgado in the administrative area and obtain a ESC photo ID. Register on the ESC website by logging in at My ESC.
5. Log onto the college website: www.esc.edu and explore the resources that are available to students. Check out the Areas of Study that interest you and take note of any requirements you may need to meet in pursuing your educational goals.
6. Log onto the on-line Degree Program planner. This is available in two places:
1) In the My ESC section of the college website (see the top line "DP Planner") or
2) www1.esc.edu/personal/fbrunsch/dpa/ (This is the DP Assistant)
You must have Microsoft Excel loaded on your computer for the DP Assistant program to work. You can use the computers in the lab to do this if you are not able to access the site at home. IMPORTANT: To save your work, right click on one of the links and then choose "Save as" or "Save target as." Familiarize yourself with the site and what it does for you. (Don't forget about the Gen Ed grid!--use the bottom tabs.) Come to your next meeting with as much of the planner filled out as you can. (You can enter prior learning from your transcript --in exact order, with exact titles please!) Remember that we give transfer credit only for courses in which you have earned a C- or better.

In this phase of your degree program planning we want you to think about
a) what you want to study,
b) the need to fulfill SUNY General Education Requirements, and
c) any requirements in your Area of Study.

Within these constraints, let yourself go wild!! Develop your Academic Wish List by thinking about what you have always wanted to learn more about and making up titles for these studies. Enter them in the Contract Learning Section. We can change this as we go along, as your research and ideas about your educational goals progress. Pay attention to the credit requirements! If you don't have enough credits, add more studies! If you have too many, delete those in which you have the least interest or those that do not further your educational goals. Studies at Empire State College are generally 4 credits each. Don't worry about not seeing courses in a catalogue or on-line -- your first draft should come from your heart!

Print out a preliminary degree program plan and bring it to the second meeting.


For the third meeting the following should be completed:

1. A revised degree program plan based on your continued thinking and research: informational interviews, on-line exploration, other college catalogues. Include estimates for credit by evaluation essays. Remember that your total number of credits must be 128 in your final degree program plan. There are models of degree programs in the Guide received at the Portfolio Workshop as well as on-line at the college website: http://www.esc.edu.
2. An essay, your Degree Program Rationale (approximately 2--3 pages, typed and double-spaced) explaining the preliminary degree program you are designing, including educational and career goals. Explain how your concentration fulfills your educational and career goals. Explain in this essay how you arrived at this particular degree plan, including your reasons for your choices in general learning. You may want to use the outline for the degree program rationale that is available on my Academic Planning SUNY course website.
3. The SUNY Gen Ed grid should be completed.
4. Essays for credit by evaluation: If you are writing essays for evaluation, be sure to read the section entitled Outline for a Learning Description on page 29 of your Student Handbook. Make sure your essay begins with
   • Your name
   • Title of Learning
   • Credits Requested
   • How you learned
     

It should be written from the perspective of what you have learned, not what you did. It should begin with a statement of how long and in what capacity you have been involved in this learning. It should speak about how you have used this learning.

For the fourth meeting make all the suggested corrections to the essays, rationale, and preliminary degree program. Once these have been checked, the portfolio is ready for submission. Fill out the front cover, sign and check the folder cover to be sure the necessary materials and the correct number of copies are included. Please be aware that portfolios will be blocked from proceeding until all CLEP scores have been received by the college. If the Assessment Office sends you a note, your portfolio cannot proceed until you have complied with their requests. Be aware that this process is very labor intensive and takes quite a number of months to complete.

C. METHOD AND CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION
The evaluation will be based on completion of all the above activities.