BUSA 200: Documenting Professional Development

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BUSA 200Documenting Professional Development

• School of Business Digital
• Portfolio Process
• Fall 2009
• Professor Gerry Myers

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Who am I and where can you find me?

• Professor Gerry Myers
• Morken 326 southwest corner on 3rd floor or in
  the Kelley Café
• X7304
• myersgm_at_plu.edu
• Everything you need including this file is
  accessible at
• http//www.plu.edu/myersgm/busa_200_details.htm

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So whats this portfolio stuff all about?

• Required for all BBA grads
• It is an effort to document
• what you know
• What you can do with what you know
• An example
• Another example

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School of Business Outcomes I

• Knowledge is learning, understanding, and
  internalization of business curriculum content,
  including
• Global perspective,
• effective use of technology,
• ethical decision making, and
• business specific disciplinary content
• Professional Accounting
• Finance
• Global Business Management
• Human Resources Organizations
• Marketing

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School of Business Outcomes II

• Competencies represent the ability to apply
  knowledge and awareness, to draw conclusions, and
  to promote action. Competencies include
• Written communication,
• Oral communication,
• Critical thinking, and
• Interpersonal relationships managing innovation,
  teamwork, leadership

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School of Business Outcomes III

• Core values are the enduring beliefs that guide
  behavior. Our core values are
• Professionalism
• Ethical values or ethical conduct

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Effective for May 2010 graduates, the portfolio
requirement has been modified as follows

• The School of Business Faculty has identified
  several general outcomes appropriate to our
  graduates. Specifically, BBA graduates will
• be prepared to make ethical decisions,
• be competent in the disciplinary foundations of
  business,
• understand global and multicultural perspectives,
• have critical thinking and quantitative skills,
• be effective written and oral communicators,
• have team and interpersonal competence, and
• competently use contemporary technologies.
• December 2009 graduate may use either set of
  outcomes.

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Portfolio Process

• Reading, especially the Portfolio Handbook
• Research, part 1
• Research, part 2
• Your own goals
• Personal SWOC Strengths, Weaknesses,
  Opportunities, Challenges analysis

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Portfolio Process, continued

• Inventory of artifacts and potential evidence
• Selection of evidence
• Reflection
• Action plan
• Assembling the portfolio

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Expectations for this semester, part 1

• Attend two class sessions September 16 and
  November 4
• Make significant progress on the development of
  your digital portfolio. For the purposes of this
  course, "significant progress" is defined as
  follows

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Expectations for this semester, part 2

• Meet with me twice during the semester to discuss
  your progress
• Once between now and November 4th, by which time
  you should have
• prepared a structure and template for your
  portfolio, using the software of your choice
• completed steps 1 through 5 of the Portfolio
  Development Web
• Step 1 reading
• Steps 2 and 3 research about portfolios
• Step 4 development of your own goals
• Step 5 personal assessment of strengths,
  weaknesses, opportunities and challenges
• Please sign up for this first appointment
  todaybut until you have done these things, there
  is really nothing to talk about, unless you have
  very specific questions.

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Expectations for this semester, Part 3

• Meet with me again between November 5th and
  December 4th by this meeting you should have
• Begun work on steps 6 through 10
• Step 6 take inventory
• Step 7 select evidence
• post materials to the server using Uedit or
  other Web editing software of your choice
• Step 8 develop a reflection on your college
  experience which may include prior or concurrent
  work experience
• Step 9 develop an action plan how are you going
  to capitalize on your strengths and
  opportunities, compensate for your weaknesses,
  and deal with the challenges before you?
• Step 10 begin assembly of the portfolio
• Well make the 2nd appointment when you come in
  for the first one.

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Use Googlesites to assemble your portfolio

• https//mail.google.com/a/plu.edu/?AuthEventSource
  SSOinbox

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Materials from courses

• You should be able to identify items from most
  courses that have the potential to be included in
  your portfolio
• Some faculty will identify specific assignments
  as being portfolio material others will let
  you figure out what you think ought to be
  portfolio material

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You want testimony

• When you get a paper back with your profs
  comments, you want the comments included in the
  portfolio document
• Scan the document into Acrobat so that the
  written comments are included
• Video and audio evidence is nice, not required,
  and sucks up storage space use judiciously

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Quality vs. quanitity

• You should have at least some evidence for each
  knowledge area, competency, or core value
• Quantities and levels of accomplishment or
  ability will necessarily vary across categories
  for each student, and across students. We cant
  all be excellent at everything.

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A Revelation!

• Statement from a student reflecting on an
  internship experience
• I found myself second-guessing the quality of
  my work.
• Every stage of growth means new independence and
  new responsibility
• Each stage provides the tools and concepts to
  manage the next stage
• Soon enough you will be YOYO youre on your
  own when it comes to professional stuff

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Quality control

• You will be grading your own work a lot of the
  time
• Nobody will be looking over your shoulder and you
  wont get instant feedback
• Your own quality control mechanism has to kick in
  and provide some sort of inertial guidance

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So where does this quality control mechanism come
from?

• Integration of professional education and the
  liberal arts
• Critical thinking
• Communication
• Interpersonal skills
• Problem solving
• These will give you the tools to sort things out
  and make decisions
• Does this sound a lot like the material that
  ought to be in your portfolio?

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What if I get it wrong?

• You WILL make some bad calls
• We ALL doeven Bill Gates, Winston Churchill,
  Derek Jeter, Tiger Woods, George
  Washingtonanyone else you can name.
• Recognizing the bad ones and learning from them
  is the key

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So how does this relate to my portfolio?

• Completion of the School of Business portfolio is
  one of the LAST things you will do in your
  academic career here at PLU
• It might be equally appropriate to say it is the
  FIRST thing you will do to set yourself up for
  your professional career.
• You have to decide WHAT and WHO it is that YOU
  want to present to the big bad world out there.

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So how does this relate to my portfolio?
continued

• This is YOUR Story
• We can give you guidance
• The plot is yours.

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The bottom line, part I

• Does the preponderance of evidence suggest that
  you
• Are able to communicate effectively?
• Are able to use technology competently?
• Are able to think critically and apply your
  knowledge in a professional setting?
• Possess the personal characteristics to interact
  effectively with others?

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The bottom line, part II

• Does the preponderance of evidence suggest that
  you
• Have been exposed to decision making situations
  with ethical complications?
• Have a sensitivity to the global dimensions of
  business?