Life Experience Credit

Before developing the portfolio:

1. Apply to JCC for a degree or certificate program. Once accepted and prepared for advisement, continue to step 2.

2. Make an appointment with the Success Center to meet with a counselor to discuss life experience credit. Once you determine whether pursuing life experience credit makes sense for your academic and career goals, you will work with a counselor to determine the areas of life experience to be assessed and the advisability of seeking credit. This meeting will also help you determine how your life experience credit may or may not relate to short or long-term educational goals. Multiple methods of accumulating credit for prior learning will also be explored, such as the College Level Examination Program (CLEP), Advanced Placement (AP), independent study, challenge exams, industry certifications, and military training.

3. Once a decision has been made to pursue life experience credit, the counselor will assist you in performing a degree audit in Degree Works to determine which coursework and the number of credit hours required of your degree or certificate program would be best to develop a portfolio for and how many credit hours to seek through life experience.

4. Once the coursework and number of credit hours being pursued has been determined, you will develop a portfolio for each area to be assessed, including documentation of the learning. You will work with your counselor to review the portfolio development guidelines below. The portfolio will then be submitted to the counselor you are working with in the Success Center, who will review for completion before forwarding to the appropriate academic faculty member for assessment.

5. You will be charged a non-refundable $50 administrative fee for your initial portfolio review request. For each portfolio submitted to faculty departments for review, there will be an additional charge of $50. This fee is charged regardless of the outcome of the portfolio evaluation. You will need to sign an agreement of payment form.

After you submit your portfolio:

6. The counselor you are working with in the Success Center will notify you of each faculty’s response to your portfolio(s), and the result of credit determination(s).

7. The counselor will notify the Registrar’s Office of the credit being awarded to you, and the credit will be added to your academic transcript.

8. Life experience credit may or may not be transferable. If you plan on continuing your education at another school, that school should be contacted to find out what their policy is on credit for experiential learning.

Description of your degree plans: Indicate how this request for credit is to be integrated into your academic goals. State what type and how much credit you see as appropriate. (This will be explained in the interview with the counselor.)

Description of your past experience: Give a chronological review of your activities, responsibilities, and involvements. (Include dates, length of time involved, who, when, where.)

• Additional learning: Include lectures, seminars, workshops, trainings, books, films, and courses. Describe their content and amount of time you spent. Provide any artifacts and certificates of completion.
• If you are seeking credit in an area that represents something you have created such as art, music, photography, etc., finished products should be submitted to complement your portfolio.

Learning: From my provided involvements, I have learned and mastered the following: (Provide your response.)

• This section should document the learning, skills and competencies that have resulted from your experience. Statements such as "I learned" or "I can do the following based on my activities" may be helpful prompts.
• Consider using this area as a presentation of a syllabus for the life course you have “taken.”

Letters of testimony: To be obtained from leaders, experts, instructors, employers, etc. to document involvement. Letters should include direct reference to and support of your individual learning. Certificates, awards, diplomas, and letters of recognition relative to your life experience area may also be included in your submission.