Portfolios at Excelsior or TESC in Music

[Joel]

Actually the cost per credit attempted is $95 per credit attempted. You pay it up front , regardless of being granted the credit.

So the cost is the 3 credit course cost ( 315 x 3= 945 ) and if you do a portfolio of 6 credits ( 95 x 6= 570 ) , total cost ( including the 3 credit course) is $1515 . Since you already have the class, your cost would be $95 per credit attempted.

To submit a portfolio , minimum credit attempted is 6, and there is no maximum number you can attempt.



peace123

Good info to have. I didn't realize portfolio credits cost less than class credits...though I would still say $570 vs $70 is a no brainer.

My question to the OP is this...what do you hope to do with a music degree? Is it just for personal satisfaction? If not, IMO, there's not much you can do with a general music degree. It's not a music ed degree, so you can't teach. It's not a performance degree and you don't get any instruction. It's not a composition or theory degree either. It's not going to help you get a gig, only practice is going to do that.

[barcotta]

Well--I suspect that David has sufficiently practiced his craft by this point.

David-

Your scenario does obviously break the mold in many ways. Many of us here, including myself, were looking for a quick and inexpensive way to earn a degree. I wanted a degree in business--but a liberal arts degree is probably 3-4 times more popular. My initial reply assumed several things which are not true. It appears that you are looking for a specific degree (music) for which you'll need classes that do not have corresponding CLEP, DSST or ECE exams and $$$ may not be as big an issue for you as it is for others. Also, you've already made significant progress and done significant research into PLA.

So while I still advocate credit-by-exam over PLA--in your case it is not nearly as clear cut as it first appeared. My sense/educated guess/feeling is that it is unlikely that a well-constructed PLA would fail. In other words, I would be shocked if, after taking the PLA class and putting in all the work to construct the portfolio, Excelsior or any of the others would not award the credit. For me it looked like I could achieve my goals with less time, effort and $$$. You have already put in much of the time and effort at this point it appears--so if the $$$ don't scare you away--it certainly seems worth a try!

Let me leave you with this: My experience with credit-by-exam was, overall, very good. My local CC was VERY accommodating to me as an adult learner. If there is a school within travel distance which has a credit-by-exam program and the appropriate classes--you may find them to be accommodating as well. After all--you are likely going to be older and more experienced and knowledgeable than many of the teachers and administrators with whom you will have to deal--and you've accomplished a lot. If you approach them with your goal and engage them in a friendly manner, I'll bet they will help. In my opinion, those credits will be cleaner and, in my case, they were graded.

I received a grade of A in everything except Bass Guitar I (B) because, as you may know, bass players are not often fond of guitar players who THINK they can play bass. Given that the bass course was an introductory TWO credit course, I was a little surprised that he was asking me to follow jazz charts and know the altered tones--sight read and demonstrate the various scale modes. He was actually a REALLY nice guy--but I kept thinking to myself, "Is he really getting kids from never touching a bass guitar to this in ONE TWO-CREDIT CLASS????"

Anyway, this is a great thread and I hope that you're able to use some of our perspectives as you put together your plan. Good luck!

[dbarnes]

Those are good questions Joel.

Fortunately, I don't need a gig. I'm 61 years old and am an IT manager at a financial services firm so I don't really even need a job (not yet anyway).

I'm not really even going for a degree from EC or TESC; just enough testing credits to ease my way on a degree from the College of Liberal Studies at the University of Oklahoma.

And I could be very wrong, but since I first became interested in this path more than twenty years ago I've been under the impression that if your accomplishments were documentable (is that a word? :-) and significant and demonstrated college-level learning, portfolios were a good way to go.

I was a producer/arranger for twenty-five years until Ijust got sick of it and fell in love with computers. I"ve produced and arranged five number one records and have a gold record to prove it. I have tape of me conducting a 31-piece orchestra on my arrangements for a TV special in Canada and believe me, I could go on.

Before the Internet, when all we really had was the occassional bulletin board and physical books, I read over and over how TESC in particular awarded people half or more of their degree through portfolio assessment. It's not an ego thing with me. I've just always figured that I might be on track for smething similar should I decide to pursue that course. I'm also not so stubborn as to insist on that route should testing prove quicker.

At my age, although the cost is an issue, for me it is not nearly as important as the time involved in getting the credits. Believe me, I'm studying my heart out on the CLEP exams to try to get the requirements out of the way, and I'm all for testing. I've done a ton of it.

I just have a fairly unique background that I have always thought might map well to the portfolio system, that's all.

David

[dbarnes]

Actually Michael, your story about Bass Guitar I was a perfect example of why I thought portfolio might be my best route. I just have a feeling I'd run across a lot of instructors who would use things I forgot forty years ago to try to trip me up.

I ran into an even worse situation at Oklahoma City Univeristy, where I was originally enrolled as a piano major over forty years ago.

I took their portfolio course and in it we actually had to develop a portfolio. I chose a graphic design course for mine because I had done a lot of advertising for a computer store I owned and had logos, signage, newspaper ads, etc. that I could use as documentation.

As I mentioned before, I got an A (actually, an A++) on the portfolio and was encouraged to take it to the head of the graphic arts department for evaluation and credit.

I tried in person three times and by phone more than a dozen, and couldn't even get him to return my call.

I suspect there are those who worked their a$$es off getting where they are and see people seeking portfolio credit as looking for an easy way out. They just weren't with me in LA dodging beer bottles at the Palomino, or sleeping in a bunk on a bus doing 150 one-nighters in a year. Or rewriting string parts from scratch because the score was in my luggage which was lost by the airline.

If they could have been with me on this journey they would either give me a masters or certify me as insane!

[NAP]

Thank you for having this conversation. It is a very interesting one.

I was considering a portfolio also, but was concerned about having to pay up front for credits that might not be awarded. For now, I have decided to learn new information and not try to get credit for my previous learning. I do think it would be interesting to take the how to do a portfolio course, though.

Peace123 - I am looking forward to your results. Could you submit as many portfolios as you wanted on different topics? (Instead of going for one big lump sum of credits, could you go for several smaller groups of credits?)

[peace123]

NAP,

After taking the Portfolio course, if you are interested in submitting a portfolio you send your advising team a AAF ( Advisor Approval Form). On the AAF you list all the courses you are going to challenge for credit. You have to match your experience to courses at Excelsior or other regionally accredited colleges.
the AAF asks for Course # and title, # of credits, Institution offering the course , course description from catalog. You have to challenge for at least 6 credits, but you can do as many as you want beyond the 6 credits.

Your advisor will check the following information;

1. Student is enrolled at Excelsior
2. Request does not duplicate previously awarded credit
3. Request can not be met by existing standardized examinations
4. Request meets unfilled requirements in the degree plan or goal
5. Request is based on college learning



I am not sure if you can do multiple portfolios. I think that would be something to ask Excelsior. My 6 credit portfolio includes a challenge of 2 completely different courses worth 3 credits each. Also another thing to consider is the portfolio process is a very long one from start to finish , so I really can not see a benefit in submitting multiple small portfolio's.

After you submit your enrollment and pay for the portfolio fee, Excelsior has
to create a workspace for you in their course system. If you have ever taken a class with them you would be familiar with the set up. You submit your documentation and narratives, etc. in the same manner one submits course assignments in one of their classes.

[NAP]

Thank you for sharing so much detail, Peace123!

I think I have made the right decision for now, but I will save this thread for future reference.

Thanks again.

[peace123]

I also believe that they would only assign the credit as pass/fail, so you still wouldn't get a letter grade or GPA assignment with the credit.

The credit awarded at Excelsior for portfolio is indeed pass or fail but it only shows up on your transcript if you pass.

[peace123]

DegreeInfo Distance Learning Discussion Forums - View Single Post - TESC Thomas Edison State College

[dbarnes]

Peace,

This is exactly the kind of description that I saw several of back in the late 80's and early 90's when I first considered the portfolio path.

I suspect it may have changed a little since then, but hopefully not for the worse. I think I am going to spend some time at the library tomorrow and take a look at some catalogues.

I think the key is finding courses from RACs that map to the skills I want to document. And there are a lot of options out there.

Yes, it would be scary to challenge courses totalling 90 credits from a financial standpoint. Writing a check for nearly $10,000 not knowing if it would pay off would definitely keep me up nights waiting for the results. But hopefully the advisors could help minimize the risk.

I may still end up going the testing route. But I may not. If I do go for it on the portolios I will keep everyone updated on my progress. Like I said, I'm lucky in that I have a lot of irrefutable documentation. I think my biggest challenge will be properly mapping the courses to that documentation.

Thanks again for the articles. This is an exciting process and it's fun to be able to share it with like-minded people.

David