Portfolio

You will create a professional planning portfolio that contains a Core section—completed by all students—and either an Employment section or a Graduate School section, depending upon your post-baccalaureate plans. The final section of your portfolio will be a copy of your review paper, which has been corrected according to the feedback you received from your instructor.

The Core section will contain the following documents:

• Document 1 – A personal statement describing your immediate and long-term career and life goals, including an explanation of why these goals are appropriate and realistic in terms of your curricular, extracurricular, professional, and personal experiences
• Document 2- Students will write a paper reflecting upon their educational experiences within their psychology program journey, using the Program Goals as an organizational paradigm. That means you will organize your paper using the Goals. Sections of the body of the paper will correspond to the Goals. This paper should include thoughts regarding successes and challenges, new insights, and personal transformations. This should be at a deep level rather than a surface mention. You must address each of the Program Goals which are displayed below and discuss how you have specifically met that goal, referencing courses, papers and concepts. List the Program Goal verbatim (with proper citation) and then address each component to receive maximum points. The reflective paper will be 7 to10 pages, double-spaced, not including the expected title and reference pages. APA format is expected and you must reference yourself when quoting from past papers. Only academic/scholarly sources should be used. You should organize it by the Program Goals and use headings per the APA Manual.

UMUC Psychology Program Goals

• Apply major concepts, theoretical perspectives, empirical findings, and historical trends in psychology to prepare for graduate studies or careers in which psychological training is relevant.

• Apply basic knowledge of research methodology, statistics, measurement, guidelines, ethical standards, laws, and regulations in order to design, participate in and to evaluate research in a variety of contexts.

• Apply knowledge of human behavior to inform personal growth, communicate effectively, solve problems, make decisions and interact with individuals, communities, and organizations.

• Use critical and creative thinking, skeptical inquiry, and where possible appropriate technology and the scientific approach to solve problems related to current and emergent trends within the domains of psychology.

• Value diversity and different perspectives, tolerate ambiguity, and act ethically to communicate appropriately with various sociocultural and international populations.

• Document #3 A current, accurate, and professional-appearing resume or curriculum vitae written

1. The Employment section will contain the following documents:

• The results of a computerized job search that yielded at least three job possibilities and a brief report that explains why each of these programs is appropriate for you based on your immediate and long-term career and life goals as described in the first section of this portfolio.
• A professional-appearing cover letter that can be modified for specific job applications
• Completed letter of recommendation request forms from at least three appropriate people who have agreed to write you strong letters of recommendation for a job

1. The Graduate School section will contain the following documents:

• Results of a search for appropriate graduate programs that yielded at least three possible programs and a brief report that explains why each of these programs is appropriate for you based on your immediate and long-term career and life goals as described in the first section of this portfolio.
• A professional appearing personal statement that can be modified for specific graduate programs
• Completed letter-of-recommendation request-forms from at least three appropriate people who have agreed to write you strong letters of recommendation for graduate school