TESC Portfolio snub

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Christopher Green, Feb 24, 2003.

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  1. Christopher Green

    Christopher Green New Member

    I just got snubbed by my portfolio advisor because I wanted to contact the professor doing the grading directly. I have called twice now, and they have explained to me that this is not customary.

    Even if I wanted to send an email to my advisor and then have her forward it to my professor, and then have it subsequently returned in the same way, I couldn't do so.

    Does TESC always grade out of an incubator?

    Chris
     
  2. Hang on a second, Chris . . . let me get this out of my system.

    Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! :D

    There . . . I feel better now.

    Having earned 98 credits by portfolio on my TESC degree (thus also earning a few pages in Bears' Guide), I would have to ask why you felt such a need to contact an evaluator directly. (And yes, the person doing an individual submission is your evaluator for that submission, not your professor.)

    I can only thnk of one instance in which I had any direct contact with an evaluator. That was for a three-credit submission I did in Arms Control & Disarmament. I approached the subject from a philosophical/ethical perspective; the evaluator approached it from a technical/logistics perspective (weapons systems, defense strategies, etc.). He communicated that to me through my portfolio advisor, and I responded to him through my portfolio advisor, inviting the evaluator to pop an oral exam on me that covered the subjects he wanted to see addressed.

    A few days later, I got a surprise call from the evaluator, who did, indeed, pop an immediate oral exam on me in the subject (and who ultimately said that I knew more about the subject than he did).

    The issue, as I see it, is simply that you are not going through the proper channels. I didn't demand a personal contact, I invited it. And even that was an unusual occurrence, since I felt no need to have direct contact with an evaluator for the other 95 credits I earned via portfolio.

    So, does TESC grade out of an incubator? No. They grade according to their established policies and procedures. And, in the case of portfolio credit, they do not grade per se at all; you either receive the credit or you do not.

    (Incidentally, there are two instances where I did bnot receive the credit. One case, which I have discussed elsewhere, is a course titled Canada. I approached the subject from the perspective of history and culture, the evaluator approached it from the perspective of politics and economics. I had chosen the testing option, and when I saw the test, it was more expedient for me to simply say, "Fuck it." The other instance was a course in religious broadcasting, in which the evaluator felt I had duplicated too much of my submission for a general broadcasting course. I did not argue with either situation - after all, I had received 98 freakin' credits by portfolio, so I wasn't about to get greedy for the six that were denied.)

    I am rather curious - your sig line indicates that you are seeking a second bachelor's through Excelsior, not TESC. That aside, I think you're taking TESC's refusal to put policy aside as a personal affront, which it is not. Moreover, I would hardly call that refusal a "snub." All I can suggest is that you get over it - part of TESC's credibility is not in what they will let you get away with, but in what they will not let you get away with.

    Now, I may have had it easier than you. I actually knew my portfolio advisor, and he knew me - not socially, but simply because I personally dropped off my portfolio at the school and met in person with all of my advisors - program, portfolio, and testing/assessment. And even held my pre-graduation conference at TESC in person. (The PGC, which is no longer required, was a wonderful comprehensive oral exam on any three topics in a field. Some of the most fun I had in the program, and it's a shame they don't require it anymore.) I had the advantage of being only an hour from the school instead of 3,000-some miles. But you can still strive for as much personal contact as possible (you didn't say whether you were "snubbed" in writing, or whether you had actually spoken to your portfolio advisor directly by phone at some point, or whether your calls were to the advisement center, in which case you would have spoken with a program advisor ).

    But, again, the best advice I can give you is to get over it. Really, Chris, you sound like you're whining on this one.
     

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