1. Students must complete a portfolio document and portfolio interview with their advisor. The interview should occur before or during the time that students are applying for practicum placements, typically during the second semester of the first year.

2. Students must identify, prioritize, and include 2 best pieces of evidence for each competency. Additional evidence can be included at the student's discretion; however, a student should provide, at a minimum, a list of additional evidence that could be made available upon request.

3. Portfolio Conference. A portfolio conference must be scheduled before or during the second semester of the second year in the program. At least two weeks prior to the setting the date for the conference, students are required to present the following materials to the program faculty during a portfolio conference:

• Written summary of Evidence (2-3 pages) amassed for each outcome competency.
  
  
• Portfolio Document. A portfolio is a systematic and organized collection of evidence related to the student's professional competencies and personal growth in both academic and professional domains. The portfolio can take several forms, but must include at a minimum the student's Personal Competency Statement, Best Sample of Work or Behavior, and Best Practices Reading List and the Portfolio Checklist.
  
  
• Personal Competency Statement. The Personal Competency Statement is a written self-description of one's competencies focusing on areas of expertise and boundaries or limits of practical skills. This statement must be based on course work, research, and clinical experiences. The statement should represent a succint, integrative summary of discrete skills and interests with consideration of general service delivery parameters (e.g., age range of clients, service settings, types of problems/disorders).
  
  
• Of all the components of a portfolio, this document should represent the best succinct definition of "who you are and what you can do" as a developing school counselor. This statement should include aspects of both one's clinical and academic competencies. This statement should not exceed three, double-spaced pages.
  
  
• Best Sample of Work or Behavior. This is a brief statement (including rationale) of what the student believes is the Best Sample of Work/Behavior contained in his/her portfolio. The specific sample is already contained in the portfolio. This is just a statement directing the faculty to focus on thei work/behavior sample as a reflection the student's "best practices" performance.
  
  
• Best Practices Reading List. This is simply a student's personal reference list organized and orientation of the student and be limited to readings (i.e., books, chapter, articles) that represent the student's perception of best professional practices. This list should be material the student actually read during their graduate program and can include material not normally part of a course.

4. Following the portfolio conference, the program faculty review the contents of the portfolio. Each faculty member provides written feedback and evaluates the portfolio on a Hi PASS, PASS, or FAIL basis.

5. Reviewers will provide initial ratings of portfolio evidence using the following runric: High PASS (no oral defense necessary in this competency domain); PASS (oral defense necessary in this competency domain). A rating is assigned for each domain and questions will be developed only for those domains with a rating of Pass. If anyone domain area is deemed to have insufficient evidence, then the student will have to re-submit the portfolio during the next review period.

6. The portfolio conference is requested by the student. Typical conferences will last approximately 30-45 minutes. The goal is to ensure that each member of the program faculty has an overview of the student's work and to coordinate a subsequent review of the student's review of the student's materials amond individual faculty.

7. The student's advisor is designated as the Chair of the Portfolio Review Committee and is responsible for conducting the actual oral interview. Our first goal will be accomplished through activities such as:

• Arranging for guest speakers
• Attending Conferences and Workshops
• Learning more about available research opportunities

Our second goal will be achieved through various activities such as:

• Volunteering
• Fundraising
• Clothing Drives

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