As a student admitted to the School of Journalism and Mass Communication after Fall semester 2004, you must create and update a learning portfolio while taking courses in the School. Before graduating, the portfolio must be reviewed by at least one faculty member and one working professional before graduating.

Your learning portfolio can help you start to identify your career goals and to chart your progress toward those goals. While some professors will incorporate the portfolio into their courses, updating and maintaining the learning portfolio is YOUR responsibility.

By the eighth week in your final semester, you must provide an acceptable final Learning Portfolio to the Internship and Assessment Coordinator in order to graduate from the School. The coordinator will verify that your portfolio contains ALL required elements:

1). An up-to-date one page resume.
2). Scenarios: career (4-6 years in field) and job (entry level).
3). Work samples that support job scenario goals:
. Annotated list of work samples, indicating lessons learned (one sentence describing each sample and two or three sentences analyzing learning).
. Best work samples. Submit no more than 12 samples from your educational experience, including four journalistic writing samples. Other items can include: clips, images, design work, Web sites, and resume tapes, work created in J-MC conceptual courses, work from second area courses, work from internships and other media experiences.
4). How's it going? A two-page self-analysis, single-spaced, that includes: . Your progress toward your professional goals and a description of
your personal strengths related to these goals.
. Your understanding of Iowa Dozen.
. Your strategy to continue your professional growth and development.

You will be notified via your UI e-mail account if the Learning Portfolio is acceptable (i.e., contains all required elements), or of what measures must be taken to make it complete. A complete list of those students with acceptable or unacceptable portfolios will be provided-to the Director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication by the 10th week of your final semester. If there are questions or appeals, the Director and/or a faculty hearing committee will hear the appeal.

Your coursework is more than a number of exercises you do for a grade, and your education is more than a set of classes. Creating and maintaining a Learning Portfolio helps you make connections between courses and provides glimpses of you as a developing professional.

If you identify your career goals early and honestly assess your preparation for those goals, you can work smarter and prepare better. Don't worry-you will almost certainly change your career goal as you gain experience and understanding about the journalism and the media-related industries. The Learning Portfolio is designed to help you work through those decisions.

Your Learning Portfolio is a dynamic document, not just a place to store your clips. It's a professional autobiography. It's a story that tells about your education. You're not just showing us your best work; you're showing what you have learned. At the end of it all, you'll be more articulate about your skills and career aspirations, which will help to find the career path you really want.

So start now. Put together your resume, no matter empty it may look. Write down your goals, no matter how vague or uncertain they may be. Only then can you start to identify the steps between where you are now and where you want to go.

The Iowa Dozen

We learn to...
1. Write correctly, clearly and well
2. Conduct research and gather information responsibly
3. Edit and evaluate carefully
4. Use media technologies thoughtfully
5. Apply statistical concepts accurately
We value...
6. Free speech and First Amendment principles for all individuals and groups
7. A diverse global community
8. Creativity and independence
9. Truth, accuracy and fairness
We explore...
10. Theories and concepts
11. The history, structure and economy of media institutions
12. The role of media in shaping cultures

At the end of every semester, make a habit of looking over your portfolio again. Put in some work samples and a paragraph or two about what you learned from them. Revise your goals and start adding lines to your resume. Write a short reflection about how far you've come and how far you have to go. Build your own future and make your own path-piece by piece, clip by clip, news release by news release, sound-bite by sound-bite, website by website....

University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication Office of Internships and Assessment -- E324 Adler Journalism Building
telephone: 319-335-1406
jmc-internships@.uiowa.edu