Out, Standing in our Field

Recently, I have started to think that one of the main projects I worked on as an undergraduate and graduate student might just have qualified for the "Out, Standing in A Field" type of certificate. You know, the ones that imply not greatness, but loneliness. Typically they picture a single person, usually in business attire, standing alone in a vast expanse of tall grass. If these can be awarded far after the fact, I think a project from the 95-2002 or so probably qualifies for such a notation.

For several years I worked on college-sponsored electronic portfolio projects. The projects were ambitious, aiming to improve student connections between the relevant licensing or professional standards in their chosen fields of study and their academic preparation to work. The colleges meant to use the portfolios as an outcomes assessment, while the students could use them as interviewing aids.

It was a great idea, but before its time: we did not yet have any of the authoring software that made it practical (does anybody who remembers MS FrontPage 98 not grimace now?), had little idea of how to secure intellectual property, and hadn't worked out how long schools would host student data into the future. We did try out many ideas that were worthwhile, including juried portfolio exhibitions, places for reviewer comments and threaded discussions, and the like. Unfortunately, it was ultimately unsustainable for both schools. Marymount College, Tarrytown eventually closed. Columbia University, Teachers College let the project come to a stop slowly, through its own inertia.

With the inevitable slow-down that comes with days-off for the holidays and the resume-review that comes with economic hard times, I have spent some time on sites like Linked-In and CareerBuilder. That's when it occurred to me: looking at Linked-In in particular was a glimpse "back to the future." No sooner had I created my own profile than I realized: this new-fangled thing contained most of the elements of what had been termed the "display portfolio" in the old programs. A little biographical information, some work history: like a resume with hypertext, footnotes, whatever. There it all was. The only thing it lacked was a place for a philosophy statement and rationales for "why" certain items were included: but then again, these pieces were often ultimately omitted from presentation portfolios.

Shazam! The principles of the old Career Achievement Portfolio, live in hypertext. All the old problems solved. It just took an additional decade to get it done. And not by us. But it was pretty nifty to see. We may have been out, standing in our field back then, but we're in pretty good company now.