Faculty Information

The Deans for the School of Liberal Arts & Sciences and the School of Professional & Graduate Studies invite faculty, with the approval of their Division Chairs, to develop Challenge Exams and Portfolio Assessments in order to enhance Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) opportunities that enable students to earn credit for college-level learning that occurred outside the classroom.

Before agreeing to participate in either of the opportunities described below, faculty should read Policy 2.118 Credit by Prior Learning Assessment

Course Challenge Exam Opportunity

Chairs should seek Dean approval for courses prior to developing Challenge Exams.

See the Guidelines for Developing a Challenge Exam for the complete list of expectations for developing an approved Challenge Exam.  Also review the Challenge Exam Self-Assessment Template and the Challenge Exam Rubric Example. 

See also the complete list of available Challenge Exams.

Portfolio Assessment Opportunity

Chairs should seek Dean approval for courses prior to developing Portfolio Assessment Guides.

See the Guidelines for Developing a Portfolio Assessment for the complete list of expectations for developing an approved Portfolio Assessment.  Also review the Portfolio Template and the Challenge Exam Rubric Example (adapt for Portfolio assessment).

Portfolio Assessments will not be offered if a Challenge Exam or other form of PLA (such as CLEP) is available to LCSC students. See also the complete list of available Portfolio Assessments. 

See the list of CLEP exams that we accept here:  http://catalog.lcsc.edu/student-affairs/registrar-records/#placementpriorlearningcreditscorestext

Additional Information

  • Faculty are paid 50.00 for assessment of each Challenge or Portfolio Exam.  Payments are issued once at the end of each semester.
  • Stipends for faculty in the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences will be paid through Dean Martin Gibbs’ office.  Stipends for faculty in the School of Professional & Graduate Studies will be paid through Dean Luther Maddy’s office.
  • Deans may recommend that either a Challenge Exam or a Portfolio Assessment is more appropriate for a particular course.
  • Division Chairs may determine that a course is not appropriate for either a Challenge Exam or Portfolio Assessment.