Evergreen’s “Prior Learning from Experience Program” supports adult students as they earn academic credits and work to complete a degree by demonstrating their learning and experience in the workplace, community, and outside of the classroom. Students learn to do research, write formal essays, and compile support materials in an academic portfolio that provides evidence of how their professional learning and experience meet college equivalences and expectations. Students form a community of peers who collaborate, give and receive feedback, share their work in and out of class, and work to revise and formalize their documents as they develop a portfolio to showcase their work for review by faculty who are specialists in their field. Through research, workshops, readings, seminars, and meetings with faculty, librarians, and staff--adult students gain the academic vocabulary of their professional experience and learn to write scholarly reflections that demonstrate how much academic learning they have accomplished through professional work and volunteerism.
Students must complete the prerequisite course, "Writing from Life,” before they enroll in P.L.E. Afterward, they can register for P.L.E. and take 4, 6, or 8 credits per quarter* as they develop a professional portfolio of their work for submission and review by Evergreen faculty. Since P.L.E. credits may be awarded concurrently with other academic credits earned before and while attending Evergreen, the P.L.E. program can significantly speed time to degree for motivated students. For more information and criteria, visit the PLE program website.
The P.L.E. course will be taught online using Zoom and Canvas as students work virtually to develop an engaged, interactive learning community. To successfully participate in this program, students must have reliable internet access. Students will meet with the faculty and program librarian and will organize online groups outside of class. Students must plan to attend 4 hours of synchronous (scheduled) class per week on Zoom. Check with the faculty if you have special conditions.
Schedule: Tuesdays, 6-8:50 PM on Zoom
Academic Fair: The faculty will be available at the Academic Fair to meet students and talk about the program. You will need to have a faculty signature to enroll in the sections of PLE for 4, 6, or 8 credits. Join us on Zoom, Wednesday, March 8, 2023, from 4 to 6 PM. If you cannot make the academic fair, contact the faculty. Academic Fair https://sites.evergreen.edu/academicfair/
To learn more: visit the PLE program website.
P.L.E. STRATEGIES AND STORIES FOR SUCCESS:
Many of our students arrive at Evergreen with substantial college-level learning from their past work and community experience, even if they don't always recognize it themselves. Students receive dedicated support from program and library faculty, as well as extensive peer collaboration. Throughout the program, students have opportunities to gain advice on next steps in their academic and professional careers. Even as we work remotely, we will form a very engaged learning community through class participation, one-on-one Zoom meetings and self-organized small groups.
“There is a high level of expertise and success among students,” noted Wendy Spencer at the time she was in the Prior Learning From Experience Program. Spencer had decades of experience with Wolf Haven International and later became director of operations at McCleery Ranch (wolf sanctuary) in Montana. “Despite our different career paths, there is a commonality, a sense of connectedness. Many of us have moved up the ranks and hold positions that typically require an undergraduate or graduate degree. The students are participating in the shared experience of academic success in a respectful supportive learning community.”
Students can document and earn credits in various areas of their expertise gained through experience. The program will help students to identify the areas of expertise that they have gained through experience that are equivalent to academic courses. As a brief example, a student may have demonstrated the academic equivalents of courses such things as leadership, project management, and many other subjects taught at the university level. We help you, and work together as a class, to understand and explain the college course equivalency of your work and experience. The essays you produce in PLE will help you earn credit toward your Evergreen degree, and may also be useful to share with employers and graduate schools all that you have accomplished.
*NOTE: Students may take up to 20 credits to write their documents (including “Writing from Life” and “Prior Learning from Experience”). Following successful submission and review of their documents by Evergreen faculty, they may then earn up to 30 credits, at one-third the cost of Evergreen tuition.
Contact Faculty: If you have questions about "P.L.E." or “Writing From Life."
Rebecca Chamberlain chambreb@evergreen.edu.
Registration
Faculty signature is required to register for PLE Document Writing.