Professional recognition program FAQs

Have a question about the Professional Recognition Program (PRP)? We’ve collected the answers to the most commonly asked questions here.

Frequently asked questions

Why should I participate?

1. Become more aware of and improve your personal professionalism both in the classroom and in your daily life.
2. Receive recognition for the sum of your professional achievements. This includes your behavior in the classroom as well as in approved extracurricular activities.
3. To enhance your résumé. Participation in this program also gives you an additional talking point with employers to help you demonstrate that you have learned soft skills. Soft skills have been shown to be very important to employers in hiring decisions, but are difficult for them to assess. A professionalism ranking is a comparatively objective indication that you have the skills they are looking for.

How do I sign up?

Go to the Professionalism Recognition Program enrollment/login page and select the button “click here to enroll.”  You will need to use your FCB user ID and password.

What are required extracurricular activities?

Students are required to complete six different activities from the approved list of PRP extracurricular activities to qualify. These activities consist of personal development, professional development, and active participation in a professional setting and are described in more detail on the Professional Recognition Program page.

How do I get credit for extracurricular activities?

If an extracurricular activity does not automatically appear in your student view when you log into your PRP account, enter the activity by logging in to your PRP account and fill out the extracurricular activity form.

What are professionalism ratings?

Professionalism ratings are feedback from FCB faculty or staff about students’ professional behaviors. Students enrolled in the program can be rated from class or other interactions with faculty or staff. In addition, students can solicit a rating using the guidelines provided from faculty or staff with whom they have regular contact. Keep in mind that professionalism qualities differ by person—not just among your professors, but among your current and future bosses and colleagues throughout your career.

This program, in part, is meant to call attention to the value of recognizing and adapting to others’ expectations. Student ratings are divided in four categories reflecting “Highly Professional,” “Professional,” “Participating”, or “Unprofessional” behavior.

How many professionalism ratings do I need?

Students are required to have 10 professionalism ratings in order to be ranked. Many of these ratings will come from classes where faculty members rate all PRP students in the class. However, any additional required ratings to reach a total of 10 need to be solicited directly from FCB faculty or staff by the student.

Please note that faculty and staff participation in rating students either in class or when solicited is voluntary.

How should I solicit a rating from FCB faculty or staff?

Professionalism ratings should be requested from FCB faculty or staff with whom you have regular contact, such as in a class where you did not receive a rating or the faculty advisor for your student organization. To request a professionalism rating you should begin with a well thought out and professionally crafted e-mail. When soliciting a rating, please refer to the guidelines provided on the PRP landing page.

Can I solicit a professionalism rating from a professor that did not rate me as part of their class?

Yes. If you took a class and did not receive a professionalism rating, you can still solicit a rating from that professor. Please note that faculty participation in rating students either in class or when solicited is voluntary. When soliciting a rating, please refer to the guidelines provided on the PRP landing page.

Can I solicit more than one rating from the same professor?

No. You may only solicit one rating from each FCB faculty or staff. However, it is possible to have more than one rating from classes from that same faculty if they rated all PRP students in their classes.

How are classroom ratings earned?

Participating professors will let students know what professional behaviors they’re looking for from students based on the professionalism rubric (PDF). At the end of each semester, students enrolled in the program will be rated by each of their professors participating in the program as “Highly Professional,” “Professional,” “Participating”, or “Unprofessional” behavior.

How is my level of professionalism determined?

To be ranked in the PRP you must:

• Complete six different activities from the approved list of PRP extracurricular activities (guidelines found on the PRP landing page).
• Have 10 Professionalism ratings.

Once you have the required amount of extracurricular activities and accumulated the minimum number of professionalism ratings you will be ranked and if you qualify for a letter it will be mailed to the address you provided upon enrolling in the PRP. Letters are usually mailed shortly after the end of each fall and spring term.

What are the three possible rankings?

Students can be ranked as one of three designations based on your extracurricular activities and professionalism ratings. The three designations and requirements to earn are as follows:

Participating: Students who complete the required number of PRP extracurricular activities, and do not have more than one unprofessional rating will earn a rank of “participating.”

Professional: Students who complete the required number of PRP extracurricular activities, do not have any unprofessional ratings, and have 70% professionalism ratings that are either “professional” or “highly professional” will earn an overall rank of “professional.”

Highly Professional: Students who complete the required number of PRP extracurricular activities, do not have any unprofessional ratings, have 80% ratings that are “professional” or “highly professional,” with a minimum of 60% of “highly professional” ratings, will earn an overall rank of “highly professional.”

If I earn one of the three rankings, how will I be recognized?

Students who earn any of the three rankings will be recognized with a letter from the dean. The content of the letters varies among the three rankings and specifies details of the students’ score: Participating, Professional, and Highly Professional. For more details on the rankings please see “What are the three possible rankings?” above.

When should I enroll in the program?

There is no cutoff date for signing up for the PRP. However, students are encouraged to enroll as soon as possible so that they can begin attending PRP extracurricular activities and being rated by participating faculty in class.

Since professors will be tracking participants’ behavior, students are encouraged to enroll at the beginning of a semester as enrolling late may have an impact on your classroom rating for the semester.

How do I upload a PRP activity?

Follow these steps:

1. Go to your PRP homepage.
2. Select the “Add an Extracurricular Activity” button.
3. From the Type of Extracurricular Activity drop-down box, select the option that best applies to your activity. (If you aren’t sure which to choose, make your best guess and describe your role in the comments section.)
4. Enter the contact name of the activity organizer, his or her email, the organization you did the activity with/for, your role/title, and the date of the activity (if a semester-long commitment, give semester and year).
5. In the comments section, describe your role in the activity and the way it developed your professionalism or leadership skills.

What if I sign up and later decide to opt out of the program?

You can drop out of the program at any time. Login to your PRP account and you will find the withdraw option as part of the account management section. If you withdraw, you WILL NOT be able to change your mind and re-enroll at a later time.

Can I be administratively dropped from the program?

Participants can be administratively dropped from the PRP if they have no activity in the PRP for three semesters, or for acts showing a lack of professionalism. Acts showing a lack of professionalism may include academic dishonesty, consistently unprofessional behavior, or an extreme behavior.

How can I appeal if I don’t agree with a professionalism rating?

There is no appeal process. In order to stand out from the crowd, you need to meet and exceed the expectations of the person rating you. If he or she doesn’t think that you’ve earned the recognition that you think you deserve, you need to do a better job next time. That is how the real world operates. Of course, you can always discuss your concern with the person rating you, but he or she will be the person who will ultimately determine your professionalism achievement in the class.

PRP terms and conditions

The Professionalism Recognition Program (PRP) is a unique offering of The W. A. Franke College of Business (FCB) at Northern Arizona University. The program’s main objectives are to inspire students to recognize the valuable and varied qualities of professionalism, to help students develop their understanding of professionalism as it relates to various situations and communications, and to recognize those students that distinguish themselves doing so with a formal letter of considerable value in their career progression.

Participation by individual students and faculty members is entirely voluntary, but those who choose to participate commit to certain procedures and responsibilities including those detailed in the following terms and conditions. Terms and conditions, along with ratings and ranking methodology and calculations, are subject to change without notice, with updates applying to all participants regardless of enrollment dates.

1. Any FCB major, business or HRM, may enroll in the PRP. Enrollment requires acknowledgement of these terms and conditions. Enrollment is done only through the PRP online database.

2. Any student may enroll only once, and will thereafter be referred to as PRP participants. Participants may withdraw from the PRP at any time, but those that do may not re-enroll.

3. Participant rankings are based on the completion of approved PRP extracurricular activities and workshops along with faculty/staff ratings recorded in the PRP database during the entire span of time they participate in the PRP.

• PRP Participants are required to complete six unique PRP extracurricular activities from a list of approved PRP extracurricular activities and workshops. See the Additional PRP Information page HERE for the most current list of approved activities.

• Approved PRP extracurricular activities (guidelines found on the Additional PRP Information page HERE) include FCB workshops and activities held by the FCB as well as opportunities for students to engage outside of classes in activities that entail business relevance, such as student-run organizations. Participants that complete approved activities that are not held by the FCB must enter into the PRP database details of the activities performed, including information about the organization, the role and responsibilities undertaken, and the time dedicated to the activity. Participants must input approved PRP extracurricular activities during the semester that they are undertaken.  FCB administrators, or their designee(s), will subsequently evaluate the submissions of extracurricular activities prior to approving the activity as a unique PRP extracurricular activity.  No recourse on PRP extracurricular activities is possible with other individuals, nor is any activity from prior semesters changeable.

• To be ranked within the PRP participants must have at least 10 ratings from FCB faculty or staff. Ratings from FCB faculty or staff may be accrued from interactions during normal operations, such as in a specific class, or may be solicited by the participant.

• Classroom ratings are accrued from individual faculty members reflecting in-class behavior. The professionalism rubric provides some criteria for professionalism qualities though each faculty member may determine their own method of subjective evaluation thereof, and is the final authority for each rating made. Rated students are encouraged to discuss particular ratings with faculty members, but no recourse on ratings is possible with other individuals, nor is any rating from prior semesters changeable.

• FCB faculty and staff may also provide comments about professional behaviors to participants without a rating. FCB administrators, or their designee(s), can provide a rating based on the comments without a rating from FCB faculty or staff.

• Participants will be ranked at the end of the semester that they complete six unique PRP extracurricular activities and have at least 10 ratings from FCB faculty or staff and if eligible, participants will be sent a formal letter. Faculty and staff ratings may be provided after a participant’s final ranking though they will not impact the final ranking.

• Final professionalism rankings will entail three categories and the associated formal recognition:
  • Participation – participants who complete the required number of PRP activities, and does not have more than one unprofessional rating will earn a rank of “participation” and will receive a letter from the Dean’s Office specifying completion of the PRP activities.
  • Professionalism – participants who complete the required number of PRP activities, do not have any unprofessional ratings, and have 70% faculty or staff ratings that are “professionalism” or “high professionalism” will earn an overall rank of “professionalism” and will receive a letter from the Dean’s Office specifying completion of the PRP activities and that 70% of feedback indicated that the student conducted himself/herself in a professional manner when interacting with faculty and staff.
  • High Professionalism – participants who complete the required number of PRP activities, do not have any unprofessional ratings, have 80% faculty or staff ratings that are “professionalism” or “high professionalism”, and have 60% faculty or staff ratings that are “high professionalism”  will earn an overall rank of “high professionalism” and will receive a letter from the Dean’s Office specifying completion of the PRP activities and that at least 80% of instructor feedback indicated that the student conducted himself/herself in a professional manner and that a majority of instructor feedback indicated that the student conducted himself/herself in an extremely professional manner  when interacting with faculty and staff.

4. Participants can be administratively withdrawn from the PRP at the discretion of FCB administrators. Reasons may include academic dishonesty, consistently unprofessional or extreme behavior, in and/or out of any classes or any college or university settings.

5. Final authority for all matters relating to the PRP resides with the FCB Dean’s Office.  As ratings and overall rankings do not bear the same formality as grades, authority resides with the FCB rather than the central administration of Northern Arizona University.