Terms of Use

USC MESA High School Student Portfolio

FERPA: USC MESA is not requesting student academic records; however, students are responsible for entering, maintaining, and monitoring their A-G courses and grades and honors and awards.

USC MESA Program Contact
Ben Louie, Director, USC MESA College Prep Program

Description of USC MESA

The MESA College Prep Program at the University of Southern California is under the Viterbi K-12 STEM Center (“USC MESA”) and is part of a statewide program that partners with local middle and high schools to propel student diversity and achievement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). College prep activities at USC include hands-on STEM activities, MESA Day projects and competitions, Catalina Island STEM Exploration, STEM field trips, Student Leadership Retreat, college and career preparation, MESA Day Project Academies, annual Awards Gala, robotics competitions, MESA advisor/teacher trainings, and parent/family empowerment and information sessions.

Objectives of High School Student Portfolio

Online platform for current high school students to monitor A-G course completion,
To provide an online platform for current high school students to monitor and keep track of extracurricular activities, honors and awards, and college admissions tests (ACT, PSAT, and SAT), Advanced Placement exams, and interested colleges.
To provide current high school students a repository of courses and grades, extracurricular activities, honors and awards, and test scores to help seniors apply to the colleges and universities of their choice.

Definition of end-users

USC MESA Student - Also referenced as: USC MESA student, MESA student, or student.
Parent of a USC MESA Student - Also referenced as: parent, USC MESA parent, or the parent.
USC MESA Staff - Also referenced as: USC MESA staff, or staff.
USC MESA Advisor - Also referenced as: MESA advisor, or advisor.

A USC MESA student participant is a student that has registered with our MESA program successfully as a Middle School/High School student and fulfilled requirements with their home Mesa Advisor. A Mesa student participant additionally is a student that has participated in MESA regional days. Parents are either the natural born mother and/or father and/or legal guardian. USC MESA Staff and USC MESA Advisors are authorized program administrators and representatives who administer USC MESA office business activities, guide students and parents to navigate through MESA activities, and who serve as facilitators of website activities and IT support, for student and parent use, of the USC MESA Student Portfolio.

What is a student portfolio?
A student portfolio is a collection of student provided activities and is designed to keep track of a student's progress through his/her academic career in High School as a MESA Student. Most importantly, this portfolio is for continued reference and modification by a student to track progress into college admission.

What is required to create a student portfolio?
USC MESA students can submit a request for verification to have a portfolio created. This request is facilitated through the registration area of the official website. The request must include: email address, password, high school, grade level, parent information. Verifiable requests are submitted to USC MESA staff for consideration to be approved. Additional information may be required. Access to a portfolio can be revoked and/or reinstated at any time. Only one portfolio may be created per USC MESA student. After access is approved, all students are required to adhere to the privacy policy, terms of use, and other applicable guidelines at all times.

Who can access a student portfolio?
Please note: Student portfolio information is considered confidential. USC MESA does not sell or share MESA student portfolio information. MESA Students who are considered residents of the state of California have certain privacy rights. MESA Students should refer to the Privacy Policy document for details about their privacy rights, and refer to the Security Policy document for ways to secure their information and protect their identification. USC MESA does not use student portfolio information for automated decision making. The authorized student will have the right to edit student-provided information within the portfolio. MESA advisors and parents will have the right to view student-provided information. Each portfolio is tied to the student who registered and submitted the request to create the portfolio. Students are not authorized to transfer their portfolio to any student, parent, or entity of any kind. Students can email a request to have their portfolio disabled and/or deleted. A deleted portfolio is non-reversible, cannot be undone, and prevents further access to a portfolio.

Acceptable Use Pending approval, only an authorized student, authorized parents, and USC MESA staff and advisors can access the portfolio. This is designed to be utilized for reference purposes only.

Examples of acceptable use:

Parents/guardians would be able to login to monitor a student's academic progress
MESA Advisors are expected to login and assist with academic advisement on a regular basis.
MESA Staff are expected to login and review, audit, and assess a cohort's academic progress and challenges to better guide the needs of the MESA Program.
A MESA student is expected to create and routinely update their portfolio to ensure information is current. MESA Staff and advisors rely on accurate portfolio information for optimal and relevant advising.

MESA Advisors, parents, and students should contact MESA Staff at USC if they have questions regarding acceptable use.

Who can edit a student portfolio?
Only a USC MESA student can edit their respective portfolio. USC MESA staff and authorized parents/guardians have access to view. Authorized USC MESA Staff have access to records to support students and to track student progress for reporting purposes.

Who should students contact for assistance?
Students should contact authorized USC MESA staff for assistance for any issues or concerns.

Requirements to use services and application
Access to the website application requires the following components: secured and trusted computer or mobile device, secured and trusted internet connection, and the latest Web browser. All users are responsible for providing their own computer or mobile device, internet connection, and Web browser software updates. USC and USC MESA are not responsible for providing these components. End-users are required to access the application via a Web browser. End-users are forbidden from (1) attempting to access areas of the system that are not intended for end-users, (2) from harming the system, (3) attempting to access data of other end-users.

The Website application depends on the following technology architecture components: Web servers, database servers, and other critical IT assets. These critical technology assets are maintained by USC MESA to enforce security, privacy, access, and availability of services to end-users. End-users should contact USC MESA in event of the following: system outages, problems with student portfolios, or other issues. End-users are not authorized to troubleshoot the system(s).

This policy was updated on 11-14-2024