In the past month, Greg Peck has received two full-time job offers, but he declined both to complete his education because he is only a junior.

Peck said these job offers were a result of his experience, hard work and an electronic student portfolio - a compilation of his resume, examples of course and student association work, internships and summer work experience.

Because of his HTML coding computer knowledge, Peck became a site developer for the electronic student portfolios project in his Management 300 class. HTML, Hyper Text Markup Language, is the process of telling an Internet browser how to show text and images on the computer screen through computer language.

David Chappell, an assistant professor of management, and management professor John Schermerhorn initiated the portfolio idea and made it a reality through an 1804 grant accepted Sept. 12, 1997 for $22,500.

The sites are created through students' e-mail accounts, which are given to all students upon entering the university. The grant money will pay for 2,500 hours of programming time to any junior or senior interested in creating a portfolio.

Chappell said the initial purpose of the portfolio was to make OU students more accessible for recruiters seeking potential employees. Because of Athens' rural location, the portfolio gives recruiters a first screening of the students without travelling to campus.

Melissa Huffman, a junior political science major, said even though the portfolio would be a good initial indicator of a student's work, she hoped the personal interview would still be the determining factor when looking for potential employees.

"Employers can learn a lot about people from their body language and how they interact with other people that can't be gained from a piece of paper or a computer screen," she said.

Glenn Corlett, dean of the College of Business, said the portfolio exemplifies OU's technological advances.

But for the students, the actual process of putting the portfolio together is just as important as the portfolio itself. Students must consider which work has the most meaning and which will best present them to potential employers, he said.

Most business students have just a one-page resume to represent their work instead of a full paper portfolio.

"The hook to getting these students to want to do more is the electronic part of the portfolio," Corlett said. "It provides motivation to students who wouldn't otherwise want to do this."

Right now, the only students required to create the portfolio for graduation are incoming management majors, Corlett said. But the project is encouraged for current management and business majors who are upperclassmen, even though it is not a graduation requirement.

Seven hundred students have created electronic portfolios so far. Chappell said he hopes the number will reach 1,000 by the end of Spring Quarter to increase the project's worth to prospective employers.

Students such as Peck have mentioned the project in their interviews and have received positive feedback and job interviews.

Since Fall Quarter, many juniors and seniors have created their portfolios in the classroom through Management 300.

While other schools, such as visual communication, have made it a point to use the electronic portfolio for several years, it will not be a requirement for communication majors, said Kathy Krendl, College of Communication dean.

Although the course is not required, the college does encourage all of its students to be technologically advanced, she said.

For OU to implement this program university wide, more people must volunteer to help students create portfolios, Corlett said.

The portfolios are expected to extend from Management 300 classes to all management and business students and finally to the entire university.

Julie Molnar, a junior management information systems major, who has her own portfolio, said the project was a lot of work because she kept running into little problems resulting from having to learn the process of putting the portfolio together herself. She said after the initial experience, she would now be able to create a portfolio without any problems.

Although Molnar hasn't shown her portfolio to any potential employer, she and Peck said the time involved in the project will benefit them as they enter the job market.