Early College School Counselor Recommendation - Quick Guide

Learn how to navigate the ExploreC portal to submit and manage course recommendations for your students. This guide walks you through the administrative dashboard so you can efficiently process class selections for the upcoming academic terms.

Christy Alley
6 steps
30 seconds

Maine

Navigate to your ExplorEC Portal home page.

ExplorEC portal home page showing a “Welcome to ExplorEC” dashboard. A red alert banner at the top states that there are student applications needing recommendation. The “Students” tile is highlighted in red, indicating action is required. A left sidebar menu includes options such as Home, Students, Grades, Course Search, Reports, and Manage Password.

If you have student applications needing recommendations, you will see a message in red at the top, and the student tile will also appear in red. Click “Continue” on the student tile.

ExplorEC portal home page displaying a “Welcome to ExplorEC” dashboard. A red alert banner indicates student applications need recommendations. The “Students” tile is highlighted in red, and the “Continue” button on that tile is circled to show where to click. A left sidebar menu includes navigation options such as Home, Students, Grades, Course Search, Reports, and Manage Password.

Click "Submit Rec" for each student on your list.

ExplorEC portal student list screen showing multiple student applications in a table with columns for name, high school, student agreement, and parent consent. Each row includes a “Submit Rec.” button, with one of the buttons circled to indicate where to click to submit a recommendation. A filter option appears at the top, and a left sidebar menu includes navigation options such as Grades, Course Search, Reports, and Manage Password.

On this screen, you will see one or two Recommendation tabs, depending on where we are in the registration cycle. Click on each tab to view the student’s application.

ExplorEC student application screen showing multiple tabs, including “Fall 2026 Class(es) Recommendation” and “Summer 2026 Class(es) Recommendation,” with the Summer tab circled. Below, a table displays course details such as instructor, schedule, available seats, status, credit hours, and a Recommendation dropdown menu.

Under the Recommendation column, click “Select” and choose “Approved” or “Not Approved,” then complete the remaining fields. Transcripts and comments are optional. Click “Submit Recommendation.” We trust your judgment as the school counselor, please do not recommend a student if they are not ready. If you would like to discuss a specific situation, please [contact the Early College Administrator at the campus ](https://www.maine.edu/early-college/contact-information/)where the student applied.

ExplorEC student application screen showing course details for Summer 2026

If there are two tabs, make sure to complete the recommendation form for each one.

ExplorEC student application screen showing multiple tabs, including “Fall 2026 Class(es) Recommendation,” which is circled. Below, a table displays course details such as faculty, schedule, available seats, status, credit hours, and a Recommendation dropdown menu.