Portfolio Requirement

At the end of your last semester as an English major, you must submit for approval a portfolio of written work that you have done in English courses at UW-Parkside. A portfolio of student work must consist of the following:

• Papers from ENGL 266 and either ENGL 495 or ENGL 489. Students who have taken both ENGL 489 and ENGL 495 may include both papers;
• At least three additional papers from over the course of a student’s career at UW-P need to be included in the portfolio. These papers will serve as evidence of having met the English Department’s Goals and Outcomes;
• One self-reflective essay (3-4 pages recommended), in which the student explains how the portfolio in its entirety (holistically) illustrates how s/he met all of the Department’s Goals;
• An introduction for each paper submitted (at least three paragraphs recommended per introduction), which describes how that particular work meets at least one specific Departmental Goal. You should address the following in these introductions: How did writing this paper help you meet one of the goals you articulated meeting in your reflective essay? Please draw the assessment team’s attention to specific challenges the assignment presented, how you successfully worked through those challenges, and how completing this assignment strengthened your understanding of what an English major does  (five or six separate introductions);
• A cover letter describing the content and purpose of the portfolio (one page).

If one of these components is missing, the student must provide an additional written explanation; whether or not your explanation will merit exemption is up to the discretion of the Portfolio Assessment Committee.

As the Portfolio is a capstone project for the English major, and should reflect the best efforts of its students, the new material (cover letter, self-reflective essay, and introductions) in the Portfolio will be assessed using a rubric based on the Goals and Objectives of the English Department. The Portfolio will be assessed on whether or not a student has demonstrated Mastery in most, if not all, of those Goals and Objectives.

Portfolios are due to the English Office by 12 noon on the second day of the exam period, at the end of the semester. Additional information on the portfolio requirements may be obtained by visiting the English Department office, the department chair’s office, or the English Department webpage.