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Bachelor of Arts with Professional Writing Upper Division Portfolio

General Description of the Upper Division Portfolio

The Department of English has adopted a portfolio requirement for its upper division students pursuing the BA in English with Professional Writing. The portfolio provides a tool to measure our joint successes. You will be better able to judge how well you have met the goals of the department, and the faculty will be better able to make decisions on the curriculum based on the information the portfolios provide.

The benefits of the portfolio project are many. It will clearly show your own growth as a developing English major by keeping your work in one place as you progress through your upper division courses. It will help build a strong relationship between students and faculty and ensure timely progress toward completion of your degree. It will provide you with a collection of your best work in a format that you may be able to adapt as part of a job search or as partial fulfillment of application requirements for graduate or professional school.

The Portfolio Development Process and Deadlines

The portfolio will be a selection of your writing produced in your upper division coursework. You may begin selecting the portfolio's contents during the first semester of your junior year. After compiling your work in conference with your instructors, you may submit individual portfolio items any time before the appropriate deadline.

If you are graduating in December, the completed portfolio must be submitted by 15 November.

If you are graduating in May or August, the completed portfolio must be submitted by 15 April.

Guiding Principles

The portfolio requirement is based on the following general principles:

• Portfolios address the goals of the department. Students select materials that show they have accomplished these goals.
• Portfolios rely upon student initiative and responsibility. In consultation with instructors, students select and present the portfolio's contents.
• Portfolios are flexible. They must meet certain requirements, but they are designed so that students can address the goals in a variety of ways.

English Department Goals

Graduates of the Angelo State University BA in English with Professional Writing program should:

• Demonstrate the ability to write research-based and analytical treatment of a workplace need or problem using rhetorically, stylistically, grammatically, mechanically, and conventionally effective writing. They should be able to produce rhetorically, stylistically, grammatically, mechanically, and conventionally effective writing for specific workplace needs and utilizing the conventions of common workplace genres; they should know how to choose audience and situation-appropriate genres and follow common standards of written English.
• Demonstrate the ability to edit both print and electronic documents . They should be able to edit documents for correctness, accuracy, style, audience considerations, clarity and appropriateness of illustrations, and adherence to the Chicago Manual of Style .
• Demonstrate the ability to write for and design a Web site. They should be able to produce a rhetorically, stylistically, grammatically, mechanically, and conventionally effective Web site; they should know how to choose audience-appropriate organizations and styles and follow common standards of effective Web design as outlined by new media and usability theorists.

Submission Requirements

Prior to submitting the portfolio, you must complete the online BA with Professional Writing survey located on the Department webpage.

You must include in your portfolio materials a file containing a statement affirming you have completed the survey.

You must submit materials for the portfolio in MS WORD files saved on a jump drive. A cover sheet (see the attached form) accompanying the jump drive should contain:

• your name;
• the title(s) of the submission(s);
• the category(ies) of the submission(s);
• the course name(s) and number(s) in which the submission(s) was (were) written;
• the name(s) of the instructor(s) of the course(s).

The disk and cover sheet should be turned in to the Department Secretary.

The portfolio's table of contents must be saved in a separate, clearly titled file.

NOTE: YOUR NAME, A FACULTY MEMBER'S NAME, OR A COURSE NAME SHOULD NOT APPEAR ON THE TABLE OF CONTENTS SHOULD NOT APPEAR ON THE TABLE OF CONTENTS OR ON ANY PORTFOLIO ITEMS.

Introductory Material

The introductory material will include a Table of Contents for the portfolio. This file must include:

1. the file title containing the affirmation statement regarding the BA with Professional Writing survey;
2. titles of submitted works;
3. categories of submission for the works.

The Body of the Portfolio

The body of the portfolio must include:

1. three submissions from Category One;
2. two submissions from Category Two;
3. one submission from Category Three.

The categories for submission are:

1. Writing Competency: three papers from English 3351, English 3352, or English 3353 . At least one of these submissions must be a proposal or a report. Select papers whose:
   • organization is characterized by fluid expression; ideas clearly stated/supported; succinctness; logical sequencing; cohesion;
   • style is characterized by an authentic voice; sentence variety; effective word choice and usage;
   • grammar and mechanics are characterized by a mastery of spelling, capitalization, punctuation, agreement, tense, pronoun usage, prepositions, and the use of negatives.
2. Editing: two examples of work you have edited in English 4360. (Papers edited for the workplace or in an internship may be selected with instructor approval with a signed statement from the appropriate employer that certifies that you were the sole editor of the document.) Select examples that demonstrate your ability to conduct a substantive edit, meaning that all levels of editing are addressed (audience, content, correctness, accuracy, illustrations.)
3. Web Design: one Web site developed in English 3353. (Web sites developed in an employment context or as part of an internship may also be considered with instructor approval and with a signed statement from the appropriate employer that certifies that you were the sole developer of the Web site.) Select a site which:
• Demonstrates your ability to apply the design concepts of usability and new media theorists.
• Demonstrates your ability to apply writing techniques that address an online audience, including modular writing, effective navigation and link naming, using the appropriate techniques to address audiences with visual and motor disabilities, and grammatically and stylistically correct writing.

Instructors' Roles in the Portfolio Development Process

While compiling the portfolio's contents is the student's responsibility, instructors should be sources of clarification during the process. Instructors expect to see student progress during each academic term and can therefore help assemble the portfolio.

Confidentiality

Once submitted to the Department of English, the portfolio and its contents become the property of the Department of English and will not be distributed beyond the faculty assessing departmental effectiveness. Further, the portfolio and its contents will not be returned to students who submit the portfolios.

The content of each portfolio will be archived by the Department of English and reviewed only by faculty assessing the department's effectiveness. All portfolio materials will remain in locked files to protect the integrity and privacy of those materials.

 

 

Cover Sheet

Upper Division Portfolio

Department of English

Angelo State University

 

Your Name:

Please fill in the table's columns with the appropriate information :

1. your submission's title

2. the course number (e.g., 3351, 3352, etc.) in which the submission was written;

3. the last name of the instructor of the course;

4. the category number (e.g., 1, 2, or 3) of the submission.

 

 

Submission Title	Course Number	Instructor	Category (1, 2, 3)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.