Introduction to the Writing Portfolio
The writing portfolio is the culminating work of the student who wishes to earn the Writing Minor. Several categories of writing are acceptable for portfolio work, for example, creative writing, expository or critical writing, technical, or scientific writing, business or legal writing. For whatever sort of writing the student wishes to develop, what matters most is that it be original, serious, and appropriate to the discipline in which he or she is working.
Generally speaking, a portfolio will contain between 30 and 120 pages of writing. Some recent portfolios have included the following: four or five short stories, twenty to twenty-five poems, several chapters of a novel, four or five long essays, one very long research project, four or five short reports. A portfolio that consists entirely of poetry is likely to be less lengthy than a novella or three-act play.
May students will present a portfolio of writing that remains within one category and genre. A mixture of types of writing is also acceptable provided that the Portfolio Director approves the student’s plan in advance. At least one-quarter of the portfolio should consist of work written before the period in which the student is enrolled in English 40010; the rest of the portfolio will consist of work written during the time the student is enrolled in the course. The Portfolio Director will advise the student both in revising the old and in composing new material. Students should expect to edit the portfolio scrupulously before formally submitting it to the Reader, to ensure that typographical and other errors are corrected.
Students who wish to gain additional guidance on length and contents should examine the recently approved portfolios on file in the DuBois Reading Room, Satterfield Hall.
Enrollment
To be eligible to enroll, a student must have a minimum of Junior standing (64-95 hours of credit) and a 3.00 G.P.A. in writing courses taken towards completion of the minor. A student must normally enroll by the second semester of the Junior year. Enrollment in the course requires permission from the ENG 40010 Seminar Director and the written agreement of a faculty member to serve as a Portfolio Director.
Portfolio Director
The student writes the portfolio under the supervision of an advisor (Portfolio Director). Any full- or part-time member of the Kent State faculty who is willing to work with the student may serve in this capacity. Usually advisors are full-time English professors, but some portfolios have been directed by non-English or English part-time faculty. Before a student may enroll in English 40010, he or she is responsible for contacting the faculty members and obtaining their permission to direct the portfolio or serve as a reader. After a student has obtained permission, his or her selected Portfolio Director will receive the necessary materials regarding guidelines for supervising the project.
The student is responsible for arranging periodic meetings with the Portfolio Director. The Director should be consulted on every aspect of the writing project: designing the portfolio, selecting individual works, revising past writing, drafting new writing, and revising the overall project before formal submission.
When a student is near completion or has completed the portfolio, it is his or her responsibility to contact the Portfolio Director and schedule a time to meet with the Director and the Reader. This meeting will be devoted to a discussion of the student’s completed portfolio.
The Reader
The Reader, who is chosen by the student, may be any full- or part-time member of the Kent State faculty who agrees to read the portfolio. If the Portfolio Director is not a member of the English faculty, then the Reader must be. The portfolio must obtain the approval of both the Portfolio Director and the Reader in order for the student to earn a letter grade for English 40010.
After the student has written a draft that has the approval of the Portfolio Director, the student shall submit it to the Reader, allowing the Reader at least two weeks to review the manuscript. The function of the Reader is to comment upon and assess the quality of the portfolio. After reading the portfolio, the Reader may take one of the three actions:
1) Approve the portfolio, as submitted;
2) Approve the portfolio, provided that minor revisions be made and not require that the portfolio be resubmitted;
3) Require that significant revisions be made to the manuscript and ask that the revised draft be resubmitted after the changes have been made.
If the Reader asks that the portfolio be revised and resubmitted, he or she will indicate the necessary revisions in the portfolio margins or on separate sheets of paper. The student should revise the manuscript as expeditiously as possible and resubmit it to the Reader, bearing in mind that the deadline for submitting a final bound portfolio is one week before the end of the semester in which he or she hopes to receive a grade for English 40010.
If the Reader approves the portfolio with the proviso that minor revisions be made, he or she so indicate and returns the portfolio to the student. It is then the student’s responsibility to complete the required revisions and the Portfolio Director’s responsibility to see that the revisions have been made.
When the Reader approves a portfolio (with or without revisions), he or she will prepare written comments about the portfolio (typically, one to two typewritten pages). The comments are directed to the student, signed by the Reader, and sent to the student.
Final Draft
Because corrections may be required, the portfolio draft submitted to the Reader should be clean, legible typewritten copy, but not a final, bound copy. After the student receives the approval of both the Portfolio Director and the Reader, he or she should prepare two final bound copies. (Directions for the preparation of the final draft are given on a separate, attached page. A sample title page and a sample approval page are also attached.)
After the student has completed the final draft of his or her portfolio and has prepared the two bound copies for distribution, the student is required to meet with his or her Portfolio Director and Reader for a short discussion of the completed project. This meeting will give the student an opportunity to discuss various aspects of the portfolio, such as writing methods and themes used. This meeting must be scheduled in advance; the student is responsible for contacting his or her Portfolio Director and Reader about an appropriately scheduled time for this meeting during the final stages of the portfolio project.
The student must obtain three signatures on both bound copies of the portfolio. Normally the portfolio will be first signed by the Reader, then the Portfolio Director, and then conveyed to the Seminar Director for the final signature. One signed copy will be retained by the Seminar Director to be permanently housed in the English Department Library. The other signed copy of the portfolio will belong to the student.
Grade
Upon the approval of the portfolio, the student will receive a letter grade for English 40010. The Portfolio Director determines the letter grade and submits it via Web For Faculty.
For each semester of enrollment in English 40010 before completion of the portfolio, the student will receive a grade of IP (In Progress). When the portfolio is completed and approved by both readers (Portfolio Director and Reader) the student will receive a letter grade. A letter grade is required for a student to quality for the Writing Minor.
In the event that the portfolio is not approved by either of the readers, the student will receive a grade of IP for English 40010. The student may continue to revise the portfolio for a future letter grade so long as he or she is enrolled in the undergraduate program at Kent State and retains the permission of the Portfolio Director.
Deadlines
The student must submit the portfolio to the Reader no later than five weeks before the last day of class during the semester in which he or she hopes to receive a grade for English 40010.
The student must submit the two final, bound copies to the Seminar Director no later than one week before the last day of class during the semester in which he or she hopes to receive a grade for English 40010.