Portfolio

A portfolio is a collection of materials you have created. You will present five or six substantial samples of your work, each one prefaced with a statement that explains the circumstances under which you created it, as well as an analysis of its strengths and weaknesses. You will also present a prefatory essay that explains how the portfolio represents the range of your skills and experience. The following guidelines apply to portfolios:

All of the items will have been created by you alone or primarily by you.
Some of the items will have been created as course work for the MATC.
Others will have been created in internships or other non-academic contexts.
The items will represent different genres; in other words, you will not present five user's manuals. A good portfolio is diverse, containing, for example, a manual, a research report, a brochure, and a web project.

A portfolio is a particularly appropriate exit assignment if you are seeking employment as a technical communicator, for it provides an opportunity to showcase your talents. The portfolio will be reviewed by two faculty members and one technical communication professional. The three reviewers will evaluate the portfolio to determine whether it meets the standard of professional competence.

If you are working on a portfolio but taking no other courses that semester, the university requires that you enroll in ENGL 592 for 1 credit to remain an active student, retain library borrowing privileges, and use other university resources. That 1 credit does not count toward the 33-credit requirement for the degree.

After your portfolio is approved, the Director of Technical Communication will keep a copy of it on file for future students to consult.

Read these three Microsoft Word files for more information:

Steps in completing the portfolio
Sample portfolio overview (a sample page from a completed portfolio)
Sample portfolio introduction (a sample introductory page from a completed portfolio)

Revised 3 June 2009.