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College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Department of English

Professional Track Teaching Portfolios

Portfolio Checklist and Cover Sheet
Portfolio Guidelines

Procedures
All faculty are responsible for maintaining current teaching portfolios.  The department will maintain an official evaluation folder for each faculty member, containing teaching observations and personnel reviews (you should keep your own copies as well), but individual faculty will be responsible for maintaining an up-to-date teaching portfolio containing the materials described below and submitting an updated portfolio prior to each scheduled review.

If you are due for a review this year, you’ll be asked to submit your portfolio early in the spring semester. Please include the standard checklist/cover sheet.

Required Portfolio Materials

  • Up-to-date CV  (see note below on CV contents)
  • The syllabi of the most recent versions of the courses you teach; for composition or professional writing courses, the syllabus should indicate the type and sequence of writing assignments; for web-based syllabi, please save an electronic copy of course materials.
  • Assignment sheets describing all major assignments and grading criteria
  • Student Evaluation Summaries for all courses taught since last Personnel Committee Review (available online at https://oirp.ncsu.edu/faculty-staff/classeval-results). Please include all qualitative and quantitative data.
  • A range of papers, e.g., 5-6 that demonstrate a range of student performances and teacher responses; copies of instructor responses to early and final drafts can be included here. Attach the pertinent assignment sheet and grading criteria.

Optional Materials

  • Any additional materials that will help you best illustrate your work in the department, e.g., documentation of innovative teaching practices or alternative forms of teaching.
  • A brief statement (1-2 pages) of your teaching philosophy may also be included in your file.  Faculty who are being evaluated for promotion are encouraged to include this statement in the portfolio.
  • Copies of any relevant publications can also be included in a separate section of the portfolio.
  • Brief narrative(s) to contextualize specific item(s) in your portfolio where additional information is warranted.

CV contents: Because Lectureships (Lecturer, Senior, and Adjunct)  are teaching appointments, your portfolio and CV should highlight your teaching  accomplishments.  Use your CV to fully document your professional development  efforts in the area(s) in which you teach.  For example, be sure to include  teaching workshops and conferences you’ve attended, on-campus or off. 

Syllabus Requirements: The university’s minimal requirements for syllabi are posted at https://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-02-20-07. 

Evaluation Criteria

Faculty teaching in all departmental programs are responsible for designing courses in accordance with program goals and policies, maintaining a current teaching portfolio that meets department specifications, participating in staff meetings where appropriate and program workshops when offered, and checking any program and departmental listservs regularly for announcements and updates.

Teaching excellence is assessed via student course evaluations, both numerical data and discursive comments; classroom observations; and review of the teaching portfolio. Portfolio materials should demonstrate current knowledge of program goals and policies, purposeful and innovative assignment design and sequencing, creative and varied use of daily class time, and productive feedback on students’ written work. Committees evaluating portfolios for composition and professional writing faculty will be primarily interested in the writing assignments that shape the course: the kinds of writing students are asked to do, the logic behind the sequencing of assignments, and the support provided in assignment sheets themselves.

The quality and currency of syllabi, assignment sheets, and other teaching materials also provide the basis for evaluating professional development and pedagogical knowledge in the teaching area. In addition, instructors provide information about specific professional development activities, such as workshops, mentoring, or course development work, on the portfolio cover sheet.

Updated 2/19