General Advice on Constructing an Evaluation Portfolio

This is a work in progress.  I'll add ideas as they occur to me.
  Suggestions are welcome.

Consider your audience -- different evaluators have different preferences.

Showcase your professional accomplishments

Organize it so that the relationship between the materials you included and the evaluation criteria is crystal clear.  Have separate sections for teaching or library services, advising, scholarship, service, and -- if appropriate -- "other."   Use a narrative, either at the front of the portfolio or as an introduction to each section.

Make each selection that you make from Appendix A very clear.  You might write something like, "I chose to be evaluated on my contribution to the content of the discipline of . . ."

Except in the case of post-tenure review, your portfolio will be read by many different evaluators.  Don't tailor it so much to one evaluator's preferences that you leave other evaluators unsatisfied.

Review your previous evaluations.  Be sure to include information that demonstrates that you have given them serious consideration.

Include documentation for everything without regard to how public or obvious the activity was. 

Discuss the quality, relevance and significance of your activities.  Comment even on what seems obvious to you.  Consider:  what you did -- how much you did; why you did it; how you did it; how you used it; how it changed your practice; how it relates to your teaching, library services, and/or scholarship.  Explain how your work contributed to your professional development. 

Scholarship:  Explain why what you did is "scholarship" and why it is relevant to your discipline.

If you are using projects that involved others, be sure to discuss what you  did.  If your project included mentoring students on their research, this is especially important.

Grants?  Be sure to demonstrate the relationship of  the grant to the criteria for evaluation (teaching, advising, librarianship, scholarship, professional activities, APRs).  If you are presenting it as evidence of scholarship explain how it fits into that category.

Tom Kling, "Directed Undergraduate Research as Professional Development and a Contribution to Community of Scholars" Tom Kling's Faculty Web Page.

If you are doing something outside your own discipline or something interdisciplinary explain the relationship of your activity to your discipline and/or your teaching, library services, or college activities. 

Some readers will not be familiar with your discipline.  Tell them how important, or prestigious the conference, journal, publisher, or reviewer is .  Explain how things are done in your discipline.   Explain how much time, effort, etc. it took to do the work you are highlighting in the portfolio.  If your work crosses disciplinary boundaries, be sure to explain the relationship between the work and your own departmental discipline. 

Don't leave readers guessing about the quality of the work.  Include enough documentation to make it clear.

Letters from colleagues who can testify to the quality, relevance, and significance of your work can be effective.  Include colleagues both on campus and/or off campus -- including former chairs.

I think you should be wary about analysis of student evaluation -- unless they are clearly stellar. 

It can be helpful to note what you learned from the results; how what you learned from them caused you to change your approach; or how you have grown as a teacher and how they reflect that growth.

If there are mitigating circumstances that explain disappointing results for some classes include them.  Examples: 
     -- It was the first time you taught the course.
     --You were experimenting with teaching technique
     --You were adjusting to new instructional technology
     --It was a "filter" course

Do not attack the evaluation instrument or make disparaging remarks about the students.  

Do include information on any steps you’ve used to improve your teaching: workshops, consultations with the Office of Teaching and Learning.

Ms. Mentor's column of  April 23 , 2003 contains interesting insights and important references regarding student evaluations.  

Student testimonials carry very little weight even when it's clear that they were not self-serving and that they were unsolicited

You absolutely should not include such things as the nice comments that students sometimes affix to their final exam  bluebooks.   

Exceptions:  Statements from students who worked very closely with you on special projects like honors theses or undergraduate research projects or statements from students who have become successful in your field in their own right.

Mechanics

Give it a professional appearance

It makes some sense to organize your portfolio so that you have sections on each of the evaluation criteria including those required of everyone and those that you selected on Appendix A1 or A2

Make it sturdy enough to survive many readers --  but it doesn't need to be fancy.    Don't spend a lot of money in a stationery store unless that gives you pleasure.

Include all the required elements -- forms, résumés, documents.

Number the pages and use a table of contents-- very important if there's a dispute later about what you did or didn't include.

Proof read it; proof read it; proof read it again; and then have someone else proofread it.

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