Faculty Handbook

The Portfolio - For Faculty Peer Evaluation

Introduction

A portfolio is a reflective analysis of a faculty member's teaching, scholarship, service and the integration of faith and learning made by that faculty member, often for use in consideration for tenure or promotion. It is an instrument for evaluation and a vehicle for presenting information which may include the results of evaluations. The faculty member approaches the preparation of the portfolio as an opportunity to offer evidence of achievement in teaching, scholarship, service and the integration of faith and learning.

Purposes for the portfolio include: providing data for personnel decisions, including tenure and promotion; supplying data for aggregate information that might be communicated to assessment groups; and, perhaps most importantly, providing the faculty member with special and significant opportunities for reflection about his or her professional career.

Once started, the portfolio can be routinely updated. In no case should the development of a portfolio be a burden that consumes an excessive amount of a faculty member's time; nor should reading one be a daunting task.

Clarification: Non-tenure-track faculty need only to include departmental service and professional-activity artifacts as determined by their departments. Expectations of portfolio requirements will change after one year of a faculty member moving from one track (non-tenure/tenure-track) to the other.

General Format

Sections and Length:

Reflection Prompts for Integration, Teaching, Scholarship, and Service Sections:

Section I
Share your journey of Christian faith.

Section II
Integration
The integration of our Christian faith includes both:

  1. Understanding: Christian practices and philosophies integrated into teaching pedagogy.
  2. Practices: How your life in Christ and Christian practices permeates your curriculum and course instruction.

Reflection prompts: Given the above concepts, please respond to the following prompts in your integration reflection:

  1. How do you integrate your foundational understanding of the Christian
    faith within your academic discipline?
  2. How do you use faith-oriented scholarly concepts and materials in your teaching or research?

Teaching
(Note: Please provide a link to a succinct table identifying the number of credit hours per year and courses you taught for the previous 3 years.)

Prior to writing this essay please review the expectations in the faculty handbook. Effective teaching includes the following,

  1. Purposeful instructional design: Course structure, materials, assignments, and objectives are research-supported and/or evidence-based in relation to the field of study;
  2. Effective instructional delivery: Employs evidence-based best practices in teaching, department curriculum, and/or Cornerstone Core curriculum;
  3. Continuous improvement of student learning: Gathers, evaluates, and takes action on feedback regarding student ability to understand, retain, and transfer course concepts and content
  4. Student engagement and empowerment: provides evidence of engagement in advising and mentoring students, empowering them towards academic, professional, and personal life goals.
    (Note: To engage a student is to attract them to the learning and growth process and involve them in the work. To empower a student is to create space for them to identify their internal resources and resilience in order to make choices for themselves and their own life).

Reflection prompts: Given the above concepts, please respond to the following prompts in your teaching reflection:

  1. How do your course format, assignments, materials, and resources reflect thoughtful attention to different learning styles? (Instructional design)
  2. How do you employ evidence-based best practices such as active and collaborative learning and community engaged learning in most courses? Please share how your teaching has been improved through self-reflection and peer evaluations of teaching. (Effective instructional delivery)
  3. What is your process for routinely updating course material and/or teaching methodology? How do you seek feedback (e.g., verbal, written, and/or evaluation of assessments) from students and peers? (Continuous improvement of student learning)
  4. How have you demonstrated effective engagement and empowerment of students by collaboratively developing academic and professional goals and following up with students regarding their challenges and progress towards goals? Please share how you have engaged in problem-solving and discussion with students around student growth and self-awareness. (Student engagement and empowerment)

Scholarship
Prior to writing this reflection, please review the expectations for your specific program in the faculty handbook.

Reflection prompts: Given the above concepts, please respond to the following prompts in your scholarship reflection:

Scholarship activity:

  1. Describe the consistent activities you’ve engaged in since beginning your career at the university. Activities may include actions/pursuits specific to the scholar’s discipline, area, and giftedness, which advance the scholar’s profession and are expressed in a sustained pattern.

Scholarship artifacts/products

  1. Identify the specific artifacts of your scholarly activities, specific to the nature of your discipline and which advance your profession. For example: Peer-reviewed or non-peer-reviewed published media, journal articles, or artistic expressions, among many other examples.

Clarification: Non-tenure-track faculty should reference the “professional activities (replacing scholarship expectations)” and include relevant examples as clarified by their department. Expectations of portfolio requirements will change after one year of a faculty member moving from one track (non-tenure/tenure-track) to the other.

Service
Prior to writing this reflection, please review the expectations in the faculty handbook.

Reflection prompts:
Please describe your service to the university, department and professional community. How has it contributed to your overall development as a faculty member in the George Fox community?

Clarification: Non-tenure-track faculty need only to include departmental service and professional-activity artifacts as clarified by their departments. Expectations of portfolio requirements will change after one year of a faculty member moving from one track (non-tenure/tenure-track) to the other.

Submission Deadline:

Appendices:

Clarification for Non-Tenure-Track Faculty:

Clarification: Non-tenure-track faculty need only to include departmental service and professional-activity artifacts as described by their departments. Expectations of portfolio requirements will change after one year of a faculty member moving from one track (non-tenure/tenure-track) to the other.

The faculty portfolio is a valuable tool for documenting your professional development and contributions to the university community. It allows you to reflect on your journey of faith, your integration of faith into your academic vocation, your teaching practices, scholarly endeavors, and service contributions. It is a crucial document for tenure and promotion considerations.