What is the Writing portfolio used for?
We use portfolios to decide the right placement in a Writing or Writing intensive course for students who are bringing credit for ENGL 101 to Stetson (for example, AP scores of 4 or above, IB scores, or transfer credit from dual enrollment courses or other Universities).
We also accept portfolios from students who wish to appeal their initial placement in ENGL 100 or ENGL 101.
We use portfolios rather than asking you to write a new essay because we consider your best writing to be writing that you have had time to think about, revise, and polish. Essays that you’ve worked on in previous courses are perfect for this purpose. We ask for multiple examples because we know that you are a multifaceted writer, whose strengths and weaknesses may vary depending on the assignment. We get a much more accurate picture of your abilities when we see multiple examples of those abilities. Show us your best!
When is the portfolio due?
The portfolio may be submitted as early as acceptance to Stetson University. We generally require that the placement portfolios come in at least ONE SEMESTER before a student comes to Stetson, so that we have adequate time to plan.
What happens after I submit the Writing portfolio?
Once the team at the Writing Program has read your portfolio, we will place you in a Writing course that will, once completed, fulfill your Writing requirement at Stetson. Most students will be placed in ENGL 109, Stetson Writing Workshop; ENGL 201, Intermediate Expository Writing; or an approved Writing Intensive course. Your placement will be recorded on your transcript; once it's been recorded, you should work with your advisor to enroll in a suitable course.
What should I include in my Writing portfolio?
The portfolio should contain the following materials:
1. A self-aware and self-analytical letter of introduction to the portfolio (2+ pages, minimum 500 words). As part of this letter, students must define BOTH the intellectual limitations and strengths of the writing in the portfolio AND the specific drafting and revision methods employed in their production. You may feel free to discuss any particular challenges or achievements in meeting the assignments; our goal for this letter of introduction is to get a sense of the writer--not just the student--behind the essays in the portfolio and to see how that writer both goes about his or her writing tasks and decides when the goal of the writing has been accomplished.
2. Two or three examples of your best writing, up to a total of 12 pages. This set of pages must include a complete analytical and/or argumentative essay. You may submit a combination of kinds of assignments if you like; for example, you may include a four-page essay and two two-page essays, or one six-page essay and several one-page assignments. Although you should definitely include your bibliography pages, please note that they do not count in the 12 pages noted above. (This practice is standard for most college writing courses: if an assignment specifies a page requirement, that requirement does not include the bibliography page.) NOTE: for the purposes of this document, "page" is interpreted to mean 250-275 words.
The writing you include in your portfolio should be substantially revised work, done either in college or high school coursework or on your own. To demonstrate your writing process, one of the papers must include rough drafts, invention, brainstorming, and/or revision work--the evidence of the writing process. You are free to choose which of the portfolio papers to trace in this way.
You should include copies of the original assignment prompts if available.
3. You may also choose to include a short piece of writing that demonstrates creativity or imagination. Although the weight of the portfolio's evaluation will be primarily in the demonstration of critical and analytical ability, we recognize the value of creative work and invite you to include it.
4. All portfolios must be submitted with a signed certification of originality. Stetson University's Honor System specifically states students must do their own work and only their own work, adding that "All incoming students are expected to subscribe to the Pledge upon entrance to the university." With that in mind, we ask that you, as an incoming student, promise that your portfolio is your original work and that you have not relied on excessive or inappropriate assistance from anyone else in the development of that material.
On this form, available by clicking here, you assert that this is indeed your own work, and that no one has written it but you.
How do I prepare the Writing portfolio?
All names, identifying marks, teacher marks, or teacher comments should be removed from all pages of the portfolio. Only your student ID number should appear on EACH page of EACH piece of writing.
If submitted in hard copy, the entire portfolio must be clipped together, with the enclosed Cover Sheet on the top. Electronic submissions should come in .pdf format. Doc and Docx files are also acceptable.
Students should submit electronic portfolios (in pdf, doc, or docx format, please) to the Director of the Writing Program at writingprogram@stetson.edu
Students submitting hard copy portfolios should mail them to this address:
Dr Megan O'Neill
Director, the Writing Program
Department of English, Unit 8300
421 N Woodland Blvd
Deland, FL 32723