Building your ePortfolio
Why an ePortfolio
Your digital identity matters. It’s quite common for hiring committees, potential mentors, colleagues and potential employers to “google” you to gather specific information they are looking for or to see the various parts of your identity displayed in the online world. The ePortfolio allows you to curate a professional narrative that you want to share within and beyond your personal, professional and academic communities. Plus, collecting and sharing your work within an ePortfolio can provide a powerful way to reflect on your academic, professional, and career goals.
Need more information or overview? Watch the UROC FolioLab workshop.
Your UROC ePortfolio
All UROC/McNair Scholars are asked to create and develop an ePortfolio of select artifacts of your choice that tell the professional narrative you want to share. Throughout the UROC scholars program you will have the opportunity to evolve your professional narrative and reflect on this narrative as you go through the program. As you embark on putting together an ePortfolio for the mid-scholar application, three elements are critical in thinking about your artifacts: Collect, Select, & Reflect. What you choose to collect, select and reflect on will be up to you and differs based on the narrative you want to create or paint for the viewers, your audience.
Collecting an Artifact
Selected by you, it’s digital evidence that represents progress, experience, achievements, and goals over time.
Selecting an Artifact
- Why did you select this particular artifact?
- How does the artifact reflect your strengths, interests, or career pathway and graduate programs you are applying to?
- Would you have done anything differently?
- What did you learn from this artifact?
Reflecting on an Artifact
- Make meaningful connections (e.g., personal, education/learning, work, community) to the artifacts you select. This will illustrate understanding and competency to your audience.
Electronic documents (i.e., a poster or oral conference presentation or publication), video, audio, and images, scholarships, contributions in the community, articles written about you (notables); or blogs, president of SACNAS club/chapter, academic awards and honors, study abroad.
Selection of artifact that showcase my academic work, journey, and potential to succeed and flourish in graduate school: poster presentation Publications (links to) images of me in the lab or field doing research; Scholarships, Study/research abroad semester
Audience: Think about the elements--or artifacts-- about you and your professional self that you want to showcase and highlight to the UROC scholar committee (comprised of deans, staff, faculty).
The committee is most interested in artifacts that most showcase your intent to embark on graduate school (e.g. community/campus involvement, leadership, initiative, any prior research experience).
- Collect artifacts you want to showcase.
- Select from the collection.
- Reflect on why you are choosing to showcase your portfolio.