University of Wisconsin-Green Bay

Portfolio in Social Change and Development

Soc CD-302 
Spring 2009

Dr. Larry Smith                                                           Classroom: MAC Hall 113
Office: MAC Hall B331                                              Schedule: W 3:45 - 5:05
Email: smithl@uwgb.edu                                             Course email: c2909@uwgb.edu  
Office Hours: MW  1:15-1:45 W 3:45-4:45               UW-Green Bay Career Services
Internship Coordinator: Dr. Andrew Austin, MAC Hall A326, 465-2359
Phoenix Network

The faculty in Social Change and Development are concerned that our curriculum should provide attention to how students will mesh their educations with various life choices that must be made before and after graduation. Most important among these choices is, of course, the selection of a career, but we are also concerned that our students think about their educations in the context of other things like family responsibilities, avocational interests, and citizenship. We hope to promote active reflection about these things during the course of a major in Social Change and Development. To this end we have instituted the portfolio requirement.

Social Change and Development requires its incoming majors to take 2 credits of a course called Portfolio in Social Change and Development. This course counts as one credit each time it is taken and we expect students to take it twice, once upon entry to our program and a second time in the senior year, perhaps in the second to last semester before graduation (especially if they are contemplating making applications to graduate or professional schools).

Each time students take this course, time will be spent compiling a portfolio into which they will insert various kinds of evidence of their progress in the major and accomplishment with respect to skills acquired or improved. Most important will be demonstration of writing skills, and time will be devoted to helping students polish a piece of writing, typically done for another course, into the best possible shape for presentation as a writing sample to accompany graduate school and other kinds of applications. A centerpiece of each portfolio experience will be the writing of an essay that reflects upon students' ambitions, educational experiences, opportunities, and realities with respect to after-college life choices. This will be an opportunity to think and write about career choices and what they imply with respect to further education, either at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, or afterwards. It will also provide an opportunity to reflect upon how the values and ideas that students pick up during their college careers may mesh with those choices.

Other kinds of things will find their way into portfolios. For instance, students who have passions and pastimes, like acting, creative writing, photography, music, spirituality, social process, or computing, that might in some way provide useful skills after college, may want to include evidence of them in the portfolio. In this context a student could create a photo essay, a web site, or a one person play and include it. (An example that comes to mind is a marvelous video tape made by one of our graduates for Social Change and Development in a Selected Area in which she wrote and convincingly performed a monolog in the persona of Toto Riina, notorious Sicilian mafia boss.)

An obvious component of portfolios updated by students in their senior years is a résumé, and help from the university's career service’s office is offered to support this end. Students planning post-graduate study will want to start working on and include materials they will need for making applications including: statements of purpose and the beginnings of a curriculum vitae.

We also strongly encourage minors to sign up, even if for only one semester. However, portfolio is only formally required of majors in SCD  

Links to Sample Portfolios 

Model Portfolio Outlines

 Portfolio Activities

 I. Career/Life Essay

A. What are your career interests? Why? (Think creatively about this question. For example, you might consider what career you would want if you were guaranteed that you could have any job, or reasonable income, you want. Also, think about the kinds of qualities that you want to find support and encouragement to advocate for in your work and workplace.)

B. How do your career interests relate to your family, religion, friends, larger community and community organizations, hobbies, values, etc.

C. How will or have your university education and SCD courses and major and other realms of learning helped you to meet these goals?

II. Essay for Professional or Graduate School Application.  Near-graduation students planning to continue study in Law School or Graduate School you should include the essay you are writing for your application.  Pre-graduation-year students with such aspirations should start to draft such an essay.

III.  Job Application Letter.  For those taking Portfolio who are graduating soon and planning to search for employment in your chosen field, please write a at least a few model (or actual) letters, practicing different approaches, applying for a position in your field.

IV. Résumé

Career Services Résumé (Examples of various types of résumés, and many other tools, are available here.)

V. Roots Essay

A. What types of jobs, careers, and skills have your family pursued over the last few generations?  And how do you think these roots influence you?

B. What have you learned from your family about:

1.  What kinds of work are possible and desirable?

                    2.  What it means to be successful?

                    3.  What skills you need to be successful?

4.  What have you learned from your family and community about the value of education?

C. What advantages and/or disadvantages have you experienced in your life that influence your career goals and skills?

VI.  Skills Assessment (For your skills assessment you should write at least a sentence or two about each of your skills, the level of your skills, and the way you will demonstrate your skills in your portfolio.  For skills that you need to work on, write about how you intend to do so.)  Below is a list of possible skills.  Feel free to add or subtract from this list to create a list that is relevant to you and your career aspirations and likely path.

            A. Communication: written, oral, e-communications, etc.

            B.  Foreign Languages

            C. Critical Thinking (Including Interdisciplinary, Systems Thinking, and other Integrative skills)

            D. Social Change and Development knowledge base (including your area of emphasis)

            E. Teamwork and Leadership

            F. Interpersonal

1. Small group (Including Dialogue or other Creative Communication or Group Process experience)  

2. Feedback on Performance

3. Training

4.  Diversity issues

            G. Technical/Managerial

            H. Citizenship

            I. Problem-solving

            J. Research and Information-gathering

            K. Lifelong Learning ( with emphasis on Interdisciplinary or Systems Integration skills)

            L. Personal skills and Attitudes

            1. Time Management

                        2. Reliability

                        3. Initiative and Creativity

                        4. Enthusiasm and Curiosity           

                        5. Openness to Others’ views

                        6. Integrative or Systems Skills

                        7. Capacity to See Opportunities and Act on Them

            M. Others

VII. Supportive Materials

            A. Transcripts

            B. Academic plan

C. Letters of Reference
(As an exercise try to write, and include in your working portfolio, several different examples of letters of reference as if someone else were writing the reference for you.  Be sure to link your own mix of skills and attributes to a potential employer or career as you work on this, dialogic, exercise.)

            D. Examples and Documentation of Demonstrated skills

                        1. University assignments: research papers, essays, presentations

                        2. Internship reports

                        3. Web sites

                        4. Photographs/Tapes etc.

                        5. Outside-of-school activities and experiences

            E. Sophomore Assessment test

            F. Awards and Recognitions

VIII. Job Interview: Questions and Answers        

            Commonly Asked Job Interview Questions

IX. Mock Job Interview Resources

Minimum Course Requirements:

Students just entering the Social Change and Development Program:
1. Skill Assessment
2. Career-Life Essay
3. Résumé
4. In-class participation in mock job interviews and presentation of Essay and Portfolio

Students who are graduating within this semester or the next:
1. Personal statement for continuing professional or graduate education application.
OR  A letter of application (actual or a model) for a position in your field.
2. Updated Résumé
3. Two letters of reference (Consider including some of your self-drafted sample letters of reference from VII, c, above here.)
4. In-class participation in mock job interviews and presentation of Essay and Portfolio
 

Consistent with federal law and the policies of the University of Wisconsin, it is the policy of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to provide appropriate and necessary accommodations to students with documented physical and learning disabilities. If you anticipate requiring any auxiliary aids or services, you should contact me or the Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities at 465-2671 as soon as possible to discuss your needs and arrange for the provision of services.