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What is a New Century Portfolio?

A portfolio is a collection of materials that represents a body of work. A New Century College student portfolio represents your body of work, either for a course or your college studies as whole, culminating in your degree.

These are general guidelines. Please follow your professor's guidelines for a specific portfolio.

Integrative Studies students construct portfolios containing examples of their work, accompanied by critical reflection, at various points in their academic careers (for example, at the end of a learning community or at the end of a year of study). Students prepare portfolios after several first year courses and a composite first year portfolio at the end of NCLC 140 (Unit 4). All integrative studies students have to successfully complete the graduation portfolio requirements in order to graduate.

It is very important for students to save work they create throughout each year and to build upon and revise portfolios annually.

"What have I learned and how have I learned?" is the central question around which students should construct their portfolios. One of the major ways students are asked to address this question is to consider how they have progressed in the nine New Century Competency areas:

communication
critical thinking
problem solving
valuing
social interaction
aesthetic response
effective citizenship
global awareness
information technology

In-depth description of the nine Competencies.

A good portfolio is far more than a well-arranged compilation of work; instead, it offers a memorable and self-aware picture of the author's learning and growth, especially in the nine NCC competency areas. Successful portfolios demonstrate the student's active construction of knowledge, the ability to make connections across disciplines, experiences, and curriculum, and the capacity for thoughtful self-evaluation.

A portfolio will generally include an introduction, samples of your work, and comments and reflections on your work. Because portfolios are usually evaluated holistically (that is, individual parts will not receive separate grades), you should consider how the parts fit together to create a detailed and comprehensive picture of your learning.

Samples of work an individual's graduation portfolio might contain include essays, research and lab reports, videos, presentations, graphics design, art work, and also evidence of learning in co-curricular activities (for example, volunteer activities and student organizations) and internship experiences.

In some cases, portfolios count for a significant portion of the grade in a course. In other cases, the portfolio requirement is designed to help students learn, with the help of faculty feedback and evaluation. Students also gain practice in how to construct a high quality product so they will be well prepared for the graduation portfolio.

Because portfolios provide an important record of active learning and demonstrate work in NCC competency areas, students' year-end portfolios are archived in the College offices until a student graduates. Students can gain access to their portfolios during office hours to add or remove materials.