How the Portfolio Works:
In their 6th term at Carleton*, students are required to submit a portfolio that includes 3-5 samples of writing in their coursework. These portfolios are read over the summer by volunteer faculty and instructional staff, who use a rubric to assess students’ demonstration of various writing skills (audience and purpose; argumentation; sources and evidence; organization; grammar, clarity, and mechanics).
Raters can give students three possible scores: Exemplary, Pass, and Not Yet.
Students who receive an Exemplary or Pass score have completed their portfolio requirement.
Students who receive a Not Yet score work with Writing Center staff** to address the deficiencies in their writing identified by readers. Upon successful completion of this process, staff convert their score to a Pass.
Identifying Your Students’ Portfolio Score:
Since the portfolio score does not appear on students’ transcripts, it can be difficult to determine your advisees’ status. The only consistent indicator you’ll get is in the “Academic Progress” screen:
Under each student’s Liberal Arts requirements, you’ll see a line for “Writing Portfolio.” When the student receives a Pass or Exemplary score on their portfolio, this line will read “Completed.” If the student has not submitted a portfolio at all or has received a Not Yet score, this line will read “Not Started.”
Notifications:
The WAC office or Writing Center will also notify you if:
- one of your advisees fails to submit their portfolio by the deadline,
- one of your advisees receives a Not Yet score on their portfolio,
- a student with a Not Yet score misses a deadline related to the revision process (see below),
- or if a student with a Not Yet score successfully completes the portfolio requirement.
Major Advisors’ Role:
When your advisees receive Pass or Exemplary scores, there’s really nothing for you to do but congratulate them!
Students who receive Not Yet scores, however, often benefit from a bit of attention as they navigate the process of earning a Pass. See the guide below for recommendations on how you can help students through this process.
Advising Students with “Not Yet” Scores:
Students who receive a score of Not Yet on their writing portfolios enter a process designed to help them address their unique writing needs. Each student meets with Writing Center staff to review their writing, evaluate their needs based on portfolio reader feedback, and develop an individualized plan to allow them to complete the portfolio requirement by the end of their junior year.
This revision process is largely self-guided. Students are required (under penalty of enrollment hold) to meet with Writing Center staff by week five of their first term on campus after receiving the Not Yet score. At this meeting, they draft a plan for passing the portfolio. Options include:
- Participating in the Term-Long Program
- Meeting with the Writing Center staff
- Attending relevant workshops
- Taking another Writing Rich course and submitting their work for review
- Designing an alternative process in consultation with Writing Center staff
They are also required to check in each term until Writing Center staff determine that their writing has improved sufficiently. The goal is to empower students to commit to a plan that works for them and to use whatever assistance they believe will benefit them the most.
How Advisors Can Help:
Students who received a Not Yet score benefit when advisors make their portfolio progress part of the advising dialogue. In your meetings and other communication, please emphasize the importance of writing skills in general and passing the writing portfolio requirement in particular.
Specifically, as an advisor, you can:
- Email advisees after they receive the initial Not Yet notification to acknowledge the situation and offer to help with any questions or concerns they have.
- Ask advisees about their meeting with the Writing Center, their plan, and how their plan fits into the broader goals (first meeting after receiving a Not Yet score).
- Ask advisees what kinds of writing assignments they completed, how well they think these assignments went, and where they feel more or less confident in their writing (subsequent meetings).
- Encourage advisees to take courses that will develop their writing skills early in their junior year and help them to identify these courses in the major. This is especially important for majors where WR coursework is limited.
- Consider offering yourself as a resource to help advisees with writing assignments in their major courses.
- Ask advisees about any enrollment holds you see. If the hold is related to the writing portfolio, have them articulate exactly how and when they will clear the hold.
Since the sophomore portfolio tends to emphasize more traditional forms of academic writing, it can be hard for students in certain majors to connect the skill deficiencies identified by their portfolio readers with the actual writing they do in their major courses. If you’re an advisor for one of these majors, you can help to “translate” these comments. For example, you might explain how lab reports or documentation on computer programs require the same (or similar) writing skills as a thesis-driven essay.
*Students who transfer in as juniors are required to submit the portfolio in their first term at Carleton (though they can request a one-term extension from the Writing Across the Curriculum Director). This often comes as a surprise to these students, so advisors who work with transfer students should pay particular attention to their portfolio status and make sure the student understands the associated requirements and deadlines.
**New as of Fall 2025. Previously, students worked with the WAC Director.