Introduction to Promotion Portfolio
I joined the faculty of Methodist College in August of 2012, and the last five years have provided me with triumphs and challenges. In the process of creating this portfolio, I reviewed my annual self- evaluations which was an enlightening task. I was able to see how far I had come from my first year, as a teacher trying to do her best for her students, to my present self, as a confident instructor and scholar who is an integral part of the college and community.
When I came across the following narrative from my 2014 self evaluation, remembering the beginning of my first upper division course made me smile:
This portfolio, hopefully, is a reflection of my journey and my passion for all the aspects of my career as a faculty member at Methodist College. Though each of the three core areas of our profession---Teaching, Scholarship, and Service---have been separated into neat and manageable categories in this portfolio, I must note that they are not mutually exclusive of each other. On the contrary, the work done in each area affects, inspires, and enriches the others---making the whole greater than the sum of its parts. Therefore, there inevitably will be some overlap or references between the narratives and artifacts in the core areas.
I am extremely excited to be applying for promotion to Assistant Professor of Arts and Sciences at Methodist College, and I hope you enjoy reviewing my portfolio as much as I did creating it. I have arranged the material according to the areas of faculty responsibility: Teaching, Scholarship, and Service. I have also included my Teaching Philosophy, Curriculum Vitae, and a brief description of how I meet the requirements for Assistant Professor of Arts and Sciences. Links to these sections of my portfolio can be found in the left menu bar.
When I came across the following narrative from my 2014 self evaluation, remembering the beginning of my first upper division course made me smile:
Over the summer, I prepared for my first upper division Humanities course, HUM301. The research involved in choosing and developing materials renewed my love for scholarship. Not since graduate school had I done so much research. I loved it! The preparation for the course created an overwhelming enthusiasm for teaching the course in the Fall 2014 term. I was almost giddy every time I went to the class. My students probably thought I was crazy for being so excited about Frankenstein. Though, by the end of the semester, several of them developed their own enthusiasm for not only Frankenstein itself but for researching the influences on and by the novel. Seeing the scholar emerge from some of the students created immense enjoyment and gratification for me.That was a turning point for me in my development as a teacher and a scholar. It was at that point in my journey, as a faculty member of Methodist College, with one EDGE Run under my belt and a bevy of classes that I had developed and taught in my repertoire, that I started on my path to becoming a professor because I realized that there was so much more to my role and to my world than being an effective teacher. I realized how important scholarship is and how infectious a passion for learning, research, and service can be.
This portfolio, hopefully, is a reflection of my journey and my passion for all the aspects of my career as a faculty member at Methodist College. Though each of the three core areas of our profession---Teaching, Scholarship, and Service---have been separated into neat and manageable categories in this portfolio, I must note that they are not mutually exclusive of each other. On the contrary, the work done in each area affects, inspires, and enriches the others---making the whole greater than the sum of its parts. Therefore, there inevitably will be some overlap or references between the narratives and artifacts in the core areas.
I am extremely excited to be applying for promotion to Assistant Professor of Arts and Sciences at Methodist College, and I hope you enjoy reviewing my portfolio as much as I did creating it. I have arranged the material according to the areas of faculty responsibility: Teaching, Scholarship, and Service. I have also included my Teaching Philosophy, Curriculum Vitae, and a brief description of how I meet the requirements for Assistant Professor of Arts and Sciences. Links to these sections of my portfolio can be found in the left menu bar.