The scholarly Portfolio is intended to support your learning in the early stages of your PhD studies and to provide you with an opportunity to display the intellectual progress you are making in your program. It will help you advance your research program and contribute to the development of your research plan and Dissertation. As such, the Portfolio is a tool for research and scholarship as well as personal and intellectual growth.

You will prepare your Portfolio during the first semesters of your program. Normally, students submit their Portfolio for evaluation by their Supervisory Committee and an External Examiner near the end of their first year. Sometimes, however, often for good pedagogical reasons, students complete their portfolio later during their second year in the program. Whatever the case, you are required to pass the Portfolio within the first 24 months of study in the program (by July of your second year). Passing the Portfolio entitles you to enrol in your Dissertation and to take on the designation, Doctoral Candidate.

Initiating Your Portfolio

By July 31st of the first year, you and your Supervisor will complete an Initial Portfolio Agreement Form setting out intended artefacts for inclusion in the portfolio, appreciating that these artefacts can and may change as you assemble your Portfolio.

Developing Your Portfolio

In subsequent semesters, in consultation with your Supervisor and Committee, you will develop and assemble artifacts (10 to 15 in total) to demonstrate competence in five principal areas:

• General Knowledge
• In-Depth Knowledge
• Research Knowledge and Competencies
• Professional and Collegial Competencies
• Teaching and Instructional Competencies

As you assemble your Portfolio, you will develop a narrative summary that introduces and discusses these elements of your Portfolio.

In-Progress Assessment of the Portfolio

In the middle of your first year of study, you and your Supervisory Committee will assess your progress in your Portfolio using the In-Progress Assessment Form. This mid-way assessment will help ensure you are progressing well with your Portfolio. Your committee and you will agree and sign off on which artifacts are complete, need further work and/or have been removed and replaced with others.

Submitting the Completed Portfolio to the Supervisory Committee

Once you have completed your Portfolio, you will provide copies (artifacts and Narrative) to all Supervisory Committee members for review. Around the same time, your committee will identify an External Examiner who can assess your Portfolio. Once your committee is satisfied with your Portfolio, a copy of it will be sent to the External Examiner selected by your Supervisory Committee at least two weeks prior to your Portfolio Examination. You and your Supervisor will give notice that you are ready to present your Portfolio by submitting the Portfolio Examination Notice to the PhD Administration Office.

Your Portfolio Examination

Your Portfolio Examination is a public event in which you present your proposal and answer questions posed by members of your Supervisory Committee and your External Examiner. In a private session immediately following the presentation and question period, the Supervisory Committee and the External Examiner will decide whether the oral examination warrants a Pass or Fail grade. Once a decision of Pass or Fail has been reached, the examiners will complete and sign the Portfolio Examination Assessment Report Form. You will be informed about the outcome of the Portfolio examination immediately following the Supervisory Committee’s decision. The Program Administrative Office will confirm this outcome in writing