As part of its ongoing self-assessment, St Vladimir’s Seminary requires M.Div. senior students to submit portfolios of their work. Compiled from student essays, sermons, and fieldwork evaluations, these serve as cross-sections of the seminarian’s work and growth. Portfolios are reviewed by the Director of Institutional Assessment and evaluated by an external reviewer at a peer school. (External reviewers are unable to see the student’s name.) In this way the seminary is helped to see how it is measuring up to the outcomes it has established for the M.Div. degree program.
Contents of Portfolio
Submitted by the student:
- One essay from a scripture course;
- One essay from a church history or patristics course;
- One essay from a systematics or liturgical theology course;
- One essay from any course;
- Video (via YouTube link) and manuscript of sermon delivered in chapel or class with instructor’s comments; and
- Student reflection on the following questions:
» What were your criteria for the essays you chose to submit?
» What were the greatest challenges you faced in your seminary work?
» In what ways have you grown personally and spiritually in your time at the seminary?
Submission Instructions
Students submit their portfolio in a manila folder—using paper clips (not staples) to separate their materials—to the Director of Insitutional Assessment at the student's M.Div. senior oral examination.