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Teaching Statements
& Portfolios

About the Program

The Teaching Statements & Portfolios mini-course is an online, self-paced Canvas resource that provides step-by-step guidance in creating or refining a teaching statement and a teaching portfolio—widely requested documents in the academic job search, particularly for positions that involve college-level teaching. This resource aims to help you develop strategies for effectively communicating about your teaching approaches and their impact on student learning, while telling a compelling story of who you are as an educator. The resource is designed for UC Santa Cruz graduate students and postdocs, but is open for self-enrollment to the broader campus community.

By enrolling in this mini-course, you can:

  • Utilize reflection questions to generate content for the teaching statement and portfolio, including reflecting on how your social positionalities shape your teaching practice and values;
  • Practice communicating about your teaching by using concrete and specific examples of your approaches and their impact;
  • Select an organizational strategy for your teaching statement that feels most relevant to your expertise and strengths;
  • Identify and practice effective writing techniques by reviewing examples of successful statements;
  • Utilize organizational tools for aligning portfolio content with your teaching statement;
  • Learn how to communicate quantitative and qualitative data from Student Experience of Teaching Surveys (SETS);
  • Access answers to frequently asked questions and further resources for learning more about these documents and genres of writing;
  • and more!

How to Participate

Graduate students and postdocs are welcome to self-enroll in the course using the link below. After completing the course and utilizing the resources to draft or refine your teaching statement or portfolio, you are welcome to reach out to us at tlc@ucsc.edu to request a consultation on your materials.

Although the primary audience of the course is graduate students and postdocs, we welcome faculty, staff, and other members of the UC Santa Cruz community to self-enroll in the course. Please note that access to the Canvas resource requires that you log in with your UCSC Canvas account. If your CruzID login does not grant you access, contact the Instructional Technology Team for assistance.

Last modified: Oct 04, 2024