The ePortfolio Project at Auburn University honors exceptional students and faculty

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The ePortfolio Project at Auburn University has named four Auburn students—Elizabeth Devore, Jamie McClintock, Hallie Nelson and Parker Wade—as recipients of the Outstanding ePortfolio Award for their exceptional ePortfolios. Winners of this award have demonstrated excellence in creating ePortfolios directed toward the professional audiences in their respective fields.

These students received the honor during the fourth annual ePortfolio Awards Luncheon hosted by Provost Timothy Boosinger and Auburn’s ePortfolio Project. The ePortfolio Project is a campus-wide initiative that offers Auburn students the opportunity to create personal websites that communicate and showcase skills, experiences and learning. Students can use their sites to contextualize the diverse portfolio of work they have created at Auburn for different audiences.

Earlier this year, the American Association of Colleges and Universities recognized ePortfolios as a High Impact Practice. The university selected ePortfolios as its Quality Enhancement Plan, or QEP, in 2013 and has been working with faculty to integrate ePortfolios into the curriculum across disciplines, promoting deeper learning and engagement among students.

A committee of faculty and students reviewed nominations from disciplines across the university and selected the winners based on the four primary learning outcomes of the ePortfolio Project: effective communication, critical thinking through reflection, visual literacy and technical competence. More than double the number of students were nominated for the award this year as compared to the previous academic year.

In addition to honoring students, several Auburn faculty were recognized at the awards luncheon. Biosystems Engineering faculty Sushil Adhikari, Mark Dougherty, Oladiran Fasina, Timothy McDonald and Puneet Srivastava were presented with the Gary Brown ePortfolio Faculty Cohort Award, which recognizes faculty members who exhibit a spirit of collaboration and joint ownership for implementing ePortfolios. The award is named in honor of Dr. Gary Brown, a national leader in innovative teaching and the use of ePortfolios.

Professor Richard Burt, head of the McWhorter School of Building Science, also was honored for his exemplary service to the ePortfolio Project.

“Richard helped shape the [ePortfolio] Project’s infrastructure in ways that have contributed to its success and exhibited patience and persistence in getting the Auburn campus community to understand how ePortfolios offer a valuable learning opportunity for students and faculty alike,” said Boosinger.

Burt served as chair of the committee that developed the ePortfolio Project and has continued to serve on the ePortfolio Steering Committee. He has been a strong advocate for the ePortfolio Project both in his own college and across campus.

More information about the ePortfolio Project can be found at auburn.edu/eportfolios.

Auburn University is a nationally ranked land grant institution recognized for its commitment to world-class scholarship, interdisciplinary research with an elite, top-tier Carnegie R1 classification, life-changing outreach with Carnegie’s Community Engagement designation and an undergraduate education experience second to none. Auburn is home to more than 30,000 students, and its faculty and research partners collaborate to develop and deliver meaningful scholarship, science and technology-based advancements that meet pressing regional, national and global needs. Auburn’s commitment to active student engagement, professional success and public/private partnership drives a growing reputation for outreach and extension that delivers broad economic, health and societal impact.