Guidelines for Student Portfolios

Student Portfolios consist of three parts:

• Form 1: School/College Selection Process Information Form
• Form 2: School/College Student Endorsement and Recommendations Form
• Form 3: Student Nomination Form

NOTE: These forms are made available to the School/College Contact. Students will receive access to the Student Nomination Form via the School/College contact if selected as a nominee for Syracuse University Scholars.

Form  1: School/College Selection Process Information Form - This form provides an overview of the nominating School/College selection process. It will be completed once by the School or College contact. After all SU Scholar nominees from a School/College submit their Student Nomination Forms, this form will be attached automatically to their SU Scholar applications. Contacts will receive one confirmation email after submitting this form.

Form 2: School / College Student Endorsement and Recommendations Form - This form provides a brief endorsement (maximum 2,500 characters) of School/College nominees, and will also be used to submit PDF copies of nominees' three letters of recommendation. This form is completed  for each individual nominee by the School/College contact, and will be attached automatically to each nominee's application. Contacts will receive a confirmation email for each submission. Recommendation guidelines can be found below.

Form 3: Student Nomination Form - This form will be completed by the student nominees after they have been selected to represent their School or College.  It will request the following information from the students:

• Student Academic and Contact Information - Including the students name, major, minor(s), nominating college, etc. 
• Student’s PDF resume or CV (maximum 2 pages) - The resume / CV must include the student's major(s), current GPA, and a section listing awards/scholarships.
• Student’s personal statement (maximum 6,500 characters in length, including spaces and punctuation) - The nominee’s personal statement, which will be submitted in a text box within the application, serves as an introduction to the nominee and as a current sample of their writing. In it, the nominee should describe their intellectual growth and how experiences at Syracuse University have contributed to that growth.
• Student’s transcript(s) - Up to date unofficial SU transcript, including the most recent fall semester grades.  If a student has earned six or more credits from another college or university, an official transcript from that that institution must be included in the application materials.
• Samples of student work - Each nominee must submit at least three, but no more than six, samples of their academic work from the categories listed in the guidelines below. All samples must be uploaded to an online platform  (i.e. your Google Drive, Dropbox account, etc.), and students must provide a direct link in their form to this account.  
  • At least one sample must be a writing sample.
  • Each sample must also include a brief paragraph (maximum 200 words) that provides insight into the sample. The nomination portfolios will be read by faculty who are (most likely) not in the student’s field of study, and thus this paragraph should help the “educated layperson” understand what they will be reading, seeing or listening to.

SAMPLES OF STUDENT WORK GUIDELINES:

• Writing sample – required: The candidate should select sample(s) of their writing appropriate to the academic discipline.
• Creative writing: Samples of creative writing in any genre.
• Art and architecture portfolios: Portfolios must be submitted in PDF format. A minimum of ten and a maximum of twenty images should be included per portfolio.
• Music files: Music files should be submitted in MP3 format. The nominee should include pieces that demonstrate his or her breadth of musical experience and understanding. Special note: When a musical score is submitted as a sample work, an audio file of the piece must be included. The score and audio file together will ‘count’ as one sample of student work.
• Videos: Videos can be included in the PDF document as an MP4 file. Videos located on a private website or on a sharing site such as YouTube are acceptable. In this situation, a list of the appropriate links should be included in the sample documents. Be aware that broken, missing, or non-working links will negatively impact the application.

NOTE: While there is no limit to the length of writing samples, music files or videos, candidates should be mindful that especially lengthy selections are unlikely to be thoroughly read, viewed, or listened to by the committee.

RECOMMENDATION GUIDELINES:

• Two letters of recommendation must be from Syracuse University faculty; one of these writers must be identified as the nominee’s “primary faculty mentor.” The additional recommendation letter may be written by someone either within or outside the University (though it is perfectly fine for the third letter to come from another SU faculty member).
• Recommendations should come from scholars or practitioners who can creditably attest to the candidate’s contributions to their discipline(s). They should not come from a candidate’s peers or family members. Ideally, the candidate's recommendation letters will represent the breadth of their academic activities. The SU Scholar Selection Committee is particularly interested in why the candidate’s achievements qualify them for this academic honor.

The faculty mentor’s letter must address the following:

• What makes the student’s academic achievement within the classroom, laboratory or studio outstanding?
• How has the student displayed evidence of intellectual growth and/or innovation in their field of study?
• How has the student contributed to the academic environment of the school, college and university?
  d. Why is the student worthy of the designation “University Scholar”?

Faculty mentors may also use their letters to address:

• What constitutes "scholarship or creative endeavor" within the student's discipline.

The above forms must all be received no later than the first Friday of classes in the spring term.

Students must work through their school/college SU Scholar nomination process; they may not nominate themselves independently.