Throughout the semester, UNIV 290 students work to build an electronic portfolio that constitutes both their final reflection on the class and their final contribution to the education and inspiration of their peers.  The portfolio invites them to creatively explore class themes in relation to their community-based service, and includes pages on most major course themes:

• the mission, vision, and programs of their community-based organization or project;
• an analysis of their organization's assets;
• a description of the organization's clients and the issues they face;
• the student's blog entries about their day-to-day experiences as volunteers;
• a "get involved!" page that teaches readers how they can have a positive impact on the social issue that the author was working with all semester;
• a personal statement.

Many students indicate that the final ePortfolio is one of the most valuable learning experiences in UNIV 290, and continue to use their class folios or other, personal folios they develop as part of their career search, in medical or grad school applications, etc.  (For more on ePortfolios and their uses, visit www.luc.edu/eportfolio.)

Because the portfolio is a public document (see examples featured below, and on the Service-Learning Program website!), students' folio pages are reviewed and edited numerous times prior to publication.  The diagram above explains this process, whereby students submit drafts of pages to their classmates for evaluation and comment, then revise them before re-submitting them for final presentation & workshopping with the entire class, re-editing (if necessary), evaluation, and publication.