Acknowledge the student and greet them! Be friendly and smile ! This may be their first interaction with  the Cleveland Institute of Art , first impressions are important. Maybe a “Hi ! Welcome to the Cleveland Institute of Art Table ! My name is [insert name] and I would be glad to review your work ! What’s your name ?”

Have the student fill out the top portion of the review sheet (asks for name, address and major of interest). Please make sure its legible. If it is not , You can fill out the information for them. They do not fill out the bottom review portion.

Utilize the students name when reviewing. For example: if you were reviewing my portfolio you could say “Davon , I see that you are interested in this style, can you talk more about your gravitation to it?” “Davon , I see that you love using this mark-making in your work, [explain why it works and how it can be further emphasized in other works/future projects].”

This is should be a well-informed review, students want to know what is working and what can be improved upon in a way that isn’t just “defeating”. They want to know what would make a good portfolio for them based off the work they are showing you ! [You can refer to our Portfolio Tips Brochure for this !] 

Watch your language/How you talk about their work ! Language is important when evaluating portfolios; these are students still in High School who are not only nervous about getting their work critiqued but also nervous about life and college in general. Try to keep this a emotionally intelligent review and not a stoic crushing one. 

Piggybacking from 3, our job is to motivate and have the student leave us with a valued review and understanding of their work. We are not here to defeat their hopes and dreams.

Keep track of time ! You have 10-15 minutes to review a portfolio. 

Ask what their interest are (major/style/medium). This helps with understanding the route the want to go with their work.

DO NOT CONFUSE THIS TIME WITH A CRIT. This is a review of their work it is not a classroom critique. We are reviewing their body of work, acknowledging what they have, what they need and how they should approach their portfolio in regards to applying. Of course there are “Critique” elements to this review but this is more of a guidance review than a traditional critique.  

Stay away from imposing your own biases. If you favor a particular style over another , keep that out of the review. It does not matter what you personally like, try to stay objective.

Don’t recommend them to do anything that has nothing to do with their work/projected future. Intent is important , if you are going to recommend a direction for their work make sure that it actually makes sense for them 

Stay away from using “this is wrong”, “this is bad”, “terrible use of mark and rendering”. Again language is important , even if it is “terrible” explain it in a way that won’t have them crying in front of you (this happens at these events). Try “I see that you are a bit light with your values here but you should build up on your value range to give dimensionality” this acknowledges the “wrong” and gives advice on how to improve without belittling them.

Don’t talk about other schools and how “bad, good, expensive or inexpensive” that they may be. Put the students work first and answer any questions they may have about their work and what CIA expects after. (This is a NPD RULE NOT A SUGGESTION. Please follow this rule as it is actually in NPD’s Policies and Procedures)

We are not “selling” CIA at this type of event. Meaning we are not giving a breakdown of what CIA is during the time of the portfolio review. The “sell” is us giving them genuine feedback and making them reflect on their amazing work ! If they have questions about CIA , you can answer them but we also have the brochures on the table for them as well if they want to read up on us. (I say that because we are short on time at these events , so if they start asking A LOT but there’s a long line behind them; refer them to the brochures)

Don’t unevenly distribute time. Everyone’s time should be considered. Make sure that you are giving EVERYONE the proper amount of attention to their portfolio.