TERMS

 

Academic advisement:
A meeting between a student and an advisor to discuss career plans, program of study or class selections prior to registration.

Academic drop:
Dismissal from the school for academic ineligibility (unsatisfactory academic work).

Academic probation:
A status resulting from unsatisfactory academic work; a warning that the student must improve academic performance or be dismissed after a specific period of time.

Academic standing:
The scholastic standing of a student based on his/her grade point average (GPA).

Academic year:
The period of formal academic instruction, usually extending from August through May. It is divided into fall and spring semesters. Students may also be able to take classes during summer sessions, mini-mesters or intersessions.

Accreditation:
The Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is the recognized regional accrediting body in the eleven U.S. Southern states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia) and in Latin America for those institutions of higher education that award associate, baccalaureate, master's or doctoral degrees. Accreditation is certification that a college meets a set of criteria established by SACS.

ACT:
A test published by American College Testing which measures a student's aptitude in mathematical and verbal comprehension and problem solving. Many four-year colleges require students to take this test and submit their test scores when they apply for admission. Some colleges accept this test or the SAT. Most students take the ACT or the SAT during their junior or senior year of high school.

Adds/drops:
Refers to changes of registration in which a student enrolls or stops enrollment in a course.

Adjunct faculty:
Part-time faculty member.

Admissions counselor:
A person working in a college Admission and Registration Department who assists students preparing application materials.

Advanced placement:
A waiver of some of the classes normally required for an undergraduate degree, granted to a student based on a student's prior study or experience (usually indicated by the student's performance on a special examination).

Alma mater:
The school from which one has graduated, as in "My alma mater is The University of Texas at Arlington."

Alumnus/alumni:
A person/persons who attended or graduated from a particular school.

Annotated bibliography:
An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents followed by a brief descriptive paragraph. The purpose of the annotation or description is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.

Articulation agreement:
A written agreement listing courses at one college that are equivalent to courses at another college. These agreements facilitate the smooth transition of students through the secondary, community college and university educational systems.

Articulated credit:
Allows high school students to take courses that lead to college credit in technical courses. Course credit is awarded by the college after the student has enrolled at a participating college.

Assignment:
Required reading and course work to be completed outside of the classroom as determined by instructors. Many instructors list assignments on a syllabus, which is distributed at the beginning of the semester. Other instructors give assignments during class.

Assistantship:
A study grant of financial assistance to a graduate student which is offered by a department in return for certain services (teaching, research). Those services are supervised by a faculty/staff member.

Associate's degree:
A degree traditionally awarded by community or junior colleges after two years of study, or completion of 60 to 64 semester hours.

Asynchronous communication or interaction:
Any act of exchanging information involving a delay between the sending and the receiving of the message. It means ‘not at the same time,’ as in an asynchronous on-line course, in which the faculty leaves messages for students, who read them later. Opposite of synchronous.

Audit:
Enrolling in a class on an audit basis means the class would not count for credit or grade point average. In some cases the audit fee is less than the tuition rate. Registration for audit may require the permission of the instructor.

Auditory learner:
Learns through listening; these students learn best through verbal lectures, discussions, talking things through and listening to what others have to say. Auditory learners interpret the underlying meanings of speech through listening to tone of voice, pitch, speed and other nuances. Written information may have little meaning until it is heard. These learners often benefit from reading text aloud and using a tape recorder.

B.A. or B.S.:
B.A. stands for "Bachelor of Arts", and B.S. stands for "Bachelor of Science." These degrees usually take four years to complete. Some colleges only grant B.A.'s and others only grant B.S.'s -- it depends on the kinds of courses offered at the particular college.

Bachelor's degree or baccalaureate:
The degree of bachelor of arts or bachelor of science, typically requiring 120 hours of specified course work

Blue book:
A booklet with a blue cover that contains lined paper for writing essay test answers. Blue books are usually available for purchase in the campus bookstore.

Bursar/cashier:
The office (or person) where fees/tuition are paid.

Campus:
The area where the buildings of a college or university are located.

Cashier/bursar:
The office (or person) where fees/tuition are paid.

Certificate programs:
Programs that offer short-term training in a wide variety of areas and are often offered by community and technical colleges.

CEU:
Continuing Education Unit; the amount of credit given for participating in a continuing education course or training session. CEU's are rarely considered as equivalent to academic credit.

Class standing:
This refers to your official year in school -Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, or Senior – and is based on the number of college credits you have completed.

Colloquium:
A gathering of scholars to discuss a given topic over a period of a few hours to a few days.

Continuing education course:
A course outside the regular academic instructional program, for which standard academic fees and tuition are (usually) not charged. While most often these courses do not earn academic credits, they can provide CEU's necessary for professional development or lead to professional certifications.

Community college: A two-year traditional school, offering programs leading to the Associate's degree and, typically, many noncredit courses in arts, crafts, and vocational fields for community members not seeking a degree. Also called junior college.

Core course/general requirements:
These terms usually mean the same thing. Each degree program requires that all students complete specific groups of courses.

Correspondence course:
A course in which communication between student and instructor is done with printed materials via the US Mail.

Course load:
Number of credit hours for which a student is enrolled during a semester.

Course number:
The identification code for each course.

Course overload:
Defined by most colleges as over 18 credits for undergraduates. Graduate school overload is usually over 12 credits. Approval is required to take an overload.

Course sections:
Course numbers may be divided when classes also meet in discussion sections, or when a course number has sections pertaining to different topics under the same heading. For instance, a course called Phenomenological Thinkers may have section 001: Husserl and section 002: Heidegger.

Credit:
A credit is the value assigned to a course. Usually one credit equals one 50 minute class period per week. Many courses carry 3 credits and meet for three 50 minute periods a week.

Credit course:
A class with specified learning goals which the student is required to meet in order to pass the course and that may be applied toward the fulfillment of degree requirements at a college or university.

Critical thinking:
An essential tool of inquiry; purposeful, self-regulatory judgment that results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference, as well as explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, or contextual considerations upon which that judgment is based. The ideal critical thinker is habitually inquisitive, well-informed, trustful of reason, open-minded, flexible, fair-minded in evaluation, honest in facing personal biases, prudent in making judgments, willing to reconsider, clear about issues, orderly in complex matters, diligent in seeking relevant information, reasonable in the selection of criteria, focused in inquiry, and persistent in seeking results which are as precise as the subject and the circumstances of inquiry permit. (from http://www.insightassessment.com/dex.html)

Cum Laude:
An honorary recognition of the success of a graduating student. Usually requires a GPA of 3.4 or better, but varies by school.

Curriculum:
A program of courses to be taken in pursuit of a degree or other objective.

Dean:
Director or the highest authority within an academic division of study. An Academic Dean heads each School and College. In addition to the academic deans, there is often a Dean of Students who heads the Student Affairs department.

Dean's list:
The list of full-time, undergraduate students whose GPA was at a certain level (usually a B+ or higher) for a given semester.

Deferment:
The postponing of a fee; to be paid later.

Degree:
Diploma or title awarded to a student who completed a prescribed course of study.

Degree program:
An organized sequence of classes that leads to the awarding of a college degree at the undergraduate or graduate level.

Degree requirement:
A set of requirements, which a student must fulfill before s/he graduates.

Delivery method:
Means by which a course is accessible to the student; can be television at a remote site, cable TV, videotape, via the Internet, CD ROM, computer disk or by standard mail. Many distance education courses have a F2F (face-to-face) component as well.

Department:
A division of the school which offers instruction in a specific branch of knowledge.

Department chair:
The faculty member in charge of an academic department of the university.

Distance education:
A formal learning activity which occurs when students and instructor are separated by geographic distance or by time, often supported by communications technology such as television, videotape, computers, email, mail, or interactive videoconferencing.

Distance learning:
The process by which technology is used for education in ways where the student does not have to physically be in the place where the teaching is taking place. Access to the instructor is gained through technology such as the Internet, interactive videoconferencing and satellite.

Dissertation:
The major research project normally required as part of the work for a doctoral degree. Dissertations are expected to make a new and creative contribution to the field of study, or to demonstrate one's excellence in the field.

Doctoral degree:
The most advanced degree, awarded following of additional study, often after completion of a master's degree.

Double major:
Studying simultaneously for two degrees in two majors, fulfilling the class requirements for both majors.

Early registration:
Students complete a final course selection and make a payment or deposit for tuition and fees in advance of the general student population.

Elective:
A course you choose to take that is not required in your major field of study, but may be used for credit toward a degree.

Electronic mail (email):
A system of exchanging messages by means of computers attached to a network.

Equivalency examination:
An examination designed to demonstrate knowledge in a subject where the learning was acquired outside a traditional classroom. A person who learned management skills while working at a restaurant, for instance, could take an equivalency exam to earn credit in, say, small business management.

Essay:
A method of examination, or homework, by which a student presents his/her knowledge of the subject by writing a composition.

Extracurricular activities:
Activities pertinent to student life, but not part of the regular classroom study. For example: athletics, publications and social organizations.

Facilitator:
The person in an interactive videoconferencing classroom who assists the instructor or students with technical and troubleshooting issues, distribution of handouts, collection of tests and evaluations, etc. Not all distance education classrooms have facilitators.

Faculty:
The members of the teaching staff, and occasionally the administrative staff, of an educational institution. Faculty may hold the rank of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, instructor, lecturer, research associate, research assistant, or the equivalent of any of these academic ranks. See adjunct faculty.

FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid):
A form that all students applying for financial assistance are required to complete in order to determine eligibility for financial aid. This form is available from your high school career center or guidance counselor or from any college financial aid office.

FAQ:
Frequently asked questions. Increasingly, on Internet and in print, information sources provide a list of FAQ's to assist newcomers in learning more on their own.

Fees:
An amount of money charged by institutions (in addition to tuition) to cover costs of certain services (health services, athletic center, registration, parking, and for the use of lab equipment or computers etc.).

Final examination:
The last, and often the most comprehensive, examination of the semester's class material.

Financial aid/assistance:
Money available from various sources to help students pay for college. Students must establish eligibility and funds can be competitive.

Financial aid package:
Total amount of financial aid given to a student. Federal and non-Federal aid such as grants, loans, and work-study are combined to help meet the student's need. Using available resources to give each student the best possible package of aid is one of the major responsibilities of a school's financial aid administrator.

Financial need:
In the context of student financial aid, financial need is equal to the cost of education (estimated costs for college attendance and basic living expenses) minus the expected family contribution (the amount a student's family is expected to pay, which varies according to the family's financial resources).

Fraternity:
A social organization for male students, with specific objectives, rules and regulations.

Full-time student:
student with a full course load (usually 12 or more credit hours per semester).

GED certificate or diploma:
The equivalent to a high school diploma. It certifies that a person has obtained a passing score on five separate tests: Writing Skills, Social Studies, Science, Interpreting Literature and the Arts, and Mathematics.

GPA (Grade Point Average):
A system of recording academic achievement based on an average of a student's grades. Your semester GPA is an average of grade points earned during that semester. Cumulative GPA is an average of all grade points earned in a certain degree program or at a certain college or university.

Grades:
Evaluative scores provided for each course, and often for individual examinations or papers written for that course. There are letter grades (usually A, B, C, D, F) and number grades (usually percentages from 0% to 100%), or on a scale of 0 to 3, 0 to 4, or 0 to 5. Some schools use a pass/fail system with no grades.

Graduate studies:
Coursework beyond the bachelor’s degree that leads to a master’s degree, professional or doctoral degree.

Grant:
A sum of money given to a student for the purposes of paying at least part of the cost of college. A grant does not have to be repaid.

Hybrid course:
Hybrid courses are a combination of two or more of the types of distance learning courses (e.g., web, email, ITV ) with traditional classroom instruction. Hybrid courses have a website, and although they have several face-to-face (F2F) class sessions, most assignments and communication with the instructor take place by email (online) or through interactive videoconferencing.

Incomplete grade:
An "I" (incomplete grade) may be reported for a student who carried coursework satisfactorily until near the end of the semester, but who is then unable to complete the course, possibly including the final exam. If the student does not remove the "I" according to the schools time frame/policy, the "I" will be changed to an "F."

Independent study:
A method of receiving credit for study or research independent of the assignments of any specific course, but supervised and graded by a faculty member.

Instructional Television:
Videotaped course lectures; also called a telecourse.

Internet course:
Web-based course completed online. Also called an online course. May or may not be self-paced.

Intersession:
Instruction offered between the regular fall and spring semesters. Sometimes called mini-mesters.

ITV interactive videoconferencing:
Two-way audio and/or video; videoconferencing. Classes are shared by local sites connecting to remote sites. Depending on how the course is set up, students at both sites can see, hear, and interact with each another.

Junior College:
A two-year traditional school, offering programs leading to the Associate's degree and, typically, many noncredit courses in arts, crafts, and vocational fields for community members not seeking a degree. Also called community college.

Kinesthetic learner:
Learns through moving, doing and touching; these students learn best through a hands-on approach, actively exploring the physical world around them. They may find it hard to sit still for long periods and may become distracted by their need for activity and exploration.

Laboratory (lab):
A classroom where practical learning and demonstration take place in science, language, and other subjects.

Learning strategies:
Activities that help people use their own learning style to best approach new learning.

Learning style:
The way a person takes in, understands, expresses and remembers information; the way a person learns best. See auditory, kinesthetic, and visual learning.

Lecture:
A common method of instruction in university courses, when a faculty member conveys information by speaking to a class.

Live interaction:
Ability for students to participate in real-time in classes offered at a distance using electronic technology (videoconferencing or "chat" mode on the Internet).

Loan:
A type of financial aid that is available to students and to the parents of students. An education loan must be repaid. In many cases payments do not begin until the student finishes school.

Lower division course:
A course that is intended for freshman and sophomore level students.