Glossary of Terms

23-24 Glossary

The University of Toledo Curriculum Glossary of Terms       

Associate Degree: An award that requires completion of 60 semester credit hours; associate degree programs should not exceed 65 semester credit hours unless it can be shown that the additional coursework is required to meet professional accreditation or licensing requirements.

  • Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees are designed for students wishing to complete the first two years of a bachelor’s degree, as well as those desiring two years of a liberal arts education.
  • Associate of Applied Business and Associate of Applied Science degrees are awarded in recognition of successful completion of career technical education programs and prepare students for immediate employment upon graduation. The curricula for applied associate degree programs are described in terms of technical and non-technical studies. Non-technical studies include general education and courses that serve as a base for the technical field (sometimes referred to as “applied general education” or “basic” coursework). Non-technical studies, including general education and applied general education courses, should make up at least 30 semester hours of the degree.
  • Associate of Technical Study degrees are awarded for successful completion of a planned program of study designed to respond to the need for specialized technical education. The program must have an area of concentration, which is equivalent to at least 30 semester credit hours in technical studies and a clearly identifiable career objective.

Audit: To take a course without credit.

Advisor: A faculty or staff member assigned to a student to advise that student on academic matters that include degree requirements and selection of courses.

Bachelor’s Degree: An award that requires completion of 120 semester credit hours; bachelor’s degree programs should not exceed 126 semester credit hours unless it can be shown that the additional coursework is required to meet professional accreditation or licensing requirements. Bachelor’s degrees may be awarded for general areas of study, such as those recognized by the bachelor of arts and the bachelor of science degrees or in specialized professional and technical fields, such as these recognized by the bachelor of fine arts, the bachelor of science in nursing, the bachelor of education, and so on.

Blended/Hybrid Courses: See under Course Delivery Method.

Campus: A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated.

Catalog Year: The academic year for which a degree candidate must meet documented graduation requirements. University graduation requirements and each academic program's curricular (major, minor, or certificate) requirements are officially documented in the catalog. Your catalog year refers to the academic year you were first admitted into The University of Toledo. Your catalog year is important because you follow the curriculum requirements that were in effect that academic year. For example, if you were admitted in Fall 2020, your catalog year is 2020-2021.

Certificate: A formal award certifying the satisfactory completion of an organized program of study at the postsecondary level. (Also see Undergraduate / Sub-Baccalaureate Certificate/ Post-Baccalaureate Certificate / Post-Master’s Certificate).

Class Schedule: List of courses and sections for a specific semester, including names of instructors; day, hour, and place of class meetings; and detailed registration procedures. The class schedule is available online.

Clinical (CL): See under Course Schedule Type.

Clock Hour: A clock hour per credit hour will be interpreted as 55 minutes for student learning experiences. This interpretation is to be applied uniformly to both didactic and clinical/lab/experiential learning experiences.

  1. Conferences/seminars or similar pedagogical approaches used in conjunction with didactic or clinical/lab/experientially oriented learning experiences must fit within the allotted clock time given that course.
  2. All individualized experiences connected with a required course must fit within the allotted clock time given that course.
  3. Clock time does not include time for activities (e.g., travel, meals, breaks, etc.) related to the learning experience.
  4. Contact hour definitions:
    1. 1 credit hour didactic = 55 minutes
    2. 1 credit hour clinical = 45 – 60 minutes

Concentration: An identified set of courses within a degree program indicating in-depth knowledge in a particular area of focus. Concentrations differ from majors in that the concentration must include a minimum of 50 percent of the curriculum within the major. Concentrations appear on a student’s transcript.

Cooperative Education (CO-OP) Program: A cooperative education program is a partnership between students, institutions of higher education and employers that formally integrates students' academic study with work experience in cooperating employer organizations and that meets all of the following conditions:

  1. Alternates or combines periods of academic study and work experience in appropriate fields as an integral part of student education;
  2. Provides students with compensation from the cooperative employer in the form of wages or salaries for work performed;
  3. Evaluates each participating student's performance in the cooperative position, both from the perspective of the student's institution of higher education and the student's cooperative employer;
  4. Provides participating students with academic credit from the institution of higher education upon successful completion of their cooperative education;
  5. Is part of an overall degree or certificate program for which a percentage of the total program.

(Reporting Note: Co-ops must be paid and must be for credit; they are integrated into the program and usually required, often alternating with academic work.)

Core Curriculum or Core: A set of courses required of all undergraduate students at The University of Toledo, which includes both the state’s General Education requirements and a Multicultural component. The Core Curriculum provides the educational foundation for all undergraduate degree programs. Students must select from a specific list of courses in seven different categories or components in order to complete the core, including Arts and Humanities, English Composition, Math, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Diversity of U.S. Culture and Diversity of Non-U.S. Culture.

Corequisite: A course that is required to be taken simultaneously with another course.

Course: A unit of academic instruction.

Course Load: The number of semester credit hours a student may schedule in a given term.

Course Repeatability: The University recognizes a course may need to be repeated. Students may retake a course. Students who retake a course and earn a higher grade may petition their college to have the first grade excluded from their grade point average computation. All grades, including those for repeated courses, will be included in the determination of eligibility for honors, fellowships and other distinctions accruing on the basis of GPA. A copy of the approved petition will become part of the student’s permanent record file. Credit for any repeated course will apply only once toward degree requirements. This policy applies to all undergraduate students. Each college may publish detailed implementation strategies specific to that college. Note: Some courses may also be repeated if the course is designated as repeatable for credit (e.g., special topics courses). The student would have different learning outcomes for each course.

Course Schedule: Consists of all courses for which a student has registered in a single academic term.

Course Section Number: This three-character identifier refers to a specific section of a course offering and its specific meeting pattern and location. Some specific section numbers are as follows:

Course Type Section Number
Face-to-Face/ In-Person 001, 002
Online/distance learning 901, 902
Honors 091
WAC 071
Study Abroad 085

Course Delivery Method: 

Instruction Mode Description Percentage of formal instruction eligible to be completed at a distance Percentage of formal instruction eligible to be completed in-person
Distance Learning/On-line 100% 0%
Hybrid Delivery 25% to 74% 25% to 74%
In-Person 0% to 24% 75% to 100%
  • Distance Learning or Online Learning: Colleges and universities in Ohio provide distance and online learning programs. These programs offer many benefits to those who have pressing job, family or personal commitments. Among the benefits are flexible scheduling of coursework and study times, the ability to attend class from home, the ability to set your own pace for the course and ease of balancing commitments. Distance and online programs offer efficient and flexible option for many students; however, it may not be the best option for everyone. Course instruction and materials are delivered 100 percent online.
  • Hybrid or Blended Courses:  Courses in which some traditional face-to-face "in-person” instruction has been replaced by online learning activities. The purpose of a hybrid course is to take advantage of the best features of both face-to-face and online learning. Hybrid courses integrate 25 percent to 74 percent classroom instruction with 25 percent to 74 percent online learning, which allows students to earn credit using a flexible, effective format. These courses contain the same content as the corresponding traditional classroom versions.
  • In-Person/Face-to-Face: Courses taught on-campus face-to-face with a specific meeting time in a classroom.

Course Schedule Type: Multiple descriptors may be used. (Also, see each course type description)

  • Lecture (LE): A lecture is formalized instruction, conducted on or off campus, in which the teacher presents an educational experience to students applying any combination of instructional methods such as lecture, directed discussion, demonstration, or the presentation of materials or techniques.
  • Discussion (DI): Used most often in conjunction with a lab to describe an instructional format in which the observations made in the lab are further discussed. This may be a formal class in which discussion, rather than lecture, is the pedagogical structure.
  • Seminar (SE): A seminar is an educational experience that is less formal than a classroom/lecture/discussion class, in which a relatively small number of students engage in discussions which are directed by a faculty member in the development and/or review of concepts that have been or are to be applied to practical situations.
  • Recitation (RE): Use this category to describe small breakout groups which meet in conjunction with a lecture to review exams, discuss issues, address questions, and extend the instruction that occurs in the larger lecture.
  • Lab (LB): A laboratory is an educational activity in which students conduct experiments, perfect skills or practice procedures under the direction of a faculty member.
  • Clinical (CL): A clinical laboratory applies only to health technology programs. A clinical is a laboratory section that meets at a health-related agency facility or a specialized on-campus laboratory/clinical facilities. Clinical laboratory sessions provide a realistic environment for student learning. During a clinical laboratory session, a regular faculty member directly supervises the class. The instructor assigned to teach clinical laboratory sessions will be a full- or part-time faculty member.
  • Practicum (PR): A practicum is an on- or off-campus work experience that is integrated with academic instruction in which the student applies concurrently learned concepts to practical situations within an occupational field. To assure proper coordination of the experience, the practicum is coordinated by a faculty member who visits the student at least once every two weeks, provides the final grade and teaches at least one course on the campus.
  • Field Experience (FE): Field experience is planned, paid work activity which relates to an individual student's occupational objectives, such as geology or archaeology, and which is taken in lieu of elective or required courses in his or her program with the permission of a faculty advisor. The experience is coordinated by a faculty member of the college who assists the student in planning the experience, visits the site of the experience for a conference with the student and his or her supervisor at least once during the quarter or semester, and assigns the course grade to the student after the appropriate consultation with the employer or supervisor.
  • Cooperative Education (CO-OP) Program: A cooperative education program is a partnership between students, institutions of higher education, and employers that formally integrates students' academic study with work experience in cooperating employer organizations and that meets all of the following conditions:
    1. Alternates or combines periods of academic study and work experience in appropriate fields as an integral part of student education;
    2. Provides students with compensation from the cooperative employer in the form of wages or salaries for work performed;
    3. Evaluates each participating student's performance in the cooperative position, both from the perspective of the student's institution of higher education and the student's cooperative employer;
    4. Provides participating students with academic credit from the institution of higher education upon successful completion of their cooperative education;
    5. Is part of an overall degree or certificate program for which a percentage of the total program acceptable to the chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents involves cooperative education.
      (Reporting Note: Co-ops must be paid and must be for credit; they are integrated into the program and usually required, often alternating with academic work)
  • Internship Program (IN): An internship program is a partnership between students, institutions of higher education, and employers that formally integrates students' academic study with work or community service experience and that does both of the following:
    1. Offers internships of specified and definite duration; and
    2. Evaluates each participating student's performance in the internship position, both from the perspective of the student's institution of higher education and the student's internship employer.
      An internship program may provide participating students with academic credit upon successful completion of the internship, and may provide students with compensation in the form of wages or salaries, stipends or scholarships.
      (Reporting Note: Internships may be paid and may be for credit; they are usually one-off activities rather than alternating, as with co-ops)
  • Studio (ST): Studio is used to describe art, music, performance art and theater courses.
  • Individual Studies (IS): Use this category to describe course sections in which a faculty member works with a student or small group of students. Individual studies may be associated with coursework or with master's and doctoral-level requirements.
  • Tutorial (TU): Use this category if individuals or groups of individuals are tutored by a faculty member or qualified individual.
  • Self-paced (SP): Use this category if individuals in a course may progress at their own pace. Includes independent learning.

Credit Hour: A minimum of 750 minutes (semester credit hour) of formalized instruction that typically requires students to work on out-of-class assignments an average of twice the amount of time as the amount of formalized instruction. Credit hours may be calculated differently for other types of instruction (e.g., laboratory experience, directed practice experience, practicum experience, cooperative work experience, field experience, observation experience, seminar and studio experience) as long as the credit hour calculations align with commonly accepted practices in higher education and with the regulations of regional accreditors and the federal financial aid program.

Credit Instruction: Academic instruction in the context of a course or activity leading to the award of credit by a regionally or nationally accredited institution of higher education. Such credit is generally acknowledged as applicable toward the attainment of a degree or certificate.

Non-Credit Instruction: A course or activity for which the learner does not receive academic credit that applies to a degree, certificate or diploma.

Cross List: The course will carry identical catalog descriptions in each listing, and will have identical course prerequisites. Cross-listing is used when two different courses meet in the same room at the same time and taught by the same instructor.

Cumulative Grade Point Average: An average computed by dividing the total number of grade points earned by the total number of credit hours attempted in all courses for which grades (rather than marks) are given.

Curriculum: A program of courses comprising the formal requirements for a degree in a particular field of study.

Degree Program: A program of study defined by sets of academic requirements that lead to a degree, which the university is authorized to offer. Undergraduate degree requirements are typically stated in terms of numbers of credit hours and specific courses at the university, college or school, and discipline levels. Graduate degree requirements are typically stated in terms of number of credit hours and specific courses at the discipline level.

Degree (vs. major): Any recognition or award for completion of a prescribed course of study in an institution of higher education designated by the customary titles of associate, bachelor, master, specialist or doctor. A major is the area of study within the larger college degree program. For example, students may earn a bachelor of arts (BA) degree in the College of Arts and Letters, with a major in sociology.

Degree audit: A web-based tool that displays a student's progress toward graduation. It tracks students' various degree requirements, and lists courses that fulfill each requirement students still need.

Department: Division of faculty or instruction within a college, such as Department of Accounting within the College of Business and Innovation. An organizational unit for administering one or more disciplines.

Discipline: A recognized body of knowledge such as chemistry, psychology, history, or sociology.

Discussion (DI): See discussion under Course Schedule Type.

Dismissal: A status in which students are not permitted to enroll at the university until approved through an appeal process.

Dissertation/Thesis Research: Research conducted and submitted in support of candidature for a degree or professional qualification; a formal treatise presenting the results of study submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of an advanced degree. The process requires intensive interaction between student and professor.

Doctoral Degree: The highest award a student can earn for graduate study. Doctoral degrees generally require the successful completion of at least 90 semester credit hours of work beyond the bachelor’s degree or at least 60 semester credit hours beyond the master’s degree. Deviations from these credit hour guidelines require proper justification and state approval. The doctor of philosophy (PhD) is a research degree and involves preparation for the conduct of independent research and the discovery of new knowledge. Doctoral degrees may also recognize preparation for professional practice. Examples of professional practice doctoral degrees include the doctor of nursing practice (DNP), doctor of education (EdD), doctor of physical therapy (DPT) and doctor of pharmacy (Pharm-D).

Dual Degree: A dual degree program is one in which the student works towards satisfying the academic requirements for two distinct degree types in an integrated fashion. Students may apply the same coursework towards the fulfillment of the requirements for both degrees. To achieve the academic depth and breadth implied by a program of study that results in the awarding of two undergraduate degrees. A dual degree program that consists of substantial additional coursework as compared to that required for a double major; namely, a minimum of 30 additional semester hours beyond the credit hours required for the degree program comprised of the smaller number of credits. Students who successfully complete a dual degree program receive two diplomas, one for each degree earned.

The purpose of the dual degree policy is to allow students who have completed the requirements for two degrees to be awarded two degrees. Two different degrees earned within a college or school (e.g., a BA and a BFA from the College of Arts and Letters) or two degrees earned from different schools or colleges (e.g., a BA from the College of Arts and Letters and a BS from the College of Engineering). Students interested in earning two or more degrees are responsible to work with each of the individual colleges and/or with each specific program of study to ensure all requirements are met in order to earn the degrees. Information on tuition and fee assessment for dual degrees is available from the treasurer’s office.

Dual Enrollment: Courses offered to high school students for college credit, whether offered in the high school, on the college or university campus, or via distance education must adhere to the following principles:

  • The student who participates in a dual enrollment learning experience is academically prepared to begin college-level (non-remedial) work in the area in which credit is to be awarded.
  • The course is delivered at the college level, as indicated by the rigor of course content, the level of the textbook and the level of the assessments used to ensure the mastery of learning outcomes.
  • The faculty member teaching the course possesses the credential required for a faculty member teaching the course at a college or university. (See Section H on Faculty Credentials.)
  • The courses offered are those that could reasonably be expected to count toward a student’s post-secondary degree or certificate.

Double-dip: A term that refers to a course that simultaneously satisfies one of the two Multicultural requirements and a second area in the Core Curriculum. Students are allowed to take one course that counts or “double dips” in both areas.

Double Major: A double major is a program of study that meets the requirements of two distinct majors in a single bachelor’s degree. The program of study consists of courses required to meet the degree requirements for each of the two majors, together with the liberal arts and science courses needed to meet the general education requirements for the degree. The minimum number of credit hours required for a double major equals the total number of credit hours required for the major comprising the larger number of credit hours for the degree.

Students may apply the same coursework towards the fulfillment of requirements for both majors. Students who complete the requirements for a double major receive a single diploma that acknowledges both majors.

Because a double major program leads to a single bachelor’s degree, each of the two majors must be associated with the same degree type (i.e., both must be registered as a BS degree, or both must be registered as a BFA degree).

For example, a student in the College of Arts and Letters with a double major in history and philosophy will earn one bachelor of arts degree. The two complete sets of primary discipline-specific requirements, typically consisting of a minimum of 30 hours each, constituting the two majors within a program of study leading to one bachelor’s degree with two complete majors.

Drop/Add: Official dropping or adding of courses for which students are registered during specified times, as published in the schedule of classes. See also Withdrawal.

Elective: Hours students choose to take out of interest. Elective hours are credit hours that students need toward graduation that are not used to fulfill other requirements.

Educator Preparation License: A document issued by the Ohio Department of Education to an individual who is deemed to be qualified to teach or practice in Ohio schools.

Educator Preparation Endorsement: A State Board of Education established addition of a teaching area to a license after completion of an approved program of preparation.

Entry Level Graduate Program: A program of advanced study which admits:

  1. Post-baccalaureate students into a master’s or doctoral degree program who do not possess undergraduate academic preparation in the specific area of advanced study or a closely related area; or
  2. Post-secondary students directly into an extended master’s or doctoral program where they first receive the customary baccalaureate experience in the given discipline or professional area.

Standard graduate education in a discipline or professional area requires entry through a baccalaureate program. Therefore, if an initial knowledge base equivalent to the respective undergraduate degree is required for entry into a given graduate program, it cannot be considered entry level. Entry level graduate programs are expected to fully reflect the level of intellectual process and knowledge characteristic of standard high quality graduate programs.

Fees: Charges, additional to tuition, that cover specific university services, programs, facilities, activities and/or events.

Field: A major subdivision of a discipline and is characterized by a particular feature, such as organic or analytical chemistry.

Field Experience (FE): See "Field Experience" under Course Schedule Type.

General Education: The set of courses and experiences that provide students with a broad exposure to multiple disciplines within the arts and sciences with the aim of providing students with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the 21st century. In Ohio, the General Education curriculum consists of “Those courses in written and oral communication, quantitative principles, biological and physical sciences, social and behavior sciences and the arts and humanities that provide the foundation and common experience expected among individuals holding associate and baccalaureate degrees. These courses, along with courses within a major, provide opportunities for critical thinking, problem solving and analytic skills.”

Graduate Credit: Graduate education involves a greater depth of learning, increased specialization and a more advanced level of instruction than undergraduate education. Selected faculty instruct carefully selected students in courses or clinical experiences that emphasize both student self-direction and dynamic interaction with the subject matter, the instructor and other students. Interaction involves more than simply the transmission of what is known. It focuses on the generation of new knowledge through research and/or the application of knowledge to new areas of study.

Grade Points: Points per semester hour assigned to a grade (not a mark), indicating numerical value of the grade. The grade point average indicates overall performance and is computed by dividing the total number of grade points earned by the number of semester hours attempted.

GPA Recalculation: The University recognizes a course may need to be repeated. Students may retake a course. Students who retake a course and earn a higher grade may petition their college to have the first grade excluded from their grade point average computation. All grades, including those for repeated courses, will be included in the determination of eligibility for honors, fellowships or other distinctions accruing on the basis of GPA. A copy of the approved petition will become part of the student’s permanent record file.

Credit for any repeated course will apply only once toward degree requirements. Grades for all attempts at the course will appear on the student’s official academic transcript regardless of whether or not the grade has been excluded from the GPA. It is the student's responsibility to petition to have the grade excluded from the GPA. Otherwise, the grade will be included in the calculation of the GPA.

Graduate Degree Program: Any focused course of study that leads to recognition or an award for completion of a prescribed course of study beyond the baccalaureate degree in an institution of higher education evidenced by the receipt of a diploma as differentiated from a certificate. The degrees of doctor of medicine, doctor of dental surgery, doctor of veterinary medicine, doctor of optometry, and doctor of jurisprudence are not covered by these guidelines.

Individual Studies (IS): See under Course Schedule Type.

Internship Program (IN): See under Course Schedule Type.

Interdisciplinary Program: Refers to two or more interrelated disciplines or fields combined to constitute a program; for example, American Studies, Geopolitics and Biomedical Engineering.

Lab (LB): See under Course Schedule Type.

Lecture (LE): See under Course Schedule Type.

Lower Division or Upper Division: Courses numbered 1000–2999 are lower division. Courses numbered 3000–4999 are upper division.

Major (vs. degree): That portion of a degree that is made up of at least 30 semester hours of specialized study leading to both breadth and depth in a particular discipline. The term major may be used interchangeably with the terms program or degree program.

Technical Major: That portion of an applied associate degree that includes at least 12 semester credit hours of coursework and constitutes an area of specialization.

Master’s Degree: An award that requires the successful completion of at least 30 semester credit hours of work beyond the bachelor’s degree. Master’s degrees such as the master of arts and the master of science are typically considered research graduate degrees, and involve preparation to carry out research and to discover new knowledge—whether the field is pure or applied. Master’s degrees may also recognize preparation for professional practice. Examples of professional practice master’s degrees include the master of business administration (MBA), master of science in nursing (MSN), master of public health (MPH) and the master of social work (MSW).

Minor: A program of study that is made up of at least 12 semester hours in a particular discipline.

myUT Portal: The online website that maintains student, faculty and staff records and class schedules. The myUT portal allows students to register for classes and print a bill or class schedule.

Ohio Transfer 36 (OT36)
On May 11, 2021, the Ohio Transfer Module (OTM) was renamed Ohio Transfer 36.  Ohio Transfer 36, as directed by the Ohio Department All course categories in the UToledo Core contain courses that are part of Higher Education (ODHE), includes courses in the following areas: English composition and oral communication; mathematics, statistics, and logic; arts and humanities; social and behavioral sciences; and natural sciences.

Completion of the transfer module at UToledo requires students complete courses approved by ODHE as OT36 general education courses.  The Ohio Transfer 36 Approved Courses Reporting System will help identify approved courses that are guaranteed to transfer and apply toward the above-mentioned general education subject areas at any of Ohio’s public colleges and universities.

OT36 contains 36-40 semester hours of coursework in general education. It is a subset or the complete set of general education requirements at each college or university. In order for general education courses to be a part of an institution’s transfer module, all coursework is subject to a review by the statewide transfer module panels against the Ohio Transfer Module Guidelines and learning outcomes.

Each transfer module must include a minimum of 24 semester hours of approved  courses as outlined below:

  • At least three semester credit hours in English Composition and Oral Communication (e.g., First Writing, Second Writing, Public Speaking)
  • At least three semester credit hours in Mathematics, Statistics and Logic (e.g., College Algebra, Pre-Calculus, Trigonometry, Calculus, Statistics, Formal/Symbolic Logic)
  • At least six semester credit hours in Arts and Humanities (e.g., Art History, Ethics, American History, Literature, Philosophy, Religion, Ethnic or Gender Studies)
  • At least six semester credit hours in Social and Behavioral Sciences (e.g., Anthropology, Economics, Geography, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology)
  • At least six semester credit hours in Natural Sciences (e.g., Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Geology, Physical Geography, Physics)

The additional 12-16 semester credit hours needed to complete the OT36 are distributed among the same five categories but may be distributed differently in the associate of arts and the associate of science degrees. Typically, an associate of arts degree would include more credit hours in the oral and written communication and arts and humanities areas, while an associate of science degree would include more credit hours in the mathematics and science areas.

Online Course: A course where 100 percent of the content is delivered online. Typically, the course will have no face-to-face meetings. The courses can have a synchronous component but it must be delivered online.

Online Degree: A degree in which 100 percent of the degree can be completed online.

Overload: A course load of more semester hours than a student is normally permitted to schedule in a given period.

Placement Testing: Placement tests that the university uses to assess college readiness and place students into their initial classes. Departments to place a student into the correct math, chemistry, and foreign language courses.

Post-Baccalaureate Certificate: An award that requires completion of an organized program of study beyond the bachelor’s degree; designed for individuals who have completed a bachelor’s degree but have not met the requirements for a master’s degree.

Post-Master’s Certificate: An award that requires completion of an organized program of study beyond the master’s degree; designed for individuals who have completed a master’s degree but have not met the requirements for a doctoral degree.

Practicum (PR): See under Course Schedule Type.

Prerequisite: A course or a placement test that is required to be taken before entry into a course.

Probation: A status resulting from unsatisfactory grades.

  • An undergraduate student whose cumulative grade point average (GPA) falls below a 2.0 is automatically placed on probation until a 2.0 cumulative GPA is achieved.
  • A graduate student whose cumulative GPA falls below 3.0 during any semester will be placed on academic probation.

Recitation (RE): See under Course Schedule Type.

Registration: Enrollment at the beginning or prior to the beginning of a semester, including selection of classes and payment of fees and tuition.

Research: Research conducted that is independent of that done for a dissertation or thesis.

Research Graduate Degree Program: Involves preparation to carry out significant research and to discover new knowledge, whether the particular field of learning is pure or applied. The recognized graduate degree titles, which correspond with successful completion of a research graduate degree program, include master of arts (M.A.), master of science (M.S.), and doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.)

Section: A division of a course for instruction. A course may be taught in one or more sections or classes or at different times, depending on enrollment in the course.

Self-paced (SP): Use this category if individuals in a course may progress at their own pace. Includes independent learning.

Semester Credit Hour: Unit of measure of college work. One semester credit hour is normally equivalent to one hour of class work or from two to three hours of laboratory work per week for a semester.

Seminar (SE): See under Course Schedule Type.

Special Topics: An organized course devoted to a particular issue in a specific field; course content is not necessarily included in the regular curriculum for the major.

Specialization: Designates an identified set of courses or a defined line of curriculum within an approved degree program that builds upon the degree’s foundational core curriculum but identifies a particular focus of in-depth knowledge and leads to a designation on the transcript.

Specialist Degree: An award that generally requires the successful completion of at least 30 semester credit hours (or 45 quarter credit hours) of work beyond the master’s degree. The specialist degree is typically considered a professional practice degree (e.g., the education specialist, or EdS) and may be pursued by individuals interested in furthering their education beyond a master’s degree.

Studio (ST): See under Course Schedule Type.

Subdisciplinary Program: A focused program based on one or more fields within a discipline.

Summer Sessions: Periods of time during the summer when course work is offered.

Supplemental Instruction (SI): A peer-led study group designed to help students succeed in academically demanding courses. Focusing on improving student confidence and performance. SI is open to students enrolled in courses offering supplemental instruction and available at no extra cost. SI sessions are announced during class at the beginning of each semester.

Suspension: A status in which students are not permitted to register for courses for a specified time period.

Syllabus: An outline or summary of the main points of a course of study, lecture or text.

Track: A subdivision of a concentration or certificate, which a student must select and fulfill to complete the requirements of the concentration or certificate.

Transcript: A copy of a student’s academic record.

Tuition: The charge for university enrollment and registration, calculated per credit hour each semester. Tuition rates may vary depending on a student’s resident status, undergraduate or graduate standing and college affiliation. Tuition does not include cost of room and board. Additional charges will apply depending on student status.

Undeclared Major/Undecided Major: Designation indicating students who have not selected a major.

Undergraduate Study: Work taken toward earning an associate or a baccalaureate degree.

Upper Division or Lower Division: Courses numbered 1000–2999 are lower division. Courses numbered 3000–4999 are upper division.

Withdrawal: Official withdrawal from all courses during a semester at the university.