Glossary of Academic Terms

Academic Advisor

A faculty member or administrator who helps students choose their courses and plan their programs of study.

Academic Appeal

An orderly opportunity for students to question academic decisions related to their coursework.The academic appeal form is obtained through the Registrar’s Office.

Academic Probation

A temporary status placed on a student when the academic requirements have not been met. Certain additional responsibilities are typically placed upon the student until this status has been removed. See the Academic Regulations section of the current Academic Calendar for more details.

Academic Year

An academic session from May to April.

Admissions Office

The office responsible to respond to inquiries about the university’s program and entrance requirements. This office determines acceptances into university programs.

Admission Requirements

Prerequisites for acceptance into a program.

Alumna/Alumnus

Alumnus is a former male student or graduate of the university. The plural of alumnus is alumni, and this can refer to a group of men or to a mixture of men and women.The singular female form is alumna and the plural female form is alumnae.

Application to Graduate Form

Students must complete this form in their final session of coursework. The form indicates when the student plans to graduate, the program that the student plans to complete, and the name to be placed on the parchment. The form can be obtained from the Registrar’s Office

Auditing Student

A student who pays a fee to sit in on a course but does not write papers or exams. Auditors do not receive course credit. Normal course change deadlines apply to auditors.

Bachelor’s Degree

Crandall University offers these Bachelor’s degrees: Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Arts & Science, Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Education, Bachelor of Organizational Management, and Bachelor of Science. A Bachelor’s degree is the degree granted for completing an undergraduate baccalaureate program. Most Bachelor’s degrees can be completed on a full time basis in four years.

Bursary

A monetary award granted on demonstrated financial need.

Calendar (Undergraduate and Graduate)

An annual publication that lists key academic dates, admission requirements, academic regulations, program requirements, and course descriptions. Although program requirements can vary from year to year, students’ program requirements remain what they were in the year of their admission to that program.

CGPA (see Grade Point Average)

Cognate

A course that is required to complete a major but is not part of that particular department. For example, MT1203 is a cognate requirement for Psychology majors.

Co-operative Education (Co-op)

An academic program that formally integrates academic study with paid work experience.

Core Requirements

The foundational courses which are graduation requirements for all undergraduate Arts, Business, and Science programs.

Corequisite

A course which must be taken in the same term as another course.

Course

A unit of study in a particular discipline.

Credit Hours

The unit value that universities typically assign to a course. A three credit hour course is normally offered in one semester, from September to December or from January to April. A six credit hour course is normally offered from September to April. For each credit hour, fifty minutes of class time per week over the period of one term is assigned.

Cross-listed Course

A course that is recognized as fulfilling requirements in more than one subject area and that carries two or more subject prefixes.

Dean

The head of a university faculty. The term may also apply to a senior academic administrator.

Dean’s List

A list of full time students in four-year undergraduate programs who maintain an overall annual GPA of 3.70 (A-/A) or more.

Directed Study

A 3000 or 4000 level reading course offered in special circumstances to upper level students on an individual basis.Normally a directed study is given on an academic topic that is not normally covered in the course rotation.

Discipline

A subject area or field of study.

Dismissed Student

A student who is required to withdraw from studies for unsatisfactory academic performance. A student who completes courses at other institutions while on Academic Dismissal from Crandall University is not eligible to receive credit for transfer.

Elective

A course that is not specifically required as part of a program of study but that is credited toward a program.

Full Time

To be considered full time, a student is registered in at least four courses (12 credit hours) in a term.

Grade Point Average (GPA)

An indication of students’ academic performance based on a scale ranging from 0.00 to 4.33. The GPA is calculated by changing each letter grade to its grade point equivalent and multiplying this number by the number of credit hours attributed to the course. These points are then totaled and then divided by the total credit hours attempted.The cumulative GPA refers to the GPA average for all courses taken at Crandall University to that point.

Grade Points

The value given to each final grade.

Honours Degree

Required for entrance into many graduate schools, this most intensive kind of Bachelor’s degree includes in-depth study in a particular discipline. A student typically applies for entrance into an honours degree program in the third year of study.

Honours Thesis

Original research completed by an individual as part of the requirements for an honours degree.

Interdisciplinary Studies

The Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies allows students to study in several disciplines. No more than thirty credit hours may be taken in any one discipline.

International Student

A person who has entered Canada on a study permit for the purpose of studying at an educational institution.

IP

A notation that is assigned to active transcripts when students are in the process of completing a course or program. It is also granted in extenuating circumstances when students have been unable to complete the course requirements in the normal time period. This delay would not normally exceed six weeks, and the Academic Standards and Appeals Committee would need to approve this extension.

Letter of Permission (LOP)

A document that gives official prior approval to a Crandall student to take a course at another university for transfer into a Crandall University program. Obtain the form from the Registrar’s Office

Lower Level Courses

Courses numbered from 1000 to 2999. The first figure indicates the usual year of attendance in which the course is taken and/or the academic level at which the course is taught, so these courses can also be referred to as first and second year courses.

Major

A formally recognized area of concentration in which there are specific program requirements.

Mature Applicant

An applicant who is at least 21 years of age and has been out of school for two or more years may be considered for admission into an undergraduate program even though this individual may not meet the stated admission requirements.

Minor

A secondary area of study. A Crandall University minor consists of between 18 and 24 credit hours in one particular subject area outside of a student’s major.

Moodle

Moodle (Modular Object Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) is a course management system that faculty may use to distribute course materials, to manage assessments, and to communicate with students.

Non-degree

A student who is registered in courses but is not working toward the completion of a particular degree program.

Part Time

To be considered part time, a student is registered in three or fewer courses (nine credit hours or less) in a term.

Plagiarism

The presentation of another person’s ideas or words as students’ own without proper documentation.

Prerequisite

A course that must be successfully completed before another course can be taken.

Reactivation Form

Students who return to the University after an absence of one to five years must complete a reactivation form. This form is available through the Admissions Office.

Registered Student

A person who has been accepted into a program of study and is enrolled in one or more courses.

Registrar’s Office

The office that provides these academic administrative services: academic advisement, class and examination scheduling, convocation coordination, degree compliance for potential graduates, letters of permission, release of transcripts, transfer credit assessment, and university calendar preparation.

Registration

The process of enrolling in courses.

Returning Student

A student who has been registered for courses in the previous twelve months and is eligible to take more courses.

Scholarship

Monetary award granted on the basis of merit such as high academic performance.

Seminar

A course, usually at the advanced level, which is typically kept small so that the focus is on independent research that is shared through the presentation of student papers.

Student Identification Card

Issued by Information Technology Services, this card is issued to all students registered in programs at Crandall University. This card is required to gain access to campus buildings, to borrow resources from the Rawlyk Library, and to access various academic and administrative services.

Transcript

A document prepared by the Registrar’s Office that records a student’s entire official academic history at that institution and that includes the courses taken and the grades received.

Transfer Credits

Course credit may be granted to a student for work that was previously completed at another college or university and counted toward the Crandall program requirements.

Tuition

The cost charged for a university course or program.

Tutorial

Instruction given to students individually or in small groups.

Upper Level Courses

Courses numbered from 3000 to 4999. The first figure indicates the usual year of attendance in which the course is taken and/or the academic level at which the course is taught, so these courses can also be referred to as third and fourth year courses.

WA

course notation that means withdrawal without academic penalty. This symbol is used after the add/drop deadline date noted in the Academic Schedule, which can be obtained from the Registrar’s Office