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Definitions of Terms
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| Admission – Acceptance of a candidate for enrollment. |
| Admission to Advanced Standing - Granted on the basis of demonstrated educational attainment beyond the minimum required for admission. |
| Advisor, Advisee - The advisor is the individual assigned to help students with their academic program. The student is called the advisee. |
| Alumni - Walters State Community College Alumnni are defined as recipients of a degree or certificate or those who have completed 30 credit hours with the college. |
| Associate Degree - A degree awarded upon successful completion of a curriculum of at least 60 hours of designed college level work. |
| Behavioral and Social Sciences - Education, Early Childhood Education, Geography, Health, Physical Education, History, Military Science, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology. |
| Business - Accounting, Agriculture Business, Business, Culinary Arts, Economics, Hospitality Management, Legal Assistant, Management, and Office Administration. |
| Calendar - The divisions of the full calendar composed of two regular terms per year with about 15 weeks per term of instruction excluding final examinations in a school year running from August through May, with the third semester as a summer session. |
| Classification - A student’s status (i.e., Advanced Studies, Freshman, Sophomore, Special, Transient) in respect to progress toward the completion of a curriculum based upon the number of course credit hours attained. |
| Concentration - At a community college, the student’s primary field of interest. (See Emphasis) |
| Corequisite - Courses a student must take with another course. |
| Course - Organized subject matter in which instruction is offered within a given period of time and for which credit toward graduation or certification is usually given. |
| Course Number - Identifies class level and distinguishes it from other courses in a given area of study. This usually indicates the level of difficulty of a course, e.g., 0700 level courses (Remedial); 0800 level (Developmental; 0900 level (Deficiency); 1000-1999 (Freshman level); 2000-2999 (Sophomore level); 3000-3999 (Junior level), and 4000-4999 (Senior level). All courses with higher numbers are graduate level. |
| Course Prerequisite - A preliminary requirement that must be met before a certain course may be taken. |
| Credit Hours (Semester Hour) - A unit measure of instruction. For example: 750 minutes of instruction equals one semester hour. |
| Curriculum - The whole body of courses offered for study. |
| Dean’s List - An honor awarded students who have attained a grade point average of 3.50-3.99 during a semester in which a minimum of 12 hours of college level credit is completed. |
| Degree (Earned) - Title bestowed as official recognition for the completion of a designated curriculum. |
| Degree Student - One who has fulfilled the admissions requirements and who is pursuing an Associate Degree program; referred to by some colleges as a regular student. |
| Department - An academic discipline which offers instruction in a particular branch of knowledge. |
| Division - An administrative unit comprised of a group of related academic departments. |
| Drop/Withdraw - Resignation from a class or classes or from the college following the procedures outlined in the college catalog. |
| Educational Planning Seminar - A scheduled meeting for the advisement and assistance of those students who have taken placement testing in interpreting their placement scores and selecting their classes. |
| Elective - A subject or course which the student may choose as distinguished from courses which are required. |
| Emphasis - At the community college, an area of concentration for study that would lead to a major at the university. |
| Extracurricular Activities - The academic/non-academic functions offered by a college. |
| Evening Classes - Any class beginning at 4 p.m. or later. |
| Freshman - Classification of degree-seeking students having accumulated less than 30 credit hours. |
| Full-Time Students - A student who is enrolled for 12 semester hours of academic courses. A normal full-time load is 16 semester hours. |
| Grade Point Average - The GPA is determined by dividing the number of quality points earned by the number of credit hours carried in which grades were received. (Transfer and LSP hours/grades are credit hours carried in which grades were received. (Transfer and LSP hours/grades are not included in the Walters State GPA calculation used for graduation.) |
| Grant-in-Aid - A monetary award made to a student without regard to financial need. |
| Health Programs - Nursing, Physical Therapist Assistant, Pharmacy Technician, Respiratory Care Technician, Medical Transcription, Medical Insurance Specialist, Health Information Technology. |
| Humanities - Art, English, Foreign Language, Humanities, Mass Communications, Music, Philosophy, Speech and Theatre. |
| Institution Combined - refers to the total number of attempted hours, passed hours, earned hours, quality points, or GPA at Walters State. Transfer hours are not included. |
| Learning Support - Academic support needed by a student to be college ready as established by the ACT college readiness benchmarks and standards. |
| Liberal Arts - Academic disciplines such as languages, literature, history, philosophy, mathematics and science that provide information of general cultural concern. |
| Major - The student’s primary field of interest or study. |
| Music Ensemble - Vocal or instrumental performance, usually conducted in a small group. |
| Natural Science - Pre-professional programs, Biology, Chemistry, Physics. |
| Part-Time Student - A student enrolled for less than 12 hours of academic course work. |
| Prerequisite - A course/courses a student must successfully complete prior to enrolling for a particular course. |
| President’s List - An honor awarded students who have attained a GPA of 4.00 during a semester in which a minimum of 12 hours of college level credit is completed. |
| Probation - Probation status may be for academic or for disciplinary reasons. Academic probation is the result of unsatisfactory scholarship. It is not a penalty but a warning and an opportunity to improve. Academic probation usually involves a compulsory reduction of academic load and interviews for diagnosis of difficulties and for checking on recovery. Sometimes it brings a required restriction of extracurricular activities and general surveillance. Usually the student is required to made regular specified improvements in their record in order to avoid disqualification. Disciplinary probation is a middle status between good standing or dismissal. The student remains enrolled but under stated conditions according to college policies. Disciplinary probation covers a stated trial period during which it is determined whether the student is returned to good standing, having met the stated requirements, or dismissed or suspended at the end of the period for failing to meet the stated requirements. |
| Public Safety - Criminal Justice, Law Enforcement, Fire Protection, Basic Police Officer Education, Basic Emergency Medical Technician and Paramedic. |
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Quality Points - Academic standing is based on the cumulative quality point index or grade point average (GPA), which is determined by assigning a numerical value for each letter grade earned. For each semester, grades of “A” through “F” yield the quality points listed above. A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0.
The GPA for one semester is determined by dividing the number of quality points earned during the semester by the number of credit hours carried during the semester for all courses in which grades were received.
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| Residency - Refers to whether or not a student qualifies for in-state maintenance fees. |
| Reinstatement - The act of readmitting a student after dismissal. |
| Semester - One of any three terms during which courses are offered by the college. (Fall, Spring, Summer) |
| Sophomore - A degree seeking student who has completed 30 or more college level credit hours. |
| Special Student - One who is not pursuing an Associate Degree program. Special students either do not fulfill minimum requirements for entrance as degree students or have been permitted to enroll in a limited or special selection of degree credit courses without regard to degree requirements. |
| Student Aid - Financial assistance for college expenses through any form of grants, scholarships, loans or work. |
| Suspension - Involuntary separation of the student from the college. |
| Syllabus - An outline for an academic course; includes assignments, exam dates, grading practices, etc. |
| Technical Education - Agriculture, Animal Science (Pre-Veterinary Medicine), Clean Energy Technology, Computer Science, Engineering Technology and Production Horticulture. |
| Total Institution - refers to the total number of college-level attempted hours, passed hours, earned hours, quality points, or GPA at Walters State. Transfer hours and Learning Support hours/grades are not included. |
| Transcript - The official record of completed courses and the grades made. |
| Transfer Student - A student who has attended one or more colleges and is admitted to another. |
| Transfer Credit - The number of course credits taken by a student at one college that another college accepts. |
| Transient Student - A student in good standing in one college who is taking courses which will transfer back to the original college. |
| Withdrawal - A release from enrollment in all classes. An official withdrawal occurs when a student notifies the appropriate authorities. When the student merely stops attending classes without notifying the authorities, failing marks (F) are recorded and charged against the student. |