Glossary of Academic Terms

Academic Probation

A condition of attendance under which students are allowed to remain at the university with the understanding that they meet set academic standards within a set period of time. Failure to meet the standard results in dismissal from the university.

Add and Drop

The process of changing a course schedule by dropping or adding a course during the prescribed time at the beginning of each semester.

Adviser

Faculty or staff member who can provide information and assistance on academic concerns.

Audit

Students register and attend class, but do not take examinations. No credit hours are earned, and the cost of the class is less than regular tuition. “AU” will appear on the grade record.

Bachelor’s Degree

The degree received after completing a specific program of undergraduate study and fulfilling all graduation requirements.

Certification

A recognition of professional achievement bestowed by an outside organization.

Class Standing

A measurement of achievement based on the number of credit hours earned. Students with 90 or more credits are seniors. Juniors have 60 or more credits, and sophomores have at least 30 credits.

College

An administrative division of the university housing academic departments, degree programs and other administrative units. At UW-Stout these are: Arts and Sciences; Human Development; and Technology, Engineering and Management.

College Parallel Program

A program of study offered at Wisconsin Technical Colleges and UW System Colleges in which the courses meet the requirements and standards of courses offered at the university.

Concentration

A component within a degree program that examines a selected area of the student’s chosen professional field in greater detail. A concentration may be part of the university’s planned offerings or designed by the student.

Cooperative Education

A learning approach that integrates college studies with working experiences in industry, business, government and public service. Under the plan, students leave campus for three to six months for the rigors and responsibilities of actual employment situations. The objective is to offer an additional option for learning and to give students a realistic education.

Credit Hour

A measure of academic work. One credit hour usually represents one hour of class time per week plus two hours of out of class study.

Credit Load

The number of credits a student registers for during a semester.

Degree Audit

A report that indicates the students’ progress in meeting all of the requirements for a specific degree program.

Degree Program

A planned program of study leading to a bachelor’s degree.

Degree-Seeking Student

A student who has been admitted to a degree program and is seeking a bachelor’s or master’s degree.

Disadvantaged

Deprived of basic social rights and security through poverty, discrimination, or other unfavorable circumstances.

Educationally Disadvantaged

Deprived of a socially adequate education through poverty, discrimination, or other unfavorable circumstances.

Elective

A course taken at the choice of the student. If the electives are in the general education component of a degree program, they must be general education courses.

Emphasis

A designated group of courses within a degree program that affords increased exposure to a specific area in the student’s chosen professional field.

Ethnic Studies

Courses that satisfy the ethnic studies requirement, a part of the university’s design for diversity initiative, and deal in some aspect with sensitivity to African American, Asian American, Hispanic and Native American cultures. Ethnic Studies courses are expected to discourage racism, thus reducing its effects, and promote appreciation of ethnic diversity as it is manifested in nonwhite groups.

Full Time Student

An undergraduate student who enrolls for at least 12 credits during the fall or spring semester, or one credit per week of study during the summer session.

General Education Requirement

A component of a degree program that provides a broad-based education with required course work in communication skills, analytic reasoning, health and physical education, humanities and the arts, social and behavioral sciences, natural sciences, and technology.

Good Standing

Maintaining an academic record that meets UW-Stout’s requirements; eligible to continue at or return to the university, or to transfer to another institution.

Grade Point

The numerical value given to letter grades, based on an “A” receiving four points, a “B” three points, and so on.

Grade Point Average (GPA)

The numerical value assigned to a student’s scholastic average, computed by dividing the total grade points by the total credit hours attempted.

Grant

Financial assistance that does not have to be repaid.

Hold

A barrier placed on a student’s ability to register for classes as a result of unpaid monetary obligation or other action by the university.

Incomplete

The grade assigned only if a student is temporarily unable to complete course requirements because of unusual circumstances.

Independent Study

A course of study designed by a student and undertaken outside the classroom, under the supervision of one or more faculty.

Interdisciplinary

Drawing on two or more disciplines in a single course or program.

Internship

Work in a company or agency related to a student’s degree program and career plans, usually for academic credit and often also for payment.

Major

A planned program of study leading to a bachelor’s degree. Term is often used interchangeably with degree program.

Major studies

A component within a degree program that provides fundamental education for a particular career discipline.

Minor

A sequence of related courses consisting of 15 or more semester hours of credit.

Practicum

Directed work experience related to a program of study.

Prerequisite

A course or experience that must be successfully completed before enrollment in a designated course.

Professional Development Certificate

An alternative academic credential for individuals seeking to obtain new knowledge and skills or to update their knowledge and skills in a specific area.

Professional Electives

Required credits that are not prescribed by the program by designation of a specific course, but that are professional and specific in their content as they pertain to the major.

Program Director

The program director is responsible, with the advisement of the program committee, for the total curriculum of the major program and aids students in meeting all requirement for that program.

Readmission

An appeal procedure for students who have been dismissed or suspended, administered by the Dean of Students.

Re-Entry

An enrollment procedure followed by students who were previously enrolled in good standing at UW-Stout but whose attendance was interrupted for two or more consecutive semesters.

Registration

The process of enrolling in and paying for courses each semester.

Selectives

A group of courses from which a student must choose a prescribed number of credits to meet a program requirement.

Semester

A unit of time, generally 16 weeks long, in the academic calendar.

Specialization

A specialization is a program of study, with carefully constructed learning experiences, defined outcomes, and specified evaluation procedures. Students may enroll in the specialization as a stand-alone program or in addition to their undergraduate or graduate major.

Suspension

To be excluded from the university as a penalty for failure to meet academic or behavioral standards.

Teaching Major/Minor

A state-approved program for teacher certification for teaching at the secondary and/or elementary level.

Transcript

A copy of a student’s permanent academic record.

Transfer Credit

Academic credit earned at another accredited institution and accepted toward a UW-Stout degree.

Tuition

The amount of money that must be paid for a course.