Glossary of Terms
Academic advisor: A University employee who helps the student make informed and responsible decisions in the pursuit of the student's academic goals.
Academic Standing: Utah Tech University requires students to maintain a minimum grade point average as explained in the Undergraduate Academic Standing Policy or Graduate Academic Standing Policy. A student’s academic standing is noted on the official transcript each semester.
Academic suspension:
- Undergraduate: Dismissal from a college or program for not maintaining the minimum required grade point average (GPA).
- Graduate: Two sequential semesters on academic probation which will prevent enrollment in the following semester. If graduate students return and achieve good academic standing, they will not be dismissed.
Active Learning Community Service (ALCS): An attribute attached to courses with service learning that combines academic classroom curriculum with meaningful service throughout the community.
Advanced placement: Eligibility to enroll in courses beyond the entry level through transfer credit or examination.
Administrative drop: A process whereas a student may be dropped from one or all classes when the student did not attend the first day of class or did not meet course pre-requisites. Other causes for an administrative drop is when a registration old was overridden incorrectly or as part of a disciplinary sanction.
Admissions office: The Office of Admissions at Utah Tech University is dedicated to providing service to prospective, new, returning, and continuing students pursuing undergraduate education. This office handles questions related to the admissions application, high school transcripts, and test scores required for admission.
Auditing: Registering for and attending class(es) regularly without being held responsible for the work required for credit. (No credit hours are earned and full tuition must be paid. The grade AU appears on the record.)
Bachelor of Arts degree: Distinguished by its concentration in liberal arts; typically focused on culture, arts, philosophy, and language.
Bachelor of Science degree: Grounded in the liberal arts and distinguished by its focus on mathematics, statistics, quantitative reasoning, and scientific analysis.
Bachelor's degree: A degree granted after completing at least four years of full-time academic study beyond the completion of high school and fulfillment of graduation requirements.
Capstone course: A senior-level culminating course within each undergraduate major. Normally it is among the last courses taken for degree completion. See Academic Policies and Regulations for more detail.
Cashier’s Hold: A hold placed on a student's record as a result of an unfulfilled monetary obligation to the University or of a disciplinary action by the University.
Catalog: College publication describing academic programs, student services, general regulations, requirements and procedures. The publication describes all classes offered by the institution.
Catalog rights: The length of time within which a graduate degree must be completed. At Utah Tech , a Bachelor's and graduate degree must be completed within seven (7) years, and an Associate’s degree must be completed within four (4) years.
Class standing: A undergraduate classification based on the number of credit hours earned to classify a student at the freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior level. One's classification, e.g., freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior.
Cocurricular: Being outside of but usually complementing the regular curriculum.
Commencement: The formal ceremony of conferring degrees at the end of the semester or academic year.
Concurrent enrollment: A term describing a student who is attending higher education and high school simultaneously.
Corequisite: A requirement, usually another course that must be undertaken at the same time.
Credit hour: A unit of academic credit measured in semester hours or quarter hours. One credit hour usually represents one hour of class time per week.
Credit load: The total number of credits for which a student registers during a semester or session.
Dean: An administrator in charge of a division of a University or college.
Dean's list: A student is awarded inclusion on the Dean’s List if s/he achieves a semester GPA of 3.50 – 3.89 when completing a minimum of fifteen (15) credits.
Declaration of major/minor: To state formally one's intention to pursue a specific major or minor, typically done through the University Record's/Registrar's Office.
Degree audit: A report that shows the requirements for specific degree programs and details a student's progress toward completion of the degree.
Degree-seeking student: An applicant who has been granted admission to a degree program under full, provisional, or conditional status.
Degree Works: A web-based tool that provides an opportunity for undergraduate students to monitor the progress towards their academic degree.
Drop and add: The process of making certain changes (dropping and adding classes) in a student's schedule of courses during the first five class days of the semester. Adding courses is possible only in this five-day period. See the class schedule listed on the Web for deadlines to drop courses.
Elective: A course that will count as general credit toward a degree but is not a specific program requirement.
Emphasis: A defined subset of courses within a major that appears as an official designation on the transcript.
Full-time student: An undergraduate student taking 12 or more hours each semester, or a graduate student taking nine or more hours each semester. Undergraduates who are planning to complete a bachelor's degree in four years need to average 15 hours per semester.
General education requirements: A defined selection of courses from all divisions of the University, making up the liberal arts base of each baccalaureate degree. The General Education Program is a required component of each bachelor's degree.
Good standing: A designation that signifies that a student is eligible to continue, to return, or to transfer elsewhere. It implies good academic standing.
Grade point average (GPA): A student's scholastic average, computed by dividing total quality points by quality hours attempted.
Graduate: One who has received an academic or professional degree; one who has completed the prescribed course of study in any school or institution of higher learning.
Graduate Studies Office: This office is dedicated to the admission, enrollment, and graduation of graduate students. All questions concerning graduate policy will be addressed through this office.
Graduation: The actions of receiving or conferring an academic degree after all requirements have been met.
Graduation audit: The final review of a student's academic record that determines eligibility to graduate.
Grant: Financial assistance that is awarded to students and does not have to be repaid, usually based on need.
Honors: Designation indicated on the University degree and transcript to reflect outstanding scholarship.
Incomplete: The grade I, sometimes granted when a student is temporarily unable to complete course requirements because of unusual circumstances.
Independent study: A course of study undertaken by a student under the supervision of one or more faculty members outside the classroom.
Institutional residence requirement: The requirement that 30 semester hours of coursework before the bachelor's degree be completed at Utah Tech University. Graduate students must complete a minimum of 2/3 credits from Utah Tech University.
Interdisciplinary: Designating a combination of subject matter from two or more disciplines within a course or program.
Internship: Work in a firm or agency related to a student's major program and/or career plans. Involves earning University credit and may or may not involve receiving payment.
Loan: Financial assistance to students that must be repaid. Low-interest loans are available and financial need may or may not be a factor.
Major: A collection of related courses generally consisting of 30 to 50 semester hours of credit.
Master's degree: A degree granted upon the completion of at least one year of graduate-level work beyond the bachelor's degree.
Minor: A collection of courses generally consisting of a minimum of 18 semester hours of credit.
Nondegree-seeking student: A student who has been admitted to a nondegree-seeking category (sometimes referred to as a continuing education student) and is not currently seeking a bachelor's or master's degree.
Pass/Fail: A method used to evaluate performance in courses, separate from the grade point system.
Part-time student: An undergraduate student who takes fewer than 12 hours during a semester or a graduate student who takes fewer than nine hours during a semester.
Portfolio: A collection of work (e.g., paintings, writings, etc.) that may be used to demonstrate competency in an academic area.
Prerequisite: A requirement, usually the completion of another course that must be met before a student may register for a course.
Prior learning assessment: Learning that has taken place outside the University and when combined with the development of a portfolio may qualify for college credit.
Provost: A senior academic administrator at an institution of higher education.
Quality point: The numerical value given to letter grades. For example an A is equivalent to four points per semester hour, a B to three points, a C to two points, a D to one point, and an F to zero points.
Readmission: An admission procedure followed by a student who was previously enrolled at Utah Tech and then dismissed.
Re-entry: An enrollment procedure followed by a student who was previously enrolled in good standing at Utah Tech but whose attendance was interrupted for two consecutive semesters, including the summer session.
Registration: The process of signing up and paying tuition and fees for courses each semester.
Registrar’s Office: The Office of the Registrar registers students, records grades, prepares student transcripts, evaluates academic records, awards degrees and certificates, prepares the University catalog, and assists with analyzing enrollment and demographic statistics.
Scholarship: Financial assistance to students awarded on the basis of academic achievement. Financial need may or may not be a factor.
Semester: A unit of time, 15 weeks long, in the academic calendar.
Semester hour: The unit of academic credit, usually meaning the pursuit of a subject for one period a week for one semester.
Student employment: Part-time jobs made available to students with financial need through federally funded programs (work-study) and to students without need through the Student Employment Office.
Study abroad: An arrangement by which Utah Tech students complete part of their degree program studying in another country.
Thesis: An extensive written discourse on a new point of view resulting from research, usually a requirement for an advanced academic degree.
Transcript: A copy of a student's permanent academic record at a particular institution. This term is also used to identify the financial aid form that indicates the amount and type of financial aid a student received from a college or University.
Transfer credit: Credit earned at another accredited institution and accepted toward a Utah Tech degree.
Tuition: The amount of money that must be paid for courses based on the number of credits for which one registers.
Undergraduate: A University student who has not yet received a first degree.
Upper division: Classification of students or courses beyond the second year.
Utah residence requirements: The requirements for identifying or establishing permanent residency in Utah for tuition assessment purposes.
Withdrawal: Withdrawal from a course or the University. The grade assigned will depend upon the time in the semester in which the student withdrew.