A
Academic Standing - the disposition of a student based upon grade point average. Categories of academic standing typically include Good Academic Standing, Academic Probation, Academic Suspension, and/or Academic Warning.
Adjusted Grade Point Average - a grade point average that has been modified in some manner. (An institution may or may not honor a repeat/ delete policy; another may have an institutional stand-alone GPA in addition to the Cumulative GPA).
Admission - the act of completing an application for admission, paying the application fee, and being officially accepted for enrollment as a student of the college.
Applied Associate of Technology (AAT) - the Associate of Applied Technology is an applied degree program primarily designed to prepare students for immediate employment or career entry as offered in Louisiana by the Louisiana Technical College. All AAT degrees are scheduled for nonrecognition, according to Board of Regents actions, by 2005 with the implementation of the Board of Regents Master Plan for Higher Education.
Associate of Applied Science (AAS) - an applied academic degree program (60-72 hours) with a limited general education components core (15 hours), primarily designed to prepare students for immediate employment or career entry. AAS degrees can be formed by combining a TD program with 15 hours of required general education or can be a distinct curriculum unrelated to any preexisting program of technical studies. All general education coursework must meet SACSCOC requirements. If technical coursework required of the degree is intended to transfer to a four-year institution, this coursework must meet appropriate SACS-COC requirements. AAS degrees are limited to technical colleges, community colleges, and two-year transfer institutions. The final approval authority resides with the Board of Regents.
Associate of Arts (AA) - an academic degree (60-72 hours) with a significant general education core (24 hours), designed primarily to serve as preparatory education for transfer to a related baccalaureate program. All coursework must meet SACS-COC requirements. AA degrees are limited to community colleges and two-year transfer institutions. The final approval authority resides with the Board of Regents and must meet SACS-COC requirements.
Associate of Science (AS) - an academic degree program (60-72 hours) with a significant general education core (27 hours), designed primarily to serve as preparatory education for transfer to a related baccalaureate program. All coursework must meet SACS-COC requirements. AS degrees are limited, by the Board of Regents, to community and two-year transfer institutions. Final approval authority resides with the Board of Regents and must meet SACS-COC Requirements.
Associate’s Degree - an award that normally requires at least two but less than four years of full-time equivalent college work.
Authorized Aid - financial aid that is packaged and approved, but not yet disbursed.
B
Bookstore Credits - given to students with credit balances on their accounts (first-time loan borrowers are not eligible). These students are eligible to purchase books on credit, up to the amount of the credit but not to exceed $700.
C
Catalog – the College Catalog is published online once per year. It contains all Delgado policies, guidelines, curriculum requirements for all programs of study and course descriptions effective for the academic year.
Certificate - a formal award certifying the satisfactory completion of a postsecondary education program. (IPEDS). The legal authorities to award certificates, as defined in Louisiana Statue, are the Louisiana Higher Education Management Boards(See Louisiana Board of Regents Degree and Credentials
Certificate of Applied Science (CAS) - an applied program (30-42 hours) with a limited general education component (nine hours). CAS degrees are formed by combining a CTS with general education requirements. All required general education coursework must meet SACS-COC requirements. CAS degrees are strictly limited to technical and community colleges. The final approval authority
Certificate of Technical Studies (CTS) - refers to an applied technical program (21-33 hours). CTS programs may be formed by combining multiple TCAs to provide a student with a broad technical competency. CTS programs are strictly limited to technical and community colleges. The approval authority resides with the LCTCS Board of Supervisors but the actions must be reported immediately.
Concentration - is an alternative track of courses within a major or option, accounting for at least 30% of the major requirements.
Corequisite - a class/course that is required to be taken simultaneously with another class/course. For example, a laboratory class may be required to be taken within the same semester as the related lecture class (ex. biology lecture for three hours and bology lab for one hour).
Credit - recognition of attendance or performance in an instructional activity (course or program) that can be applied by a recipient toward the requirements for a degree, diploma, certificate or other formal award. For example, if a student successfully completes a course worth 3 semester hours, the student receives three hours of credit.
Credit Hour - a unit of measure representing an hour (50 minutes) of instruction over a 15-week period in a semester or trimester system or a 10-week period in a quarter system. It is applied toward the total number of hours needed for completing the requirements of a degree, diploma, certificate, or other formal award.
Cross-Enrollment - a form of concurrent enrollment that refers to arrangements whereby a student can be enrolled at one postsecondary institution but can also be taking classes at another postsecondary institution.
Cumulative Grade Point Average - the grade point average of all course work pursued to date.
Curriculum - the set of courses which, when competed successfully, will fulfill the credentialing (certificate, diploma, degree) for a particular major. Curriculum is a description of the required and elective courses for a Degree Program.
D
Dean’s List - an academic honor that lists all students who, over the course of the previous semester, have maintained a notably high grade point average (ex. 3.5, 3.75, etc.).
Degree - the title of the award conferred on students by a college, university, or professional school upon completion of a unified program of study (Associate of Science).
Degree Designation - for each authorized program at public institutions of higher education as listed in the Board of Regents’ Inventory of Degree and Certificate Programs under the category “Degree Level”. The category “Degree Level” shall be changed in the Inventory to “Degree Designation.” Some professional programs require the name of the general subject area as part of the Degree Designation.
Degree-Seeking Student - a student enrolled in courses for credit who is recognized by the institution as seeking a degree or formal award. At the undergraduate level, this is intended to include students enrolled in vocational or occupational programs.
Developmental Courses - courses designed by colleges and/or universities to prepare students to succeed academically in their first, -credit college-level courses. Placement in these courses is usually determined by placement test scores. (English 101 may require the earning of “C” or better in English 90 and 91).
Disbursement - posting of financial aid funds to a student’s Delgado account. Students can check their account balance by logging in to LoLA.
Distance Education - an educational process and system whereby all (or a significant proportion) of the teaching is conducted by someone (or something) removed in space and time from the learner.
Distance Learning - a system and a process that connects learner to distributed learning resources. Distance learning can take a variety of forms. All distance learning, however, is characterized by (a) separation/distance of place and/or time between instructor and learner, amongst learners, and/or between learners and learning resources; and (b) interaction between the learner and instructor, among learners and/or between learners and learning resources conducted through one or more media. An instructional delivery system that connects learners (regardless of their location) with educational resources. Because distance learning normally occurs in a different place from teaching, it requires special techniques of course design, instructional design, and communication. Distance learning uses technology to make possible new approaches to the teaching/learning process, rather than simply the addition of technology to instruction.
Division(s) - a term that refers to a designated academic subunit of a college.
E
Electives - courses chosen from a group of selected courses. Each program/curriculum requires a certain number of courses that are required and another group from which the student may elect to take.
Enrollment - the process a student goes through to become a student at Delgado, which includes admission, placement testing, freshman orientation, scheduling classes (registration), applying for financial aid and remitting payment of tuition and fees.
F
FASFA - Free Application for Student Financial Aid is a Federal form. For all students filing for financial aid, a completed form must be sent for analysis of income v. tuition (etc.) in order to determine eligibility for Title IV and other forms of Student Financial Aid. Application can also be made online.
Full-Time Student - any undergraduate student taking 12 or more semester hours during the Fall and/or Spring semesters and 6 or more hours during the Summer Term.
G
General Education - a core of course work (25% - 40%) essential to a broadly-based college degree to include, but not be limited to: English, mathematics, natural sciences, humanities/fine arts, social/behavioral sciences, and computer literacy. General education is at the heart of any degree program.
Good Academic Standing - students who complete a semester/quarter and who are not on academic probation who have a cumulative grade point average that is at or above the institution’s established scale of 2.0. (LCTCS)
Grade Point Average (GPA) - a grade point average is computed by dividing the total number of quality points earned by the number of semester hours attempted. These are normally calculated at the rate of four quality points for an A, three quality points for a B, two quality points for a C, one quality point for a D, and zero quality points for an F. Hence, if a student earned
A for one three-semester credit course: 1x4x3=12
C for two three-semester credit courses: 2x3x3=12
B for one one-semester credit course: 1x1x3=3
Total Semester Credit Hours=10 (3+3+3+1)
Total Quality Points=27 (12+12+3)
27 divided by 10=2.70 GPA
H
Handbook – the Student Handbook is published twice per year (spring issue and summer-fall issue) online and in limited hard copies, and contains deadlines, important dates, exam schedules and specific information pertaining to each semester regarding enrollment, financial assistance, testing, registration, and payment.
Hours Attempted - the total number of hours taken. This figure includes those hours passed as well as those hours failed.
Hours Earned - the number of semester hours complete with a passing grade.
L
Learning Communities - Learning Communities (LCs) are classes that are linked or clustered during an academic term, often around a theme, and enroll a common cohort of students. The goals of LCs are to increase student retention, to increase student engagement and motivation and to improve students’ time to degree completion.
Life Experience Assessment Program Credit - provides students an opportunity to present a portfolio of work samples and creative works which represent the knowledge and skills that they have already acquired in relationship to specific college courses. The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) is a major resource in the decision to award such credit.
M
Major - is that part of a degree program that consists of a specified group of courses in a particular discipline(s) or field(s). The name of the major is usually consistent with the degree subject area. A Major usually consists of 25% or more of total hours required in an undergraduate curriculum.
Master Promissory Note - a legal document in which a student promises to repay their loans and any accrued interest and fees to the U.S. Department of Education. It also explains the terms and conditions of the loan.
N
Non-Degree-Seeking - students enrolled in credit courses that do not wish to obtain a formally recognized (LCTCS/Louisiana Board of Regents) formal award or degree.
O
Online - implies that a connection to the internet or other network is established, opposite to off-line.
Online Learning - A learning environment that uses the Internet as the delivery vehicle (synonymous with e-learning).
P
Part-time Student - for undergraduate purposes a student enrolled for 11 semester credits or fewer in a fall or spring semester, or fewer than 24 contact hours per week each term; or fewer than six semester hours during a summer term. (IPEDS)
Prerequisite - a term referring to a course that must be successfully completed before a student is eligible to enroll in the next course in a sequence (Ex. English 101 is a prerequisite for English 102).
Program - a combination of courses and related activities organized for the attainment of broad educational objectives as described by the institution. (IPEDS)
Q
Quality Points - points assigned to course grades. Quality points are used in computing Grade Point Average (GPA). An A carries four quality points, a B carries three quality points, a C carries two quality points, a D carries one quality point, and an F carries zero quality points.
R
Refund - funds paid to students. Refund amounts are based on the credit balance remaining after tuition and fees are paid. Students can check their account balances by logging in to LoLA. A negative balance indicates a refund. Refunds are distributed through Delgado’s Dolphin One Card, which is administered by Higher One. See www.dolphinonecard.com.
Register/Registration - the act of scheduling classes after a student has been admitted to the college and taken placement tests.
Repeat/Delete - an institutional policy (used by some, not all institutions) whereby a student may receive a grade of F in a given course, during one semester/summer term, and later successfully earn a passing grade in the same course.
Required Courses - courses that must be taken in order to graduate.
S
Semester - a semester is generally 15-16 weeks in length; an academic year is comprised of two semesters.
Semester Grade Point Average - the grade point average for a student that consists of course work pursued within a certain semester.
Service Learning - a form of structured community service through which college credit can be earned.
Suspension -
- Academic - a student who is on academic probation and who fails to achieve a semester grade point average of at least a 2.0 in the ensuing semester will be suspended for one semester. The statement “Academic Suspension” will be placed on the student’s permanent academic record. No student will be suspended before he/she has attempted 24 credit hours. Academic appeals are filed with the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs’ office.
- Financial Aid – although the term “financial aid suspension” is not used, students can lose their eligibility for Title IV funds for failure to meet satisfactory academic progress (SAP). To regain eligibility, an appeal must be filed by the advertised deadline and approval granted. Students may track the status of their appeal at LoLA (See SAP policy for more information.) Financial aid appeals should be given to the campus financial aid department.
- Judicial - separation from the College for either a specified period or an indefinite period of time (see Policy # SA-1448.1C for more information). Judicial suspensions are the result of judicial hearings. Appeals to judicial suspensions are filed with the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs’ office.
Syllabus - an outline or a summary of a text, lecture, or course of study. A syllabus includes the outline, calendar of lectures/activities, course objectives, required and supplemental texts, grading procedure, ADA provisions, etc.
T
Technical Competency Area (TCA) - a credential defined by the Louisiana Board of Regents as an applied course or series of courses (one-12 semester hours). A TCA provides a student with a specific technical competency. TCAs are strictly limited to technical and community colleges. Approval authority for implementation of a TCA shall reside with the appropriate management board or their designated staff. (Automotive Ignition Systems).
Technical Diploma (TD) - An applied technical degree program (45-60 hours). TD programs are designed to be formed by combining multiple CTSs and/or TCAs. TD programs are strictly limited to technical and community colleges. The approval authority resides with the LCTCS Board of Supervisors but the action must be immediately reported to the Board of Regents. All other Regents requirements governing academic programs shall apply. to the Board of Regents. All other Regents requirements governing academic programs apply to the CTS.
W
Withdrawal (Student-Course) - an action whereby a student formally “drops” a course (or courses) from his/her schedule of classes (or from the college) by using the institution’s approved procedures and timetables. |
