Glossary Terms
Definitions of terms that help explain the academic organization and operations at
Alabama State University.
ACCREDITATION – Recognition granted schools and colleges upon examination by groups of visiting professionals based on objective standards developed by interested professional agencies. An accredited school or college has measured up to the standards of quality imposed by professional groups and accrediting agencies.
AUDITOR – One who enrolls in a course with the intention of not obtaining credit or a grade? A student must indicate that he or she is an auditor at the time of registration. Audit status may be denied if space is not available.
COLLEGE – A wide area of specialized and organized higher learning within the framework of the university itself.
COURSE OF INSTRUCTION – The most minutely specialized part within each department;
the actual point of academic contact between faculty and student.
CREDIT HOURS*– The number of hours a course meets each week determines its worth in credit hours. *please see credit hour policy for more information
CROSS ENROLLMENT – An agreement between institutions that allows enrollment in designated courses as well as other courses. Courses are treated as “home” courses.
CURRICULUM – The total program of courses required for a degree in a particular subject.
DEPARTMENT OF INSTRUCTION – A closely defined area of specialization within a division.
DIVISION OF INSTRUCTION – A generic grouping within a college.
ELECTIVE – A course that is accepted toward fulfillment of credit for a degree, but is not required for that degree; so termed because a student “elects’’ or chooses to take the course.
ENROLLMENT CANCELLATION/WITHDRAWAL – Students withdrawing officially during a term at their request or whose enrollment is canceled at the request of the university because of a failure to comply with a condition upon which enrollment/validation was approved.
EVALUATION – Any credit for academic work completed at another institution and transferred to ASU must be evaluated in terms of the requirements of ASU. Such evaluation is done by the Office of Admissions and Recruitment.
FULL-TIME STUDENT – A student who registers for 12 or more semester hours each semester.
GRADE POINT AVERAGE – Numerical computation reached by dividing the number of quality points by the number of quality hours of course work in which a student is enrolled during any given period.
GRADUATE STUDENT – One who holds a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution, has been admitted to the Graduate School and is eligible to enroll in graduate- level credit courses.
MAJOR – The academic area in which a student specializes. A new student may choose a major at once or be classified as “undecided’’ until he or she is able to decide on the desired major.
MINOR – The academic area in which a student places special emphasis as a secondary specialization.
NON-RESIDENT STUDENT – A student who is not a resident of the state of Alabama.
PART-TIME STUDENT – A student who registers for fewer than 12 credit hours a semester.
POST-BACCALAUREATE STUDENT – One who holds a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution, who is eligible to enroll in credit courses on the undergraduate level and who has not been admitted to graduate studies? Post- baccalaureate students apply for admission to the undergraduate college in which they wish to earn undergraduate credit.
PREREQUISITE – Certain courses must be completed before others may be attempted. Such first courses are prerequisites for following courses in the same or similar areas. It is the student’s responsibility to check for prerequisites in the current bulletin.
REGISTRATION – Enrollment at the university or in a particular college or school, certified by the registrar, with tuition and fee payment certified by the comptroller.
SEMESTER HOUR OF CREDIT – The semester hour is a unit of academic credit. The number of hours earned in a given semester is the measure of a student’s academic load. A normal load ranges from 15 to 18 semester hours of work. The hours of credit for various courses are indicated in the catalog.
SPECIAL STUDENT – One who does not meet the admissions requirements but is admitted by petitioning the dean concerned for permission to take courses for which the student is qualified by certain abilities or maturity. A special student may take no more than
15 credits unless granted official transfer to the status of a regular student.
STUDENT – The individual recipient of all academically imparted information; the focal point of university instruction. The university’s subdivisions of colleges, divisions and departments are basically designed so that students of similar interests and ambitions may study together and spend their college years most advantageously.
TRANSIENT STUDENT – One who is regularly enrolled at another institution and is authorized by his or her dean to pursue certain courses at ASU.
TRANSCRIPT OF CREDIT – A certified copy of credits that a student has earned in high school or in other colleges attended. The submission of a transcript is one of the most important prerequisites for admission to ASU.