Academic probation – Students falling below the minimum standards for academic progress are placed on academic probation. If they do not meet the standard during three semesters of work they are suspended from the college and must request permission to be reinstated from the Associate Dean of Academic Support Services.
Add – Enrolling in a new course or section during the add/drop period which usually lasts through the first week of classes. No classes may be added after that time except by special permission.
Application for Diploma – This form is used to petition the Registrar’s Office for an official report on what requirements need to be completed in order to graduate. It should be filed two semesters before expected graduation.
Audit – Students who audit a course are expected to attend but do not receive a grade. There is no tuition discount for students auditing a course.
Billable Hours – This is the added total of all credit hours plus the number of non-credit equivalent hours (usually 3 hours per non-credit Developmental course). Full-time status for financial aid, insurance coverage, athletic eligibility, etc. is calculated based on 12 or more billable hours as full-time.
Career ArchitectureTM – This is Stevenson University’s approach to preparing students to succeed in careers that fit their skills, personalities and values. The process consists of four stages: Self Discovery, Career Development Foundations, Career Exploration, and Career Preparation.
Class Year Status (or “Standing”) – Some courses require students to have a class year standing (usually either sophomore or “third year”). Class year status is defined by the following credit counts:
Freshman – 0-26.5 credits
Sophomore – 27-54.5 credits
Junior – 55-89.5 credits
Senior – Over 90 credits
Contact Hours – See “Billable Hours”
Core Curriculum – Academic requirements applied to all majors that include Skills and Distribution courses. Some secondary requirements in each major may also fulfill elements of the Core Curriculum.
Core Elective – An element of the Core Curriculum that requires that all students earn 6 credits from courses that fall under definition as stated in the Core Curriculum.
Co-requisite – Requires that a given course that has not been previously completed by a student must be taken concurrently with another course (ex: students taking HIST 105 must have completed ENG 151 or take it concurrently as a “co-requisite”).
Credit Hours – The number of academic credits given per course or taken per semester, etc. At least 120 credit hours must be accumulated to graduate. Students taking 12 or more credit hours (or billable/contact hours) in a single semester are considered full-time.
Degree Audit – A Degree Audit report lists all requirements of the selected degree program and shows the student’s completed coursework, their preregistered courses and remaining requirements. The Degree Audit reports replace the Degree Planners as the main document for tracking student progress.
Degree Planners – Forms that list the required courses for students to complete the Core Curriculum, and all of the requirements that are specific to each major. The Degree Audit reports replace the Degree Planners as the main document for tracking student progress.
Developmental Course – Courses that students take based on placements derived from SAT scores, placement testing, and assessment of their high school academic record. Developmental courses are coded “DEV” and do not earn credit hours although they do count towards full-time status with 3 non-credit billable hours per course.
Distribution Course – Distribution courses are a major component of the Core Curriculum. They include courses from the Fine Arts, Social Sciences, Math and Science, and from the Humanities.
Drop – The removal of a student from a course section in which they were previously enrolled during the add/drop period which generally lasts the first week of classes of a given semester. After the add/drop period is over courses may not be dropped, instead students must withdraw from a course to be officially removed.
Full-time – Students taking 12-18 billable/contact hours in a given semester have full-time status.
General Elective – Any course except physical education which is taken by students in order to reach the 120 credits needed to graduate. The required courses in some majors exceed 120 credits and therefore students in those majors do not need any general electives.
Incomplete – An official agreement between student – teacher – and college to extend the deadline for submission of material needed to complete the academic obligations of a course. Incompletes must be requested in writing through the Associate Dean of Academic Support Services. Forms are available through the Registrar’s Office.
Major Requirements – Courses generally from within the major department that are specifically required for all students in the major.
Minor – Many Stevenson University disciplines now offer an academic minor. The “Declaring a Minor” FAQ instruction sheet is available in the Registrar’s Office.
Part-time – Students taking 11 or fewer billable hours are considered part-time students.
Pass/No Credit Option – Students may choose to take pass/no credit courses outside the major and secondary requirements limited to Core Electives, unless otherwise stipulated by the major. Students may take only one pass/no credit option per semester for a total of two courses on the student’s transcript.
Prerequisite – Courses that must be completed prior to taking a given course.
Skills Course – A major component of the Core Curriculum that includes writing courses, a communication course, and physical education.
Sample Program – A grid showing a typical 8-semester scheduling sequence that would assure a student of having prerequisites in place; available from Department Chairs in most majors.
Secondary Requirements – Courses outside of the major’s department that are required to graduate in a given major. Some secondary requirements may satisfy elements of the Core Curriculum.
Service Learning – Academic coursework designed to increase student learning by integrating traditional academic work with community-based service projects supported by partnerships with non-profit organizations.
Substitution – An exception to requirements granted by a Division Director or Department Chair whereby a reasonable equivalent course is allowed to substitute for a specific requirement. Must be documented using the Course Substitution and Waiver form.
Topics Course – A category of courses that do not change course number but may be taken more than once since the focus “topic” changes from semester to semester (ex: ENG 385, Literary Genres: Special Topics).
Waiver – An exception to requirements granted by a Division Director or Department Chair whereby a required course is waived based on a documented reasonable student request (ex: students with extensive computer skills getting IS 110 waived). Must be documented using the Course Substitution and Waiver form. A waived course is not awarded any credit.
Withdrawal (Course) – Process of removing a student from a course after the add/drop period and before the deadline for last day to withdraw (falls about 2/3rds of the way through the semester). Students who withdraw from a course get a “W” on their transcript which is not calculated into a student’s GPA.
Withdrawal (University) – All students who do not register for a semester after having attended as degree seeking students, or who wish to leave the university while classes are in session, must file a “Withdrawal from University” form and meet with the Director of Academic Advising.
