17. Glossary
Academic misconduct — This is intellectual dishonesty that includes such offences as plagiarism, cheating, and falsification of records.
Academic probation — The establishment of specific requirements, tasks, or conditions that an individual student must meet or fulfil within a stipulated time or else be suspended from further study at Athabasca University.
Academic year — The academic year at Athabasca University runs from September 1 until August 31 the following year.
Active student — As an active student you have completed an Athabasca University course within the last twelve months. The twelve-month period is based on the most recent course contract date, course completion date or date of withdrawal from an Athabasca University course. Students who complete courses on a Letter of Permission from Athabasca University also retain their active status.
Administrative Studies — Studies in accounting, administration, communication, finance, industrial relations, legal studies, management science, organizational behaviour, public administration, and taxation are called Administrative Studies. Administrative Studies courses are considered to be Applied Studies courses.
Admit — Students are admitted to the University and assigned a permanent student number effective on the date of their admission. Also see enrol and registration in this glossary.
Appeal — The act or process of requesting the review of a decision by an official of the University. Students may appeal decisions on transfer credit, grades, tests, assignments, final grades, questions of process, disciplinary action, etc. All appeals must first be made to the person responsible for overseeing the initial decision.
Applicant — A person who has submitted an Athabasca University Application Form or its equivalent.
Applied project — This is a major piece of work in the MBA program completed by students in two steps.
Applied Studies — Courses that apply knowledge and skills to a particular professional area such as administrative studies, nursing, engineering, and education are called Applied Studies. Athabasca University offers a variety of administrative studies and nursing courses.
Area — Area refers to the University's division of its courses into groups of related subjects. Arts is divided into humanities and social sciences. Science includes all science courses. Applied Studies includes the area of administrative studies, nursing, and a wide range of professionally oriented courses. The area designation for each course is shown in each course description following the credit value of the course.
Arts — Studies in two fundamental areas of human knowledge — humanities and social sciences — are called Arts.
Audit — This refers to registration in a credit course without the intention of obtaining credit. Audit students receive the same tutorial support as credit students.
Bachelor's degree — A bachelor's degree is a first university degree in a field, for example, Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Administration. Also called an undergraduate degree.
Challenge for credit — The challenge for credit option allows students to
demonstrate that they have acquired a command of the general subject matter,
knowledge, and intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in
a university-level course.
Complaint — A written and signed statement as a result of which proceedings may be instituted.
Concentration — A concentration is a designated program of study within a discipline or within a multidisciplinary field of knowledge.
Conditional enrolment — Students are conditionally enrolled in the B.A. program until they have fulfilled the English writing requirement (either ENGL 255 or an equivalent).
Contract date — Students have a designated amount of time to complete courses. The last day for the completion of the course is termed the contract date. The amount of time allowed to complete a course is dependent upon the credit weight, the level of the course, and the delivery mode (e.g., paced or home study) of the course. Some courses have a reduced contract period because of special conditions (e.g., courses funded through Alberta Students Finance).
Contract period — The contract period is the time a student is actively registered in a course. It begins on the start date (usually the first day of a month) and runs until the contract date. The contract period can be lengthened by applying for a course extension in a home-study course.
Convocation — Convocation refers to the formal ceremonies held yearly by the University on the second Saturday of June in Athabasca, Alberta, where the University formally recognizes academic achievement, and confers degrees and other academic awards. The University has also established a graduation in absentia on the first Saturday in December. See 5.6.
Corequisite — A corequisite is a course that is required to be taken concurrently with another course.
Course completion date — The course completion date is the contract date or the date the student completes the course if earlier than the contract date. If a student withdraws from the course, the course completion date is the date of withdrawal.
Course composite grade — This is the final grade for the course expressed as a percentage value. The course composite grade reflects the degree of understanding that the student has shown for the course materials. The course composite grade is often a weighted average of the marks assigned to quizzes, assignments, tests, examinations, etc.
Course start date — The course start date is the date a student officially starts a course. This is normally the first day of a month.
Credential — A credential is a degree, diploma or certificate awarded on successful completion of a program. Not all admission categories lead to a credential.
Credential regulations — Credential regulations specify requirements students must meet in order to be awarded a degree or university certificate, such as the total credits required, the minimum credits that must be completed at the senior level, and the minimum credits that must be completed at Athabasca University.
Credit — One credit is defined as the equivalent of one hour of instruction per week for a semester (roughly three and one-half months). Students are expected to spend time studying on their own in addition to formal instruction time. Athabasca University credits reflect an amount of study time equal to that spent at a conventional university in formal classroom sessions. Normally, Athabasca University courses are either three-credit (one semester) or six-credit (two semesters) which corresponds to three and six semester hours of credit at conventional universities. Some courses in the Bachelor of Nursing degree carry a practicum component and a credit weight of four.
Directed study — This usually describes a 400-level course that does not have a prescribed curriculum. In consultation with the course professor, the student chooses a specific topic and then undertakes an in-depth study of this topic. All directed study courses must be approved by the course professor before registration can occur.
Discipline — A discipline refers to courses in a specific subject area; for example, English in Humanities, Biology in the Sciences, or Accounting in Administrative Studies.
Elective — An elective is one or more courses from a specified list of courses that students must take to fulfil their program requirements.
Electronic mail (e-mail): Electronic mail is the most widely used service on the Internet. It allows you to communicate with other users; to send and receive messages. You need a computer with an electronic mail program to use this service. You may use electronic mail to communicate with your tutor.
Enrol — A student is enrolled in a degree or university certificate program. The enrolment date determines the degree regulations that a student follows to be eligible to graduate. See admit and registration in this glossary.
Expulsion — Required withdrawal of a student from the University for an indefinite period of time. The student shall not be permitted to return without the written approval of the Vice-President, Academic. Such approval shall not be given before the expiry of two years.
Extension — The process of lengthening the time allowed for completion of a home study credit course by two months is called an extension. A fee is charged for this service.
Full-time student — For taxation or Alberta Students Finance purposes a full-time student is one who is actively registered in a minimum of 2 credits per month. Students must complete 9 credits over four months to be considered full time.
Grade — The final grade for the course expressed as a percentage value.
Graduate studies — Academic studies that are taken after a student has completed an undergraduate degree (refer to Section 9 — Graduate Programs of Study).
Guided independent study — This describes a paced course where the professor or tutor acts as a facilitator. A group of students meets from time to time in person or by teleconference and works through the course package. These courses are offered within a designated term and are currently available only to students in the Bachelor of Commerce program.
Home lab — These labs can be performed in the average home using supplied and household materials and equipment.
Home study — This method of course instruction is centred around a learning system package that may include textbooks, workbooks, audio and videotapes, computing resources, project kits, study guides, and manuals. Please see the individual course descriptions for details. Students set their own schedule within the time allowed to complete a course. Instructional support may be provided through toll-free telephone access to tutors from anywhere in Canada and the United States.
Humanities — Humanities is an area of university studies that normally includes English, French, History, and Philosophy. All degree programs require a minimum number of Humanities courses.
HTML (HyperText Markup Language) — a mark-up language or coding scheme that formats text (making it look like a page) on the Web and makes it possible to create links to other documents.
Inactive student — You are considered inactive when you have not registered in an Athabasca University course within twelve months of the completion date, the contract date, or date of withdrawal of your last course. Students who complete courses at other institutions without first obtaining a Letter of Permission from Athabasca University may become inactive and forfeit their enrolment status.
Independent lab — The laboratory component of some Science courses is available without taking the remaining instructional component, however, strict prerequisite requirements must be met and professor approval is required before registering in a class.
Intellectual honesty — This describes the acknowledgement of the scholarly contributions of others. Failure to do this is academic misconduct.
Instructor-delivered courses — This describes paced courses offered by an Athabasca University faculty member. Most course materials will be provided to the student.
ISP — Internet Service Provider; another provider of Internet service other than a public institution.
Junior course — Junior courses (designated by a course number in the 200s) are usually introductory or survey courses and are equivalent to first-year courses at most universities.
Laboratory science course — This describes a course, with a Science designation, which contains a substantial amount of work on exercises, techniques, and equipment and sample handling relevant to the course discipline. The lab portion of these courses is usually site-specific and supervised.
Letter of Certification — A Letter of Certification is an official confirmation of information extracted from a student's record that is not available on a transcript.
Letter of Permission — A document permitting a credential student to take one or more courses at another post-secondary institution to be used for credit toward an Athabasca University degree or university certificate is called a Letter of Permission.
Level — In addition to having a credit weighting of 3, 4 or 6 credits, each course is assigned a level: preparatory (100), junior (200) or senior (300 or 400). See preparatory, junior or senior in this glossary.
Major — A major is a designated program of study within a discipline or a field of knowledge. Athabasca University has twelve majors in the Bachelor of Arts degree program: Anthropology, Canadian Studies, English, French, History, Humanities, Information Systems, Labour Studies, Political Economy (pending Alberta Learning approval), Psychology, Sociology, and Women's Studies.
Mark — Marks are percentage values given to individual quizzes, assignments, tests, examinations, etc., that reflect the degree of understanding that the student has shown for the course materials.
Master's degree — This is a graduate level degree that is normally completed after a student has completed a first or undergraduate degree. Athabasca University's graduate degrees are located in Section 9.
Member of the University community — any student admitted to the University, an academic staff or non-academic staff member, or a member of Governing Council.
No area of study — A course designated ''No area of study'' cannot be used to fulfil an area of study requirement in a program. This means the course is not part of the Administrative Studies, Humanities, Science or Social Science areas of study. The course can, however, fulfil part of the overall degree requirements if it is appropriate to the program.
Non-academic misconduct — These are offences that breach University policies or rules.
Non-credit — Non-credit courses do not fulfil any requirement towards a credential.
Nursing transfer — This is a special program developed in cooperation with another university whereby students may complete courses through Athabasca University and use these courses to fulfil the requirements of a post-degree program.
One month — This is usually deemed to be equal to 31 days.
Open admission — Open admission means that admission to the University and registration in a course (except where a prerequisite is needed) are not based on prior academic achievement. The admission policy says that a student must be 18 years of age.
Option — One or more courses from any University course offering, provided that they fulfil the program requirements students must take to complete their program of study.
Paced lab — Students are required to attend an on-site lab component with a group of students at set times.
Part-time student — A student is considered "part-time" if he or she has less than a 60 per cent courseload with Athabasca University or is not completing more than 9 credits over four months.
Plagiarism — Plagiarism is the wilful act of presenting another person's work as one's own without the proper academic acknowledgement and recognition.
Practicum course — This is a course (usually in the Applied Studies area) with a substantial amount of supervised, discipline-related time in actual work settings.
Precluded course — This is a currently (or formerly) offered Athabasca University course whose curriculum overlaps the course being described to the extent that students would be duplicating course work if they completed both courses. Thus students cannot receive credit for both the course being described and the courses listed in this section. Precluded courses are usually the result of a course revision, course renumbering or cross-listing of courses.
Preparatory course(s) — (Designated by a course number in the 100s) prepare students for university level study in disciplines that require a high school background. A maximum of 6 credits at the preparatory level may be applied to the completion of the B.A. or B.G.S. degree at Athabasca University. The Challenge for Credit policy does not apply to preparatory 100-level courses.
Preparatory/Alternative Course(s) — These are courses a professor may suggest a student register in if the student is experiencing difficulties in a more senior-level course. Preparatory/alternative courses are not necessarily prerequisite courses but rather provide the student with a more solid subject-matter foundation before he or she advances to the more senior-level course.
Preregistration — The act or process of registering for a course with a start date up to six months in the future is called preregistration. Preregistration guarantees a particular start date for the student. Preregistration is considered a registration, and if a student decides to change his or her preregistration, a processing fee must be paid.
Prerequisites — Many senior level courses require knowledge of material covered in junior or other senior courses. Prerequisites are used to ensure that a student has the required background to successfully complete the course. All prerequisites are expressed in terms of specific Athabasca University courses. Students who have fulfilled the prerequisite by completing an equivalent course at another post-secondary institution should complete the Prerequisite Waiver Declaration so that their course registration may be processed without encountering a delay (See 6.4 Course prerequisites).
Program — A program is any combination of courses with a set of coherent organizing principles and goals; for example, the Bachelor of Arts degree, or a concentration or major in a degree or a university certificate.
Program director — The academic member who is responsible for overseeing the specific degree, certificate, or diploma program. Where a degree, certificate or diploma is not involved, the program director who has jurisdiction is determined by the course involved.
Program requirements — Programs of study require a student to take specific courses or to take courses from specified areas of study or disciplines or to take courses at a specific level of study. These are program requirements and form part of the regulations for each program.
Registrar — The Registrar (or designate) of the University.
Registration — Registration is the process of selecting and undertaking specific courses at Athabasca University. See admit and enrol in this glossary.
Rejection of submitted work — Refusal of academic work that has been submitted to fulfil all or part of the course or program requirements, or assignment of a grade of zero (0) to any academic work that has been submitted to fulfil all or part of the course or program requirements, or assignment of a grade of zero (0) as a course composite grade on a particular course.
Reprimand — Written notification to a student outlining the nature of the misconduct and the implications of further misconduct. The student is permitted to continue at the University.
Residency — Specified courses or credits from Athabasca University needed to obtain a credential make up the residency requirement. This is part of a program's regulations.
Science — Studies that normally encompass courses based on a knowledge of facts, phenomena, laws, and proximate cause are designated Science (e.g., Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Geography, Geology, Mathematics, Nutrition, and Physics).
Seminar course — A seminar is a specialized paced course offered in a specific centre where the seminar leader and students meet in a classroom or by video conference or teleconference on a regular schedule as they proceed through a course.
Semester — A semester is a period of time during which many paced courses are offered. Fall semester courses typically run from September through December while winter courses are usually offered from January through April. Some paced courses are also offered during the spring/summer semester.
Senior course — Senior courses (designated by a course number in the 300s or 400s) assume a background of university learning and usually specify a junior course as a prerequisite.
Social Science — Social Science is an area of university studies that normally includes Anthropology, Economics, Geography, Labour Studies, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, and Women's Studies.
Student Assessment letter — This is a specialized document issued by the Office of the Registrar that indicates courses that have been approved towards a student's degree or university certificate program and all remaining requirements. The
Student Assessment letter includes transfer credits, completed courses, courses in progress, courses being completed on letters of permission, and preregistered courses. The Student Assessment letter is normally sent to students when the evaluation of their previous education is completed, when a student is notified of a final grade, and upon the student's request. A Student Assessment letter may also be obtained from the learning centres, but it cannot be obtained without a prior request.
Students Finance Board — This is the official agency in each province that is responsible for supplying loans and bursaries to students. Loans and bursaries are dependent upon need and require a student to maintain full-time status. See Section 8.7.2.
Student, Full-time — For taxation or Alberta Students Finance Board purposes, a full-time student is one who is actively registered in a minimum of 2 credits per month. Students must complete 9 credits over four months to be considered full time.
Student, Part-time — A student is considered "part-time" if he or she has less than a 60 per cent courseload with Athabasca University or is not completing more than 9 credits over four months.
Student number — A seven-digit number is assigned to each student to help with identification. Students should have their student numbers available whenever they contact the University.
Supervisor — In an academic context, a supervisor coaches and supports a student's work in a senior, project-based course, or a graduate thesis/project.
Supplemental examination — This is an additional examination written by a student to raise a mark on the original examination.
Thesis — In the Master of Distance Education program, a thesis or project builds upon the knowledge and skills that the student has learned in his/her previous course work. The thesis or project is normally completed as the last element of the student's graduate program and represents the equivalent of 12 credits of course work.
Transcript — An official document prepared by the Office of the Registrar recording a student's academic performance and bearing the University seal is called a transcript. Transcripts must be requested in writing and will not be released to anyone without the student's permission. A fee is charged for each transcript.
Transfer credit — Credit granted for the successful completion of course work at another accredited institution is transfer credit.
Unclassified students — The unclassified category of admission is used for all students not enrolled in Athabasca University degree or certificate programs.
University certificate — A credit program offered to students on completion of an approved program of study is called a university certificate. University certificates are intended to recognize the completion of specified courses at the undergraduate level.
Visiting student — Any person taking courses for transfer of credit to another post-secondary institution is a visiting student. Visiting students are described as unclassified students at Athabasca University.
Withdrawal — Withdrawal is voluntary exit from a course, courses, or the University by a student and at the student's request at any time prior to three months after the course start date. Withdrawals requested later than three months after the start date or after the final exam has been written shall be deemed to be failures. A late withdrawal will be recorded on the student's transcript as a "WF" (Withdrawal Failure) rather than an "F" in order to reflect the nature of the withdrawal more accurately.
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