Academic Advising Terms

Academic Advisor* | A department or college-based faculty or staff member who meets with students each semester to discuss and create an academic plan designed to meet students’ educational and career goals, review University resources and programs, review curricular choices and monitor progress toward achieving educational goals.

*All students within their first year journey are assigned to Office of Student Success Academic Advisors.

Academic Probation | A student with a grade point average below 1.70 at the end of any semester will be placed on academic probation for the succeeding semester unless the student’s cumulative grade point average is 2.00 or greater.

Academic Suspension | A student on probation who fails to earn a 2.00 average the following semester will be suspended academically.

Academic Year | The part of the year that includes the fall and spring semesters.

Audit | Attend a course without receiving credit. The final grade of “AU” is assigned to the course and does not affect the grade point average.

Catalog | A resource of all academic policies and procedures, college and degree requirements, faculty, and course descriptions.

Classification | Level of progress toward a degree based on the number of semester hours passed.

College | An academic unit of the University. Each college represents an organization of related departments.

Commencement (also known as Graduation) | A formal ceremony in which colleges award degrees to graduating students. DSU has both Fall and Spring commencement or graduation ceremonies.

Common Final Exam | Common final is given to all sections of a course at a designated time (i.e. Common final in Math).

Contact Hours | The number of hours the class meets per week.

Core Courses | Classes that all students in a major program are required to take.

Course Load | The total number of credit hours taken in a semester. For example, the average course load for any semester is 15 to 16 credit hours. Students registered for at least 12 hours are considered full-time at DSU. Credit | The number of credits assigned to a course is generally based upon the amount of time the class meets each week.

Degree Works | A software system that permits a student to see her/his academic progress toward specified degree, college and University requirements.

Department | A unit within a college representing a discipline.

Discipline | An area of study representing a branch of knowledge, such as mathematics.

Dismissal | Academic Dismissal is the end result of a pattern of multiple semesters of grades below the University’s standards for Good Standing (2.00 or higher GPA).

Double Major | A student may elect to pursue two majors at one time.

Drop/Add | The process of adjusting a student’s schedule by dropping and/or adding courses after the semester’s first day of class.

Dual Degrees | A student may elect to pursue two degrees at one time.

FAFSA | Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA is used to determine the need for financial assistance.

FERPA | Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. The act protects a student’s academic record within the post-secondary educational setting.

Final Exams | Tests or exercises given at the end of a term. A schedule for final exams is listed in each semester.

Financial Aid | Financial aid is designed to supplement family resources. Financial assistance at the University is made available through scholarships, grants, loans and part-time employment opportunities. Federal financial aid is assistance for educational expenses to include tuition, fees, room and board.

General Education Requirement | One of the requirements for a bachelor’s degree. It is a pattern of courses which students complete, regardless of their major, to ensure that they have a broad educational experience.

Grade Point Average (GPA) | A measure of scholastic performance. The GPA is obtained by dividing the number of grade points by the credit hours.

Hold | A block on a student’s account that will not allow the student to enroll in/drop/add classes (i.e. financial aid or registration holds). Major | Concentrated study in a subject area of special interest.

Minor | A secondary field of study requiring fewer credits than the major.

Office Hours | Professors and advisors are usually required to hold office hours on a regular basis throughout the semester so that students are able to drop in or schedule an appointment to meet with them.

Office of the Registrar | The office that plans and oversees registration, academic record maintenance, transcript preparation, graduation, degree audit report system, curricular records and University catalogs.

Prerequisite | One or more courses that must be completed or other knowledge, skills or standards that must be demonstrated before a student is permitted to take certain courses.

Registration | The act of signing up for classes using Banner Web Self Service.

Removal for Non-Payment | Students’ housing/meal assignments and registration will be removed due to non-payment in accordance with the published date in the Academic Calendar and Course Schedule Guide.

Semester or Term | Semester and term are used synonymously to identify the designated period during which classes are scheduled. The fall semester begins in August and the spring semester begins in January.

Student ID Number or “D Number” | An eight-digit number generated for students upon admission to the University.

Syllabus | A course outline provided by the instructor to students that delineates course requirements, grading criteria, course content, faculty expectations, deadlines, exam dates, grading policies, class attendance requirements and other relevant course information.

Transcript (Official) | Certified academic record that contains an official seal from the Registrar’s Office.

Transfer Credit | Courses taken at another institution and transferred to DSU for institutional credit.

University Seminar | A form of small group instruction, combining independent research and class discussions, under the guidance of a professor in a student’s major. One-two credit hours: UNIV 191 (fall); UNIV 192 (spring).

Withdrawal | Dropping all the courses of enrollment for the current term (withdrawal from the University) or withdrawal from an individual course. There are deadlines affixed to either withdrawal.

William C. Jason Library, Room 208 1200 N. DuPont Highway Dover, DE 19901 302.857.7542 studentsuccess@desu.edu www.desu.edu/academics/ student-success

Delaware State University was founded in 1891 and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE).

Delaware State University is committed to assisting all members of its community with safety and security. Information about campus security and personal safety, including crime prevention, University police law enforcement authority, crime reporting policies, crime statistics for the most recent three-year period and disciplinary procedure, is available on the University website at www.desu.edu/police. If you would like a booklet with this information, you can contact a representative of the University Police Department at 1200 North DuPont Highway, Campus Police Building, Dover, DE 19901 or by phone at 302.857.7911. For important consumer information, please visit www.desu.edu/consumer-information.