Glossary of Terms

A.A. Degree

Associate of Arts Degree: granted to students who have completed 60 units with a grade point average of 2.0 or better, including major and general education requirements.

A.S. Degree

Associate of Science Degree: granted to students who have completed 60 units with a grade point average of 2.0 or better in biological science, chemistry, or a technical vocational major; including major and general education requirements.

AA-T and AS-T Degrees

The Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act (SB 1440), signed into legislation on September 29, 2010, enabled California Community Colleges and California State University to work together to create the Associate in Arts for Transfer Degree (AA-T) and the Associate in Science for Transfer Degree (AS-T). Upon completion of the associate degree for transfer, the student is eligible for transfer with junior standing into the California State University (CSU) system. Students are given guaranteed admission into the CSU system, and are given priority consideration when applying to a particular program that is similar to the student’s community college major. The law prohibits the CSU from requiring a transferring student to repeat courses similar to those taken at the community college that counted toward their associate degree for transfer.

Advisory

A course that is recommended, prior to enrollment in another course; Although courses designated as “advisory” are not required, they are useful as an indication of the desired level of proficiency needed to successfully complete the next course level.

Articulation

Agreement between community college and four-year institution in which four-year institution agrees to accept certain community college courses as equivalent to their own.

Assessment

Evaluation process designed to gather information about individual students to assist in appropriate course placement.

Certificate of Achievement

Awarded to students who have satisfactorily completed the major requirements and competencies in identified occupational programs.

Co-Requisite

A course that must be taken at the same time as the desired course.

Course Number

Identification number for course, such as Psychology 11.

CSU (California State University)

California State University system includes 23 campuses statewide. Closest CSU campuses to LMC are East Bay (formerly Hayward), San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, and the California Maritime Academy.

Competencies

College “exit” requirements in reading, writing, and math. Required for all associate degrees. Satisfied by course.

Degree-Applicable (DA) Courses

Courses designated as DA are those that apply toward completion of an associate degree or certificate of achievement. Degree applicable courses are identified by the abbreviation “DA”, appearing on the last line, below the course description in the catalog.

Elective

Course a student may take other than one that is required for a particular major or degree to reach a total of the units required to graduate.

Faculty Advisor

Instructor in certain major who assists students in developing multisemester educational plan for courses in that major.

General Education (Breadth) Requirements

Specific courses, outside student’s major area, required for Associate Degree and transfer. Designed to meet the need for broad knowledge. Requirements vary from college to college.

IGETC (Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum)

Program of courses designed to met transfer requirements of either CSU (California State University) or UC (University of California) systems.

Major

Principal field of academic specialization chosen by a college student, such as computer science, music, or psychology. Requires an organized set of required classes.

Non Degree-Applicable (NDA) Courses

Courses designated as “NDA” cannot be applied toward units required for degrees or certificates. Non Degree-Applicable courses are identified by the abbreviation of “NDA”, appearing on the last line below the course description in the catalog.

Pass/No Pass (P/NP)

Some courses are designated with P/NP, which indicates that students may earn a passing grade (P = satisfactory or better) or no pass (NP = less than satisfactory) grade. No letter grade will be awarded in these courses.

Prerequisite

A course or other requirement that must be completed and verified prior to enrollment in a given course.

Repeatability

Not all courses may be repeated, once they have been satisfactorily completed (with a grade of “P”, “C” or better). If a course is repeatable, it will be stated at the end of the course description. If no statement is made, the course may only be repeated one time, in the event that the first grade received was substandard (“NP”, “D”, or “F”).

Student Choice (SC)

Some courses are designated with “SC”, which means a student may choose to complete the courses for either a letter grade or a pass/no pass (P/NP) grade. See information on this grade option in the “Standards of Scholarship” section of this catalog.

Transfer Course

Any course accepted for credit towards a bachelor’s degree at a four-year institution. Shown in catalog as “Transfer: UC, CSU.”

UC (University of California)

University of California system includes ten campuses state wide: Berkeley (Cal), Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles (UCLA), Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz.

Unit (of Credit)

A measure of how much credit may be earned for any given course. Unit amounts are determined by the type of instruction associated with the course (i.e. lecture, lab) and the number of hours the class meets. See the “Guidelines on Units of Credits” section for further information.

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