Academic Advising Glossary

Abbreviation for the College of Arts and Sciences.

Academic advisors are either professional staff or faculty members who work with students to assist them throughout their academic careers. Academic advisors can aid you in determining your academic progress, selecting courses, evaluating your career and major options and navigating the academic processes at the University of Louisville.

The academic standing reflects student performance. For example, a student who meets or exceeds minimum GPA requirements for his/her academic unit, the student is considered to be in good standing.

When students attempt to register for a course it is called adding. Students may add courses to their schedule throughout the early registration period. Once a regular semester (fall or spring) has started, students may add classes to their schedule until the end of the day on the Friday of that week. After the first week of class, students must petition to late add a class. Students should check with their advisors for information about the late add petition process.

Students should check the Registrar's web page for the last day to add courses during the summer course terms and the dates that have been set up for courses that have special schedules that differ from the fall and spring meeting schedules.

The academic standing in which a student is admitted to the University. This may be determined by factors such as ACT/SAT scores & high School GPA; transfer GPA; or previous University of Louisville GPA.

To enroll in a course on a noncredit basis. When a student elects to audit a course, they will not earn a letter grade or receive credit for completing the course. (You will be charged the regular tuition rate for the course.) Please see your advisor for more information on this process.

Abbreviation for the Bachelors of Arts baccalaureate degree.

Abbreviation for the Bachelors of Fine Arts baccalaureate degree.

An on-line, electronic, education platform-- designed to deliver course and/or organizational content and information. It can be accessed from the University homepage or by typing blackboard.louisville.edu into the address bar of your web browser.

Students who transfer between Kentucky’s public institutions of higher education may qualify for a “block” rather than course by course transfer; for more information see the undergraduate catalog.

Abbreviation for the Bachelors of Science baccalaureate degree.

Abbreviation for the Bachelors of Science in Economics baccalaureate degree.

A summer pear mentoring program that pairs incoming first year students with an upperclass peer mentor. CAPS is an acronym for civic, academic, personal and social. CAPS is part of the First Year Initiatives Program.

Abbreviation for the College of Education and Human Development.

A prerequisite is a course you must complete before you can take the course in question. Prerequisites are listed in the course description that can be acc College Level Examination Program of the College Board; students can earn college credit by passing one or more of the CLEP exams. Areas of study, the amount of credit allowed, and minimum scores are listed in the undergraduate catalog.

Abbreviation for the College of Business.

A ceremony that recognizes degree recipients in a given semester; currently there are ceremonies in May and December. Commencement may be commonly referred to as graduation.

A set of supporting courses within a major that focus on a specific topic.

A non-degree-granting unit that admits adult students who want to begin or return to college as part-time students. In order to be eligible, students must be at least 25 years old and have a high school diploma or equivalency certificate issued by a state department of education. For more information, see the Undergraduate Catalog.

A 16-member board appointed by the Governor, the CPE is the state coordinating board for postsecondary and adult education in Kentucky. The Council coordinates change and improvement in postsecondary and adult education as directed by the Kentucky Postsecondary Education Improvement Act of 1997.

Cross-listing refers to a course that is listed under more than one academic department. This may be done in instances when the subject matter covered by the course is applicable to more than on academic discipline. For example, PAS 218 Survey of American Jazz is also listed as MUH 218 Survey of American Jazz, because the course material is applicable to both the Pan-African Studies and Music History departments.

The process of examining a student’s academic record to determine if the student has completed all degree requirements and is eligible to graduate.

Abbreviation for the Dental School.

The Disability Resource Center is designed to assist students with disabilities obtain equal access to the many services that are available on campus. The DRC is located in Robbins Hall.

When students removes themselves from a course that they had previously registered for it is called dropping. Although the terms drop and withdrawal are used interchangeably; they have two very different results.

Dropping a class completely removes the course from the student’s transcript so that there is no record of the student having ever been registered for the class. Since the course is deleted from the student's transcript, no grade is recorded and the student is not charged any tuition for the course. Students may drop courses from their schedule throughout the early registration period. Once a regular semester (fall or spring) has started, students may drop classes from their schedule until the end of the add/drop period. This is typically the first Friday after the official start of classes, but this date can vary. The date will also vary for summer courses and courses that have special schedules that differ from the regular semester meeting dates. Students should always check the Registrar’s web page for the official drop/add dates.

Course hours completed in which academic credit was earned. These included courses taken for a letter grade and taken on a pass/fail basis. You can find your total number of earned hours by using Ulink to access your unofficial transcript.

A federal law applying to educational agencies and institutions that receive funding under a program administered by the U.S. Department of Education. Under FERPA, schools must generally afford students who are aged 18 or over, or are attending a postsecondary institution, access to their education records, an opportunity to seek to have the records amended and some control over the disclosure of information from the records. At UofL, responsibility for authorizing the release of student information rests with the director of the University Archives and Records Center http://library.louisville.edu/uarc/stupriv.htm.

An undergraduate student who has earned less than 30 semester credit hours.

Undergraduate students who are registered for 12 or more semester hours in a regular school session (fall and spring).

General Education is a common core of courses that must be completed by all degree-seeking students. These courses are designed to encourage students to think critically, communicate effectively, and appreciate diversity.

Total number of credit hours taken by a student for which a letter grade (A,B,C,D, or F) is recorded. These hours are used in the calculation of a student’s grade point average.

The college or university at which a student is enrolled in as a student.

When a student elects to participate in a program or complete a course offered by a college or university outside of their home institution, the school that the student is attending is called the host institution.

Abbreviation for the Health Sciences Campus, home to the University’s healthcare programs. The HSC is located in the downtown area of Louisville.

The department that provides technology-based services to UL faculty, staff and students. Through IT students can get assistance with their computer accounts, purchase software for their courses, or purchase hardware that is designed to meet campus computing requirements.

The process of transferring from one academic unit at the University of Louisville to another within the institution.

An undergraduate student who has earned 60 or more, but less than 90 semester hours of credit.

Abbreviation for the Kent School of Social Work.

To be admitted to the University of Louisville.

A joint program with United Parcel Service (UPS); students work at UPS in exchange for tuition and an hourly rate of pay.

A cooperative effort of seven institutions: Bellarmine University, Indiana University Southeast, Jefferson Community Technical Colleges, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Spalding University, and the University of Louisville. A full-time student at any of these schools enjoys the opportunity of cross-registration, double degree programs, library privileges, and other benefits. For more information see the undergraduate catalog.

Abbreviation for the School of Music.

A negative service indicator in Peoplesoft that indicates that a student has not registered for classes by the initial registration deadline. This date is typically the first day of the academic term.

Abbreviation for the School of Nursing.

To enroll in a course on a non-graded basis. When a student elects to take a course pass/fail, they will not earn a letter grade (A, B, C, D) for the course, but they can earn credit for the class if they receive a P (for pass). A pass is not included in the student’s grade point average. However, if the student receives an F (for fail) they will not earn credit for completing the course and the F is calculated in the grade point average. If you are interested in taking a course pass/fail, please speak with your advisor for more information.

Undergraduate students who are enrolled for less than twelve (12) semester credit hours in a regular academic term.

Students who have already completed a Bachelor’s Degree who are taking additional undergraduate course work.

A prerequisite is a course you must complete before you can take the course in question. Prerequisites are listed in the course description that can be accessed from the either the Undergraduate Catalog or the online schedule of courses.

Additional class/study time assigned to some lecture classes. Recitation classes are typically smaller subsections of the large course and may be lead by either the course instructor or a teaching assistant. For example, math and speech communications courses usually have a recitation attached to the course.

The minimum number of hours a student must complete at the University of Louisville in order to earn a degree. For example, students earning baccalaureate degrees are required to complete 30 of their last 36 hours at the University of Louisville.

Abbreviation for the Swain Student Activities Center.

The agency through which the University of Louisville receives its accreditation.

Undergraduate students who have completed more than 90 semester credit hours, but have not yet earned a baccalaureate degree.

Notations placed in the PeopleSoft student records system. Positive indicators do not place restrictions on the student but provide information to university personnel about an action a student has taken. Negative indicators are restrictions that indicate a student has an issue with a particular university unit or department that he/she must resolve before he/she can register.

Abbreviation for the Student Government Association.

An undergraduate student who has earned 30 or more, but less than 60 semester hours of credit.

Abbreviation for the J.B. Speed School of Engineering.

A transcript is student's official academic record. The transcript contains information about the courses that a student has taken and the grades that have been received in those courses. Students may review their unofficial transcript in their ULink accounts. Students can order official copies of their transcript from the Registrar's Office (Houchens Bldg Room 030).

Transfer credit refers to coursework taken by a student at another institution, that has been accepted (or transferred) by the University for academic credit. It is important that students understand that not all courses offered by other colleges or universities will be transferred in by the University. It is also important for students to be aware that not all transfer work may be applicable to their specific degree plan.

A program designed to assist students in transferring to the University of Louisville. ULtra currently has offices on the both the Downtown, Southwest, and Shelbyville campuses of Jefferson Community and Technical College.

A visiting student is someone who is regularly enrolled in another institution who registers for courses at the University of Louisville for one semester. Visiting students must be in good standing in their regular college or university.

A form that grants a student permission to attend another institution as a visitor while enrolled as a UofL student. The form must be must be completed by the student's academic advisor and submitted to the UofL Registrar's Office in order for the credits taken at another institution (while enrolled as a UofL student) to be accepted.

An advising option that is used by some advising centers. Students wishing to be advised can been seen by an advisor on drop-in, first come first served basis. Walk-in advising typically occurs during peak registration times. Please check with your advising center to learn when walk-in advising may be offered.