FOR ADVISORS
GLOSSARY AND GUIDE
| A/B Deficit | The A/B deficit determines the number of units of B, or A, needed to raise the cumulative GPA to a specified level. It is most often used in reference to students who have an Academic E and who need to elevate the cumulative GPA to the minimum 2.0. The A/B deficit is calculated by using the student’s UA Units Taken toward GPA and UA Total Grade Points. UA Units Taken towards GPA x 2.00 = _X_ _X_- UA Total Grade Points = B deficit B deficit divided by 2 = A deficit Example: UA Quality Hours: 118 UA Quality Points: 218 118 x 2 = 236 236 – 218 = 18 unit B deficit 18 / 2 = 9 unit A deficit The B deficit is automatically calculated for all probationary students in UAccess Student. It can be found near the top of their Academic Agreement and on the Academics tab under GPA calculation. |
| Academic Advising Council (AAC) | The AAC group is comprised of the advising directors from each college. This group considers all policy and processes that impact undergraduate students and academic advising. They are often consulted with by administration, faculty, and key administrative units. AAC meets bi-monthly with the exception of June and July. AAC Representatives (see bottom of page) |
| Academic Eligibility | The Undergraduate Academic Eligibility Policy is designed to help undergraduates stay on track for degree completion at the University of Arizona and is calculated for all undergraduate students at the end of each fall and spring semester. The five academic statuses determine eligibility to enroll in courses at the University; however, they do not determine eligibility to enroll in specific programs, schools, or colleges. Students who are not in Eligible status who earn grades in winter or summer term or have revisions to their academic record that updates their cumulative GPA to 2.00 or higher will return to Eligible status. |
| Academic Level/Class Standing | Degree-seeking undergraduates are classified with their class standing based on the number of credit hours, or units, that they have completed, and does not include units in progress. This information is very useful during priority registration periods |
| Advanced Standing | Advanced standing is a status that allows the undergraduate student to enroll in upper division (300-400) courses. Advanced Standing is maintained with a Student Group in UAccess. |
| ADVIP (The Advisement Report) | A Student Academic Advisement Report is an individualized report of a student's progress toward completing degree requirements. The Advisement Report for a student's current degree program, or What-if that enables a student to compare completed and in-progress course work against the requirements for any other undergraduate degree program, can be requested through UAccess Student. Students are strongly encouraged to generate an Advisement Report each term to ensure satisfactory academic progress. If you have any questions or need adjustments made to your report such as the application of transfer course work to your degree requirements, please consult with your academic advisor. |
| Advisor Dashboard | UAccess Analytics contains many dashboards. Each dashboard contains numerous reports that might be useful to specific UArizona populations. In Analytics under the Dashboards > Students menus is an “Advisors” dashboard. This dashboard contains reports on probation, enrollment, active majors and minors, and transfer and test credit, among other reports. |
| Advisor Notes | Advisor Notes allows advisors to record interactions with students that can be seen by all other advisors on campus. This Trellis tool is especially helpful as students change majors and move from advisor to advisor, and using the central note system is considered a best practice. Once a note has been entered it cannot be edited, or deleted, by the advisor. The Director of the Advising Resource Center (ARC) is able to delete notes submitted by the AAC representative. If a note is entered into the wrong student record, make note of the note id, student name, and date, and send that information to your AAC representative. The advisor is responsible for entering the note into the correct student record. Remember, because the note can be seen by others, it is important to be concise and professional in the content that you enter into the note. |
| AGEC | The Arizona public community colleges and the three state universities, including the UA, have agreed upon a common structure for a general education core curriculum. This common structure is called the Arizona General Education Curriculum (AGEC). AGEC is composed of a minimum of 35 semester units of lower-division general education course work. |
| ALEKS | The ALEKS is a Math placement exam used to determine the appropriate level of placement in UArizona Math. Students complete the ALEKS at least 5 days prior to attending New Student Orientation. For more information visit the ALEKS placement test website. |
| Application for Degree Candidacy | The degree check, or audit, process begins with the student completing an application for degree candidacy on their UAccess. Instructions to complete the online application. |
| Arizona Transfer | AZtransfer.com is a website which shows transfer equivalencies for all of the community colleges and four year public institutions in the state of Arizona. A number of online tools display direct equivalencies, pathways, and more. (www.aztransfer.com/about) |
| Catalog | Academic Catalogs are the universities primary source of departmental, college information. Advisors can look to this document for assistance while you’re working with your students. Users can find useful information, such as: academic calendars, policies, course descriptions, general education, majors, minors, etc. |
| Catcard | The CatCard is the student’s official identification card for the University of Arizona. For more information please visit the CatCard Website. |
| Census Enrollment | Enrollment figures for UArizona include all students registered for at least one credit-bearing course, including courses offered outside the main campus (i.e., Sierra Vista Campus, Extended University, and Arizona Health Sciences Center). The census enrollment reflects the number of students registered for one or more credits on the 21st day after classes begin. A student’s registration status on this day may also affect their financial aid standing for scholarships, loans and grants. |
| Change of Schedule (AKA Drop/Add) | The Change of Schedule Form is used for students to add/drop courses. For more information about this form and the various reasons students may need to use this form go to the Registrar's website. |
| College Disqualification | Students can be disqualified from a specific college only after two consecutive regular semesters of not meeting the standards of normal progress (cumulative grade-point-average of 2.000). Also, a student may be disqualified upon recommendation of the dean of the college, an undergraduate may be placed on academic probation or may be disqualified at any time for neglect of academic work. |
| Consortium Agreement | A consortium agreement allows students to attend two schools in the same semester and still receive financial assistance. Students must meet specific criteria to utilize the consortium. Consortium Agreement Terms: https://financialaid.arizona.edu/policies/consortium-agreement |
| Credit/Hour/Unit | Utilizing the definition that an hour of work is the equivalent of 50 minutes of class time (often called a contact hour) or 60 minutes of independent-study work, university policy requires at least 45 hours of work by each student for each unit of credit. The terms Credits, Hours and Units are often used interchangeably. Catalog policy: Credit Definitions |
| D2L | Course management system used by many faculty, especially in general education. The Office of Instruction and Assessment supports and manages D2L. Most online courses at the UArizona are conducted through D2L, with the exception of those in the Eller College of Management (see “Blackboard”). D2L is also used for faculty and staff assessments for security access. |
| Degree Audit (AKA Degree Check) | Students must get their final degree audit approved by their colleges advisor. You may hear this process referred to as the ‘pink sheet’. This process may vary by college, so make sure that you follow your colleges policies in regards to graduation checks. |
| Dual Degree (Second Bachelor's Degree) | Candidates for a second bachelor's degree at The University of Arizona must earn no fewer than 30 unique units of University Credit (units in residence not used for the first degree)and must be completed for the second degree. If the degrees are completed concurrently, the 30 units are added to the degree with the higher unit requirement. For sequential degrees, students must complete at least 50 percent of all course work required in the major of the second degree after the conferral of the first degree. Dual degrees are represented on one advisement report. This means that courses that can be used in both programs may need to be directed by exception to two places in order to make the advisement report ‘run clean’ for graduation. |
| Electives | Electives are courses selected at a student's discretion. Electives may be partially restricted, such as a selection from a specified group of courses identified to fulfill a particular requirement or they may be "free" electives which may be selected from any course for which the student has proper prerequisites. Electives provide opportunities for students to pursue personal interests and to gain general knowledge. |
| Enrollment Appointment | Enrollment appointments determine the timeframe during which students are eligible to enroll. Terms such as summer and winter do not have enrollment appointments as enrollment opens on a certain date to everyone and remains open. Spring and Fall terms however utilize enrollment appointments to determine when students can enroll based on academic level and other criteria such as Honors, Student Athlete, Non-Degree Seeking, or Veteran status, or whether a student is incoming or continuing with the UA. Students and advisors can view enrollment appointments in Student Center/Student Services Center. Once an appointment has passed, the appointment is no longer viewable in Student Center/Student Services Center. Related Topic: Priority Registration` |
| Exceptions | Student Exceptions are the means in UAccess by which to customize a student’s advisement report (ADVIP) to account for waivers, course directives, or requirement changes as uniquely required for an individual’s situation. |
| FERPA | The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) is the federal law that governs the rights of students and defines institutional responsibilities with respect to student records. The Office of the Registrar website contains all FERPA policy information along with the Authorization for Release of Information and the Parent Affidavit forms. All academic advisors must complete FERPA training for system access. |
| First-Year | An undergraduate student newly enrolled at the University of Arizona with fewer than 12 hours of transfer credit at the time of enrollment. Neither Advanced Placement (AP) or College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) credits, nor co-enrollment credits earned during high school are included in determining transfer status or class level. Fall enrollment counts of new freshmen include students newly admitted and enrolled in the previous summer. |
| Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Student | A measure of student enrollment based on the number of student credit hours (SCH) for which students enrolled. The following formula is used to arrive at FTE totals: lower division SCH divided by 15 + upper division SCH divided by 12 + graduate SCH divided by 10. |
| Full-Time Student | Undergraduate students enrolled for 12 or more credit hours are considered full-time students. Graduate and first professional students enrolled for 9 or more credit hours, or enrolled for 6-8 hours along with an assistantship, are considered full-time. |
| General Education | General Education, referred to colloquially as 'gen eds', Requirements are as listed: If a student matriculated in Fall 2021 or prior, requirements include Foundations (Math, English Composition, and Second Language), Tier I, Tier II, and Diversity Emphasis. If a student matriculated in Spring 2022 and beyond, requirements include Foundations (Math, English Composition, and Second Language), bookend courses (UNIV 101 and UNIV 301), Exploring Perspectives, and Building Connections, |
| Grades | If you are new to the University of Arizona campus, then the most noteworthy thing you should know as an advisor about the grading system is that students who fail a course are given an E. (The only F grades are for courses offering the Pass/Fail option.) |
| Grade-Point Average (GPA) or Averaging of Grades | The grade-point-average is the arithmetic mean of the grade points earned for all credits taken at the University of Arizona for University Credit or by Special Examination for Grade, where regular grades are awarded. Ordinarily cumulative GPAs are calculated using only the courses at the career level of the student. For example, the undergraduate GPA is based on undergraduate courses only. Related Policies: Graduate Credit for Seniors, Grade Replacement Opportunity, and Academic Renewal |
| Grade Replacement Opportunity (GRO) | The Grade Replacement Opportunity allows some undergraduate students to repeat, only once, certain courses for a new grade to replace the previous grade in the calculation of their Grade Point Average. Prior to the completion of 60 UA units, students may replace the original grade, through GRO, 3 courses. Advisors should consult the GRO report on the Advisor Dashboard in Analytics to determine if a student is eligible for GRO since the unit calculation can be complicated when students approach the 60 UA unit limit. |
| Graduate Degree | Graduate degrees include Masters and Doctoral Degrees in all colleges excluding the three First Professional degree programs in Law, Medicine, and Pharmacy. |
| Graduation Services | Graduation Services Advisors are responsible for making a final audit of each student's coursework to ensure that all university requirements for the degree program have been met. |
| Hold Flags | Legacy term for Service Indicators. |
| Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) | In simple and practical terms, the IGETC is a California version of the AGEC. A certified IGETC signals the student has fulfilled: If a student matriculated in Spring 2022 and beyond: freshman composition, mathematics-General Strand, Exploring Perspectives and Building Connections courses and required attributes. If a student matriculated in Fall 2021 or prior: freshman composition, mathematics-General Strand, Tier One and Tier Two—with the exception of the Natural Sciences and the Diversity Emphasis course. To complete the Natural Sciences, the student’s college/major advisor will need to validate completion of two laboratory science courses at the transfer institution or at the UA. To satisfy the Diversity Emphasis requirement, the student’s advisor will need to verify completion of a course that focuses on gender, race, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or non-western studies. |
| Leave of Absence (LOA) | The LOA assists and encourages students to return and graduate after a one or two semester absence from campus. Students with this status need not apply for or pay readmission fees, and may register for classes during their priority registration period. Refer to catalog policy for more important information. |
| Major (Student Plan) | Students are classified as majors according to their selection of a primary field of study. This field must be selected from ABOR approved degree programs and university approved majors within each degree program. |
| Matriculated | After admission to the university, a student must be matriculated (i.e. pass the file from admissions to registrar) before he/she will have a student record and be made eligible to enroll through the term activation and enrollment appointment processes. Matriculation happens approximately 7-10 days before each orientation session for freshman and after completion of the Transfer Student Academic Preview for transfer students. |
| Maximum Units | The maximum # of units allowed for a fall or spring semester is 19. Students may request for an exception through their college dean’s office. The maximum units for pre-session: 3-4 units (1 course), 1st and 2nd summer session: 6-7 units (2 courses). |
| Minor (Student Plan) | The minor is a secondary field of study requiring fewer units than the major. |
| Multiple Use of Courses (Formerly known as Double Dipping) | Multiple Use of Courses is in place to limit the double use of courses. For example a student cannot use general education coursework to satisfy major requirements. Colleges also prohibit the use of courses in two different majors and minors. |
| NET ID | UA NetID is a secure, efficient way for the University and its computer systems to ensure the identity of an eligible user before allowing access to potentially sensitive information. Your NetID permits secure access to a variety of applications and services at the University of Arizona using a single sign-on (one username and one password) system. |
| Next Steps | Next Steps is a virtual place where newly admitted students begin the matriculation process. A list of items (immunization, residency, orientation, residence life, math/second language/English composition placement, and more) are presented to new students for completion. Next Steps delivers individualized information depending on the student’s major and student groups. Academic Advisors can request proxy view in Next Steps so they can view individual student records; a very helpful tool when assisting incoming students. Contact Person: Dolores Machado, doloresm@arizona.edu |
| New Student Orientation (NSO) | NSO is one-day, on- campus, orientation program required for all first-year students. |
| Ombuds Program | The University of Arizona Ombuds Program provides an informal means of problem resolution if you have a University-related concern, conflict, or dispute. An Ombuds is not empowered to change a decision, but through intervention or a clarification of matters, information may emerge to assist in the resolution of the problem. Call the Director of the Ombuds Program at (520) 626-5589 or go to the Ombuds website. |
| Pima Community College (PCC) | At present, the majority of the UArizona transfer students come from Pima Community College. It is common for UArizona students to enroll in one, or more, courses at PCC. Related policy: Consortium Agreements. |
| Part-Time Student | Undergraduate students enrolled for 1-11 credit hours are considered part-time students. Graduate and first professional students enrolled for 1-5 hours along with an assistantship, or 1-8 hours without an assistantship, are considered part-time. |
| Pre-Scheduler | A tool that builds the schedules for incoming freshmen attending New Student Orientation. The Pre-Scheduler considers the student’s placements in Foundations (Math, English, Second Language) and suggested first semester schedule for their major and then builds a first semester schedule for each student. Related Topic: New Student Orientation |
| Priority Registration | A prescribed period of time during which continuing students enroll for the next semester’s courses based on their class standing or special standing. Each student has an enrollment appointment available in UAccess Student Center. |
| Program | In UAccess, Program refers to a College. The College of Fine Arts, College of Education, and the Eller College of Management are examples of Programs in UAccess terminology. |
| Reapplication of Degree Candidacy | It it has been more than one year since the original scheduled graduation date, students will need to reapply for degree candidacy. There is a $50 fee for each reapplication. Students should contact their Graduation Services Advisor to reactivate their degree application. |
| Requirement Designators | Requirement Designators identify courses as possessing an attribute or being able to fulfill a specific requirement. Most often, these are attached to transfer courses that directly articulate to the University of Arizona so those courses can populate the advising report—usually foundation, and Tier I and II requirements—without the need of an exception. They are also used to identify Honors courses. Requirement Designators display on the advisement report both where a course “counts” and in the Course History at the end of the PDF report. |
| Requirement Term/Catalog Year | Information regarding policies for students and choice of catalog can be found here. |
| Reverse Transfer | Transfer students have the opportunity to opt-in to reverse transfer upon admission. However, if they choose not to opt-in during the admission process and later change their minds, or if they opt-in and then later decide they do not want to participate, they can go to this page for more information. |
| Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) | A term most often used in reference to students’ eligibility for financial aid based on three standards (qualitative, pace, timeframe) which are monitored each semester by OSFA monitors. Advisors are increasingly involved in matters involving financial aid and will meet with students who have failed to meet the SAP standards and are filing an appeal to continue receiving aid. More information on SAP: financialaid.arizona.edu/policies/sap |
| Semester | Semester and term are used to identify the formally designated periods during which classes are scheduled. The University schedules classes during six terms: fall and spring semesters, each lasting approximately 15 weeks; a winter inter-session term of approximately three weeks; and three summer session terms, comprised of a three-week pre-session and two five-week terms. The term regular semester refers to fall or spring semester. |
| Senior Capstone | A house numbered course (498) which involves some type of synthesizing project or paper. |
| Service Indicators | Negative and Positive Service Indicators are flags on a student’s account that can either have positive, neutral, or negative effects on the student. Most common negative effects are no transcript, no refunds, or no adds. Service indicators are commonly referred to as ‘Holds’ even though some do not have any ‘hold’ effect. Need more on positive and negative and what they look like in UAccess. |
| Shopping Cart | A feature in UAccess Student used to aid in class planning and enrollment. New students sometimes think they are enrolled in courses when in fact the courses are only in the shopping cart. Advise students to use the ‘’check eligibility” feature so they can resolve any issues prior to their enrollment appointment. |
| Student Groups | Student Groups allows departments or colleges to identify and group specific student segments. Student Groups might indicate advanced standing, participation in a special initiative, or declaration in a particular plan or sub-plan. Some student groups are used to indicate the completion of non-course requirements on the advisement report. |
| Student Identification Number (SID) | Unique 8-digit code assigned to all students upon application to the UA to individually identify them without using personal identification such as the Social Security number. |
| STU 210 | A transfer strategies course offered by Pima Community College and co-taught by PCC and UArizona professional staff. Ideally, PCC students enroll in STU 210 the semester prior to their planned transfer to the UArizona. STU 210 students meet with their UArizona advisor, and for the purposes of priority registration, are given the same enrollment appointments and priority registration opportunities as current UArizona students. Enrollment in STU 210 also satisfies the transfer student orientation. Contact Person: Paul Miller, pauljm@arizona.edu |
| Term Activation | Term activation is the process that occurs after matriculation by which a student gets a term record; i.e. the term for which a student is admitted and when their catalog is established. A term record is required in order for student to get an enrollment appointment or to be able to enroll in any classes for that term. It is also the foundation for any term statistics. |
| Term Codes | The 4-digit code comprised of year of the term with 2nd digit removed (e.g. 2013 = 213) followed by a number representing the semester: Spring: 1, Summer:2, Summer:3, Fall:4, Winter:5. Example: Fall 2012 = 2124 |
| Transfer Student | An undergraduate student newly enrolled at the University of Arizona with 12 or more hours of transfer credit at the time of enrollment. Neither Advanced Placement (AP) or College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) credits, nor co-enrollment credits earned during high school are included in determining transfer status or class level. Fall enrollment counts of new transfers include students newly admitted and enrolled in the previous summer. |
| Transcripts | Students and advisors can generate unofficial transcripts through UAccess. Official transcripts can be ordered by students at the Office of the Registrar or in their UAccess Student Center. For further information go to the Registrar's website. |
| Trellis | Trellis is the University of Arizona's Constituent Relationship Management program created to optimize university relationships through technology and data integration. |
| UAccess | UAccess is the student information system which uses the PeopleSoft Campus Solutions product. Students access their records through the Student Center and advisors see similar information on students in Student Services Center and/or Advisor Center. |
| University Center for Assessment, Teaching, and Technology (UCATT) | UCATT offers support to the UA teaching community in course and curriculum design, online course development, program and classroom assessment and evaluation, instructional strategies and learning technologies. They offer a variety of workshops and seminars of interest to the broad community. |
| Undergraduate Council (UGC) | The Undergraduate Council is a university-wide committee that participates in the shared governance process at the University of Arizona. The Undergraduate Council reviews all undergraduate curricular action items forwarded from its two subcommittees, the Academic Programs Subcommittee and the Curriculum & Policies Subcommittee. |
| University Professional Advising Council (UPAC) | UPAC is a campus-wide advising group which generally meets the second Wednesday of each month from 8:30am–10:30am. This is a meeting you don’t want to miss, especially if you are new to the UA advising community. UPAC meetings and special gatherings are about sharing information and meeting colleagues from advising, Student Affairs, and administrative offices across campus. Advisors are automatically added to the listserv, and all members of the listserv can post advising related messages. |
| University Analytics & Institutional Research | Official site of all institutional data (UA Fact Book, Common Data Set, Student/Employee Data, and more). For more information visit the UAIR website. |
| University-Wide General Education Committee (UWGEC) | The University-Wide General Education Committee (UWGEC) is charged with the review and approval of all courses that satisfy General Education Requirements, the periodic assessment of the courses, recommendations on policy in relation to General Education, and dissemination of General Education information to the campus community. UWGEC is comprised of faculty representatives from all colleges offering undergraduate programs and the Foundation programs (English Composition, Mathematics, and Second Language). |
| WebAuth | The UArizona WebAuth service provides a single point of authentication, also known as Single Sign-On (SSO), for UArizona Web sites that require UArizona NetID authentication. You will use your UArizona NetID and password to login to WebAuth which will automatically log you into other UArizona WebAuth enabled sites. Be particularly careful with this if you have a student login to his/her account on your computer. |
| Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) | Students who are residents of one of the 15 WICHE states are eligible to request a reduced WUE tuition rate of 150% of resident tuition outside of their home state. At the University of Arizona, Mining Engineering and all Arizona Near You programs are eligible for the WUE rate. The WUE reduced tuition rate is not automatically awarded to all eligible candidates; students must submit a WUE application to UA South or the Residency Classification Office. Residents of Alaska, Arizona., California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are eligible to apply for the WUE rate. |
| What-If Reports | What-If reports allows students and advisors to see how a student’s coursework would apply if the student was in a different plan or sub-plan. Students may generate these in Student Center Self Service. Advisors may generate a What-If report by changing the report type to WHTIF on the Request Advisement Report page and setting up the relevant program, plan, and term information using Career Simulation. |
Contact the Advising Resource Center for questions and suggestions about the Advising Glossary and Guide.
Email: advising@arizona.edu