Glossary of Academic Terms
Academic Advisor: A faculty or professional staff member trained to help students select courses and plan programs.
Academic Dismissal: A student who is dismissed, is no longer matriculated and, in addition, may not register for any credit courses at the college for one full semester.
Academic Probation: A student will be placed on academic probation at the end of a semester in which the student’s grade point average falls below that which is required.
Academic Suspension: Academic suspension is the removal of a student from a matriculated status in a program.
Accreditation: An external review process by which experts authorize or give credentials indicating that standards and expectations have been met by academic programs or institutions. AMDA is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre.
Appeals: Formal written request by a student for permission to deviate from AMDA policy.
Attempted Hours: Students’ total credit-hour registration, either for a specific semester or cumulative for all semesters. Attempted hours include courses for which students have received either a letter grade or other administrative mark.
Baccalaureate: Applicable to a bachelor degree.
Bachelor Degree: A degree granted after completing a specified amount of academic study beyond the completion of high school and fulfilling all graduation requirements.
Certificate: Recognition given for completion of a Conservatory Program of less than four years of collegiate work.
Clock Hours: Units of credit for Conservatory Programs comprising one hour of scheduled, supervised instruction or studio time (class time) and a minimum of one hour per week of independent student preparation and outside rehearsal time.
Corequisite: A course that must be taken in the same semester as a given course.
Commencement: Ceremony celebrating anticipated completion of degrees and certificates.
Course Description: Course description(s) tell students what is taught in the course, what the objectives are and what they should be able to do upon completion. It also describes the required classroom hours, lab hours, credit hours and indicates if a prerequisite or corequisite is needed.
Course Load: Total number of semester credit or clock hours for which a student is registered during any semester.
Credit/No Credit: A method used to evaluate performance in courses and which is separate from the grade point system. Course grade does not affect GPA.
Credit Hours: Units acquired for completed coursework that are applied toward a Degree Program.
Deadline: The date by which certain information must be received by any given office or unit.
Degree: Title bestowed as official recognition for the completion of a curriculum.
Degree Student: A student who has been admitted to a degree program.
Diploma: Official document attesting to completion of a formal educational program.
Directed Study: A catalogued course taken outside the classroom, one-on-one with a faculty member.
Drop: A degree student may, prior to the specified deadline, drop a course. Dropped courses do not appear on a student’s transcript.
Educational Plan: Individualized plan to guide students in completing degree requirements.
Elective: A course that will count as credit toward a degree but is not a specific program requirement.
Full-Time Student: Any student who is carrying a course load of 12 or more credits per semester (Undergraduate Programs), 6 or more credits per semester (Graduate Programs) or 24 clock hours per week (Conservatory Programs).
Grade Point: The numerical value given to letter grades. For example, an “A” is equivalent to 4.0 points, an “A-” to 3.67 points and a “B” is 3.0 points.
Grade Point Average: A student’s scholastic average computed by dividing total grade points by total credit hours attempted.
Graduate: Master (MA, MFA) degree-granting programs, courses, and the students enrolled in them.
Graduation: Formal recognition of completion of degree requirements by the posting of the degree to the official academic record.
Grant (Financial Aid): A nonrepayable award to an eligible student based on determined financial needs and program criteria.
Hold: A barrier placed on a student’s ability to register for classes or receive transcripts as a result of an unfulfilled monetary obligation or other action by the institution.
Incomplete (“I”): A temporary course grade granted only if a student is temporarily unable to complete course requirements because of unusual circumstances beyond the control of the student.
Independent Study: A course of study undertaken outside the classroom by a student under the supervision of one or more faculty members.
Junior: An undergraduate student who has earned between 60 and 89 credit hours.
Leave of Absence: An official status representing a leave from AMDA.
Loan: Financial assistance to students that must be repaid.
Lower Division: Courses at the 100 to 200 level, generally intended for first-year students or sophomores.
Major: Student’s field of primary academic emphasis.
Matriculation: The first registration following admission as a classified student.
Mentor: A relational faculty or professional staff member who assists students in being successful in their educational or professional experiences.
Nonbaccalaureate: Not applicable to a bachelor degree, e.g., preparatory courses, continuing education.
Part-Time Student: Any undergraduate student enrolled at AMDA who is carrying a course load of fewer than 12 credit hours per semester.
Pell Grant: A nonrepayable financial aid award provided by the federal government directly to a student.
Petitions: Formal written request by a student for permission to deviate from AMDA policy.
Prerequisite: Course(s) or condition(s) required before enrollment in a more advanced class.
Probation (Academic): A warning to students who fail to maintain a semester or overall grade point average of 2.0 or better. Failure to improve the academic record within a specific time may result in academic dismissal.
Program: Plan of academic study.
Quality Points: The number of points assigned per credit hour/clock hour for each letter grade.
Regalia: Cap, gown and tassel worn at commencement.
Registered Student: A student who is currently enrolled at AMDA and has registered for classes in the current or upcoming semester. A student is considered enrolled once their specific classes have begun.
Registration: Process of initial class enrollment for a given semester.
Reinstatement: Process by which a student may gain reentry to AMDA after a dismissal.
Requirement: Course or condition that must be fulfilled as part of a particular program.
Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP): The status of a student who has met or exceeded both the qualitative and quantitative measurements specified in this Catalog. A student must meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements to be eligible for financial aid.
Schedule Adjustment: A change to a class schedule for a student who has already enrolled in at least one course for the semester. Deadlines for schedule adjustments are published in the Schedule of Classes.
Section: An offering of a course at a specific time, in a specific place, with a specific instructor.
Scholarship: A nonrepayable award to an eligible student based on criteria for academic achievement and determined financial need.
Semester: A 15-week period of academic study. The academic year is divided into Fall, Spring and Summer semesters.
Senior: An undergraduate student who has earned 90 or more credit hours.
Sequence: Courses that must be taken in a specific order.
Sophomore: An undergraduate student who has earned 31 to 59 credit hours.
Student Portal: AMDA web portal, used to access announcements, courses, financial information, calendars, schedules, important documents and downloads.
Syllabus: An outline or a summary of the main points of text, lecture or course of study.
Title IV Financial Aid: The student financial assistance programs authorized by Title IV of the Federal Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, consist of the Federal Pell Grant Program, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG), Federal Work-Study (FWS), Federal Direct Student Loans (including the Federal Direct Subsidized Loans, Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans and Federal Direct Parent Loans for Students [PLUS] Loans).
Transcript: The accurate and complete record of a student’s academic coursework attempted at an institution, presented in either electronic format or paper format.
Transcript Evaluation: An official process which determines the number and type of transfer credits awarded.
Transfer Credit: Credit earned at another institution accepted toward an AMDA degree.
Tuition: A fee for instruction, especially at a formal institution of learning.
Undergraduate: Bachelor (BA, BFA) and associate (AOS) degree-granting programs and courses and the students enrolled in them.
Upper Division: Courses numbered in the 300 to 499 range, generally intended for juniors and seniors.
Withdrawal: An official procedure for leaving the institution.