College Terms
Accredited
A college, or program, that is officially recognized by a professional association as maintaining certain standards. Accredited programs qualify graduates for admission to higher, or more specialized, programs and for professional practice. (The Western Association of Schools and Colleges accredits SCC.)
Advanced Education
Advanced education is intended to provide students 16 years of age and older with educational enrichment opportunities at the community college level. An advanced education student is defined as any non-high school graduate, non-18 year old, non-California Proficiency or non-GED student.
Application
A form requesting admittance to attend college during a specific semester-now online only.
Advisories
A suggested, not required, course or skill level that a person is advised to meet prior to enrolling in a course or program.
Articulation
A connecting link between two or more schools. Articulation agreements between SCC and other schools list courses that meet requirements and are transferable.
Assessment
A process of gathering information about individual students, reflecting the student's strengths and weaknesses in basic skills.
Certificate of Achievement
A document indicating that the graduate has satisfactorily completed major courses in a program, but not the general education courses. A certificate is not a degree.
College Catalog
A college publication describing academic programs, student services, general regulations, requirements and procedures. The publication describes all classes offered by SCC, including information as to unit value, transferability, prerequisites, and is available through the College Store.
Concurrent Enrollment
Enrollment in two schools at the same time.
Corequisite
A corequisite is a course that a student is required to enroll in at the same time as enrolling in another course.
Credential
A certificate, or diploma, permitting a college graduate to practice in a professional field, such as teaching or counseling. Requirements usually include a bachelor's or master's degree, plus additional courses or experience.
Credit
Certification of a student's successful completion of a course, usually expressed in units of course work.
Credit/No Credit
A policy of granting credit, but no grade, for satisfactory completion of a specific course. The Credit/No Credit policy at SCC is described in the College Catalog.
Dismissal
A restriction from attending school, usually because of poor grades, a lack of progress, or disciplinary reasons. A dismissal is often temporary in nature, provided the student agrees to certain conditions. (See the College Catalog for dismissal policies.)
Electives
Courses that are not required subjects, but are taken for credit.
Full-time Student
A student who is enrolled in and satisfactorily completes a minimum of twelve units. Fifteen units per semester are the norm for full-time students. For financial aid purposes, twelve units meet the requirements.
General Education Breadth Requirements
Courses all students must satisfactorily complete to obtain a degree. Most are prescribed by state law, depending on the degree desired. Requirements vary. (Lists are available in Counseling Services.)
Grade Points
The number value of a college letter grade: A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0. To find grade points for a class, multiply the number of units by the number assigned to the grade. (Example: Ann's grade in Math 13 is a C. C=2. It is a 3-unit class. 2x3=6. Ann has earned 6 grade points for Math 13.)
Grade Point Average (GPA)
A measure of academic achievement, determined by dividing the total grade points by the total number of units attempted. (Example: Ted has 64 grade points. He has attempted 25 units. 64 divided by 25=2.56. Ted has a GPA of 2.56.)
Graduation Proficiencies
College-level reading, writing, and mathematics skills that a student must master to qualify for an associate degree. Proficiencies can be shown by completing specific courses with satisfactory grades; and/or achieving satisfactory scores on proficiency tests
Liberal Arts
An interdisciplinary program including courses in humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences.
Lower Division
College courses at the freshman and sophomore levels.
Major
An organized body of required classes in a student's chosen area of interest.
Minor
A secondary subject area in a student's program, not quite as comprehensive as the major area, but usually complementary.
Occupational (Vocational) Programs
Programs of study emphasizing job skills and may include only major courses, or degree requirements.
Part-time Student
A student enrolled in, or completing fewer than twelve units a semester.
Participatory Decision-Making
By law, California community colleges are required to provide opportunities for the entire campus community (staff, faculty, managers) to participate in the process of making decisions that affect them. Students can participate by serving on campus standing committees. The Associated Student Government makes all appointments.
Pre-professional Programs
Undergraduate course work either recommended or required for enrollment in professional schools.
Prerequisite
A prerequisite is a course or skill level that a student must meet prior to enrolling in a course or program.
Probation
Whenever a student, who is enrolled in at least twelve units, fails to complete at least half (50 percent) of all units in which he or she is enrolled and his/her cumulative grade point average drops below 2.0, the student is placed on progress or academic probation.
Registration
The official process of enrolling in classes. The process must be repeated each semester (including summer session) in which the student wishes to be enrolled.
Student Access Card
The Student Access Card brings together, on one piece of plastic, an official college photo ID, Rapid Transit pass, library card, GoPrint card, and a discount card good at participating stores. Students can get their access cards in the Learning Resource Center or in RN 138 by presenting a picture ID and either a printout of their E-services account that shows a zero balance or a copy of their BOGW fee waiver and proof of enrollment. Cards are also available at the Davis, Downtown, and West Sacramento Centers.
TES
Telephone Enrollment Services.
Transfer Program
A series of courses designed to match lower-division courses with requirements at a university for future transfer to that university.
Undergraduate
Freshman-through-senior years of college work.
Unit
A value that indicates the amount of credit given to a class. (It often reflects the weekly time interval required for class attendance.)
Upper Division
The junior and senior years of college work.
Withdrawal
The process by which a student officially drops a class or classes during a semester.