Glossary

Academic Advisor
A faculty member assigned to help a student with academic planning and other facets of student life at Wabash College.

Academic Calendar
A calendar indicating key dates and deadlines for important academic requirements and/or activities including, but not limited to, the start and end dates of classes, holidays, exam days, and registration dates.

Academic Year
The time frame from the start of a fall semester until the start of the subsequent fall semester. It is divided into the fall, spring, and summer semesters.

Accreditation
An endorsement from an oversight organization indicating that the educational institution and/or academic degree program meets or exceeds specific measures of quality.

Change of Major/Minor Form
The form submitted by a student to update a major and/or minor. The form is signed by the student’s academic advisor and submitted to the Registrar’s Office.

Class Level
Indication of a student’s progress toward degree completion based upon the number of hours completed. The categories of undergraduate classification are Freshman (FR), Sophomore (SO), Junior (JR), and Senior (SR).

Closed Classes
Classes that have reached the designated maximum enrollment capacity or are not available for on-line registration.

Collateral Requirements
Required course credits to earn a major or minor which come from an allied discipline to the major or minor area.

Commencement
An event during which degrees are awarded to graduating students. Wabash College holds commencement ceremonies once a year, in May.

Corequisite
An academic requirement, typically another course, that must be attempted concurrently (at the same time) as an enrolled course.

Course Numbers
An alpha-numeric code signifying the academic discipline of a course and the approximate academic level of the course. At Wabash, course numbers consist of a three-letter prefix followed by a three-digit number; for example, ART-126 or MAT-331. The first digit in the sequence suggests the academic level, i.e. 100 and 200-level courses are more introductory, while 300 and 400-level courses are typically more advanced.

Course Withdrawal
Ending enrollment in a course after the drop date but prior to the deadline for course withdrawals. Course withdrawals result in a grade of W on the transcript and are thus sometimes referred to as a “Drop with W.” A grade of W has no impact on a student’s grade point average. Course withdrawal deadline dates are listed on the Academic Calendar.

Credit by Examination
An award of academic credit and placement based on examination scores. This may include Advanced Placement (AP) exams, International Baccalaureate (IB) Exams; Cambridge A-level exams, or exams administered by academic departments at Wabash College.

Course Credit
The unit of measure attached to academic courses at Wabash.

Curriculum
A combination of courses that compose a particular area of study.

Curriculum Appeals Committee
A committee which reviews student petitions for exceptions to academic policies. The Curriculum Appeals Committee is comprised of three faculty members, the Dean of Students, and the Registrar.

Dean
The highest-ranking official who oversees an academic or administrative area of the college.

Degree
Upon the completion of Wabash’s graduation requirements and 34 course credits, Wabash awards the Bachelor of Arts degree, sometimes referred to as an A.B. Degrees are conferred once a year at Wabash, in May, following a vote of the faculty and the Board of Trustees.

Department/Program Chair
A faculty member responsible for the administrative functions of an academic department or program.

Distribution Requirements
A set of course requirements for graduation from Wabash that are designed to ensure that every graduate’s program of study has a sufficient breadth of education appropriate to a liberal arts institution. Wabash’s distribution requirements include English Composition, World Languages, Language Studies, Literature & Fine Arts, Behavioral Sciences, Laboratory Sciences, Quantitative Literacy, History/Philosophy/Religion, and Global Citizenship, Justice & Diversity.

Double Major
The concurrent pursuit of two specific majors. A double major student must complete all requirements for both majors by the graduation date.

Drop/Add
A term used to identify the act of deleting/adding courses from/to an established schedule.

Drop Date
The latest date that a student may drop a class without a letter grade being assigned. In a typical Fall or Spring semester, this is within two weeks of the start of a half-semester course or four weeks from the start of a full-semester course. Drop dates are listed on the Academic Calendar.

Dual Credit
The receipt of high school and college credit for the same course for qualified high school students enrolled in college-level courses. See the “Course Share, Transfer Credit, and Credit by Exam” section of this bulletin for Wabash’s dual credit acceptance policy.

Elective
A course contributing to the credit hour requirements of a major or minor, or the overall credit requirements of a degree, which is not specifically prescribed and allows the student to select the course from a group of options.

Faculty
Appropriately credentialed individuals responsible for the delivery of course content and academic research and service.

Final Exam
A test or other final assignment which is designed to measure a student’s understanding of the course material. Final exams are scheduled for the last week of the semester and do not necessarily correspond to the regular class meeting time.

Freshman
The classification of a student who has completed 0 to 6 course credits at Wabash and is typically in his first year of study.

Full-Time Student
Full-time enrollment status requires a minimum of 3 course credits in any semester at Wabash College.

Grade Point Average (GPA)
A numeric average of academic performance on a 0-to-4 point scale. The GPA is the ratio of grade points earned to course credits attempted.

Half-Time Student
Half-time enrollment status requires enrollment of at least 1.5 but less than 3 course credits in a semester.

Junior
The classification of a student who has completed more than 14 but fewer than 24 course credits at Wabash and is typically in his third year of study.

Major
A student’s concentrated area of study. Most majors consist of a minimum of 9 course credits within a specific area of study and may additionally include completion required credits in allied fields of study (collateral requirements). Wabash students make the initial declaration of the major(s) in their sophomore year using an online application on the Registrar’s web page. Updates to majors are filed (on paper) through submission of the Change of Major/Minor form available in the Registrar’s Office or downloaded from the Registrar’s web page.

Minor
A student’s secondary area of study. Most minors consist of a minimum of 5-8 course credits within a specific area of study and may additionally include completion of required credits in allied fields of study (collateral requirements). Wabash students make the initial declaration of the minor(s) in their sophomore year using an online application on the Registrar’s web page. Updates to minors are filed (on paper) through submission of the Change of Major/Minor form available in the Registrar’s Office downloaded from the Registrar’s web page.

Overload
A course load in excess of 5.5 course credits in any semester. Overloads must be approved by the Curriculum Appeals Committee.

Prerequisite
An academic requirement (e.g., completion of an earlier sequenced course) that must be satisfied prior to the enrollment in a specific course.

Section Number
A number used to distinguish between multiple offerings of the same course. On a student’s schedule, the section is the two-digit number after the course number (e.g., ENG-180-02 indicates section 2 of ENG-180).

Self-Service
The online portal students log into for accessing academic, financial, and other information related to their enrollment at Wabash. There are separate modules within Self-Service for accessing information from different administrative areas.

Semester
A period during which academic courses are offered. Wabash offers Fall, Spring and Summer semesters.

Senior
The classification of a student who has completed 24 or more course credits and is typically in his fourth year or more of study.

Sophomore
The classification of a student who has completed more than 6 but fewer than 14 course credits and is typically in his second year of study.

Student Planning
The specific module of Self-Service where academic information is accessed. Students use Self Service to view the course listings, schedule courses, communicate with their advisors, and access their grades.

Syllabus
A document containing academic and administrative information about a course. The syllabus is provided by the instructor at the beginning of the semester and often includes a lesson schedule, dates of exams and quizzes, assigned books and readings, e-mail/phone number and the best time to reach the instructor, and an explanation of how the final grade will be determined.

Transcript, Official
A college-approved document issued by the Registrar’s Office providing information about a student’s academic performance, including but not limited to, semester by semester listing and grades of courses attempted, credits earned, and degree received upon graduation.

Transcript, Unofficial
A document similar to the official transcript but which the student can print through Self-Service, and which does not contain an official signature, seal, or other imprimaturs of Wabash College. Only currently enrolled students have access to an unofficial transcript.