2003 – 2004 Undergraduate Catalog
Glossary
The following terms are used in this Catalog and in everyday life at UALR. You are encouraged to review these terms to better understand campus terminology.
AAGE
The acronym stands for Arkansas Assessment of General Education. See "Rising Junior Exam."
Academic Clemency
This is a policy whereby students who have been away from UALR for at least two full years can petition to remove earlier course work from their UALR academic record. The purpose of the policy is to allow students a second chance in college. See "Academic Programs and Requirements" for more information.
Academic Discipline
This term refers to an organized body of knowledge. Most academic departments are organized around an academic discipline. Some departments contain more than one discipline (the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, for example). As a general guideline, anything listed as a separate group of courses in the class schedule is an academic discipline.
Accreditation
Accreditation is a way a university or its programs are measured against national standards. There are two kinds: university-wide and specialized. For UALR, accreditation of the entire University is done by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, one of several regional accrediting associations. This accreditation means, among other things, that your work at UALR will be recognized at any other accredited institution and vice versa. Degree programs with specialized accreditation are listed under "General Information" in this Catalog. Do not be surprised if your major field is not listed; many areas do not have accrediting agencies.
Assessment
The University is continuously evaluating its programs to make sure that they are not only well focused on what they should teach, but also teaching it effectively. You will participate in this assessment process when you take the Rising Junior Examination. See also "Rising Junior Examination."
Associate Degree
Usually called the two-year degree, an associate degree requires completion of a minimum of 62 credit hours. At UALR each associate degree is designed so the credit can also be applied toward a related baccalaureate degree at UALR or elsewhere.
Baccalaureate Degree
Also called the bachelor's degree, this is the standard undergraduate college degree. It is often thought of as the four-year degree, but some students complete it in three years, and some take as long as five to seven years or longer. It requires at least 124 credit hours.
CAAP
The acronym stands for Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency. CAAP is part of the Rising Junior Examination. See also "Rising Junior Examination."
CEU
Continuing Education Units are the national standard for certifying certain kinds of educational offerings that are formal and structured but not applicable toward a degree. Such work is aimed at professional development or personal enrichment. One CEU is awarded for 10 clock hours of instruction. See also "Noncredit Work."
CLEP
The acronym stands for College Level Examination Program, a national program through which students can obtain college credit in certain areas by taking a comprehensive examination and making a certain score. See also "Testing Out."
Competencies
UALR's curriculum is designed to help students develop nine fundamental competencies: aesthetic experience, critical thinking, ethical and moral consciousness, historical consciousness, international awareness, mathematics, philosophy and methods of science, social and cultural awareness, and verbal literacy.
Cooperative Education
Cooperative Education is an academic program for qualified students who would like to combine classroom study with academically related paid employment. "Co-op" creates opportunities for students locally in business, government, industry, and social service agencies.
Core Curriculum
The core curriculum at UALR is a 44-hour requirement designed to provide a foundation for the student's further academic and professional activities. Required of all students seeking baccalaureate degrees, the core curriculum includes options from across the disciplines, including arts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences. The core courses are designed to help students develop nine fundamental competencies. See also "Competencies." All core courses include active teaching and learning strategies, reading and writing experiences, and critical thinking activities.
Corequisite
A corequisite is a course that has to be taken at the same time as another course. If a course has a corequisite, the course description in this Catalog specifies it. See also "Prerequisite."
Course number
A four-digit numbering system used to designate each course at UALR. The first digit identifies the level of the course: 1 for freshman, 2 for sophomore, 3 for junior, 4 for senior, 5 and above for graduate-level courses. The second digit is the number of credit hours. The last two numbers are assigned by the department, sometimes arbitrarily and sometimes in a specific pattern, depending on the department. Thus, ENGL 2337 is a sophomore-level, three-credit-hour course.
Credit Hours
This is the standard unit of measurement for university-level work applicable toward a degree. One credit hour is equal to one 50-minute class period per week, per semester. Thus the usual three-credit-hour course is based on meeting 50 minutes a day three days a week for a semester. For laboratory work, one credit hour is equal to two or three hours of laboratory work. Thus, a laboratory that meets for one three-hour session once a week for a semester would have one hour of credit. The term "credit hours" is often shortened to "hours," as in "a baccalaureate degree requires at least 124 hours of work." UALR measures its work in semester credit hours; if you're transferring from a college that uses quarter hours, the Office of Records and Registration will convert them into semester hours for you.
Degree
The term "degree" refers to a designation such as bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, bachelor of science in education, bachelor of business administration, and a few other general designations. UALR offers seven undergraduate degrees. All UALR undergraduate majors are grouped under one of these headings. See the list of degrees and majors in "Academic Programs and Requirements" in this Catalog.
Department, College, and School
A department is the basic administrative unit at UALR. It consists of a group of faculty members and their chairperson. The department appoints faculty, develops courses and programs, and advises students. Departments with related interests (e.g., accounting, economics and finance, management, and marketing and advertising) are organized into colleges. Academic administrative units without departments are called schools (e.g., School of Law).
Developmental Courses
Courses at the "0" level (0300, 0301, 0600, etc.) are developmental courses and do not count toward the 124 hour minimum for graduation; nor do grades received count in the cumulative grade point average.
Discipline
Elective
An elective is any course that is not required, either by the University's core requirements or by the requirements of a major or minor. Many degree programs described in this Catalog will list the number of elective hours available. Electives may complement the rest of a student's work or be taken just for fun.
Faculty Rank
Depending on experience and qualifications, each full-time UALR faculty member is an instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, professor, or distinguished professor. Most of them teach a full load of classes each semester in addition to engaging in scholarly and service activities. The rank "lecturer" is a title used for a person who teaches only one or two classes a semester. If you are interested in how a faculty member progresses through these ranks, ask any of your instructors to let you see a copy of UALR's Faculty Handbook. "Professor" is also a generic term and title for all university teachers.
Field Experience
The UALR curriculum includes a number of courses that allow or require students to work for credit in a professional or career setting. Sometimes this is part of a regular course; other times it is a separate course. In the latter case, the course may have in its title an expression such as "cooperative education," "field experience," "internship," "practicum," "special project," or "student teaching."
Grade Point Average (GPA)
The grade point average is a way of mathematically computing academic performance. It is determined by assigning a value to each letter grade, multiplying by the number of credit hours in the course, and dividing by the total number of hours attempted. The GPA is the standard measure for retention and graduation requirements. UALR is on a four-point system, which means that an A grade is assigned a value of four points (sometimes called quality points), a B three points, a C two points, a D one point, and an F zero points. Here's an example of a grade point average for one semester:
Divide the total hours (16) into the total grade points (35) to find the GPA of 2.18 (slightly above a C average). The UALR cumulative GPA is based on all college-level work taken at UALR. Your semester grade report will show both the semester and the cumulative GPA. (Some developmental course grades are excluded from the GPA. Please see "Developmental courses" in this glossary.)
Hours
Lower-level
Freshman and sophomore courses (UALR course numbers beginning with 1 or 2) are called lower-level courses. See also "Upper-level."
Major
A major is a degree-seeking student's primary area of academic concentration. Students are encouraged to declair a major as soon as possible by filling out the declairation of major form in the Office of Academic Advising. All UALR majors require at least 27 credit hours of work in the major, and some require more. A few, called major/minors, require up to 60 credit hours of work in a single field and do not require a minor. See "Declaring a Major" on page 38 See also "Minor."
Matriculation
A term used to refer to the act of enrolling in the University. When, for example, transfer students are notified that certain parts of their transcripts will be evaluated "after matriculation," that means after they have formally enrolled at UALR.
Minor
A minor for a degree-seeking student is a secondary area of concentration. Most UALR minors consist of 18 to 24 credit hours. A minor is required in all baccalaureate degree programs unless the major program specifies that a minor is not required. (This occurs in some concentrated programs where the major, or the major-minor, requires a large number of credit hours.)
Noncredit Work
This refers to a variety of UALR educational offerings that are not applicable to a degree. It includes some of the work in the Center for Developmental Skills and most of the professional development classes offered through off-campus credit. CEU work is also noncredit work. See also "CEU."
Prerequisite
A prerequisite is a course you have to take before you can take another course. For example, ACCT 2310 Principles of Accounting I is a prerequisite to ACCT 2330 Principles of Accounting II. If a course has a prerequisite, it is listed in the course description in this Catalog. See also "Corequisite."
Residency
There are two primary uses for this term. The first use applies to the school at which a student takes course work. UALR graduates must take their last 30 hours of work for a baccalaureate degree or their last 15 hours of work toward an associate degree in residence. That means the credit work must be taken at UALR. All credit work offered by UALR is considered in residence, whether day or night, on- or off-campus. The second use of the term "residence" pertains to where a student lives. UALR, like all state-supported colleges and universities in Arkansas, charges a higher tuition fee to out-of-state students. If you have just moved to the state, contact the Office of Records and Registration for the legal definition of "resident" for tuition purposes.
Rising Junior Examination
This exam is designed to assess students' learning in UALR's general education core. All UALR students are required to take the exam when they have completed 45-60 college-level hours. It consists of the Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency. See also "CAAP."
Section
You will see this term most often in connection with the class schedule and registration. It refers to each offering of the same course at a different time and with a different instructor. For example, SPCH 1300 Speech Communication (the speech course required for all undergraduate students) is one course, but in any semester the department may offer as many as 25 or 30 sections of it, each at a different time or with a different instructor. When registering, be sure you enroll in the section, as well as the course, you want.
Testing-out
This phrase refers to receiving college credit by making an appropriate score on a comprehensive test in a certain area. UALR offers such tests in two ways: those designed by UALR departments and those designed by national programs such as CLEP. There is a charge for taking such tests. Contact the Office of Testing Services and Student Life Research for details. See also "CLEP."
Transcript
This is the continuous, formal, and official record of your work at a university. If you are a transfer student, you are required to request that the Office of Records and Registration at all universities you have attended previously send an official transcript to UALR. The transcript lists all courses you take, grades, major and minor, and degree awarded. An unofficial and incomplete version of it, sometimes used by advisors, is called a worksheet.
Undergraduate
This term refers to academic work leading to the associate or baccalaureate degrees and to students working toward those degrees. It is usually seen in comparison to "graduate," which refers to academic work taken by students who already have a baccalaureate degree.
Upper-level
Junior and senior courses (UALR course numbers beginning with 3 or 4) are called upper-level courses. A baccalaureate degree requires a minimum of 45 upper-level credit hours. See "Baccalaureate Degree Requirements" on page 32 See also "Lower-level."
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