Academic Advisor
The Academic Advisor counsels undergraduate students on the selection of appropriate coursework to satisfy degree requirements. Students consult their academic advisor when they are not sure to the courses required for degree completion.
Academic Year
The period of time generally extending from September to June; usually equated to 2 semesters (Fall and Spring) or trimesters (Fall, Spring, Summer).
Accredited
Official recognition that a college or university meets the standards of a regional or national association. Although international students are not required to attend an accredited college or university in the United States, employers, other schools and governments worldwide often only recognize degrees from accredited schools.
ACT (American College Test)
A standardized college entrance exam administered by the American College Testing Program. Four separate, multiple-choice tests measure knowledge of English, math, reading and science, and one optional writing test measures essay planning and writing skills. Most students take the ACT during their junior or senior year of high school, and most colleges and universities accept scores from either the ACT or SAT.
Admissions
The admission office has the primary responsibility or assists the student with admission to McNeese. The admissions office is generally a student’s first point of contact with the college or university. The admissions office performs many useful functions. Specifically, they coordinate many events such as service events that help promote the institutions appearance.
Affidavit of Support
An official document proving adequate funding from an individual or organization to cover an international student's educational and living expenses while enrolled at a U.S. college or university.
AP (Advanced Placement program)
A program offered by the College Board, a U.S.-based nonprofit educational organization, that allows students to take college-level courses while in high school. Students can then take standardized AP exams; those with qualifying scores can earn credit at certain colleges and universities.
Associate's Degree
An undergraduate degree awarded by a college or university upon successful completion of a program of study, usually requiring two years of full-time study. An associate's is typically awarded by community colleges; it may be a career or technical degree, or it may be a transfer degree, allowing students to transfer those credits to a four-year bachelor's degree-granting school.
Audit
To take a class to gain knowledge about a subject, but without receiving credit toward a degree.
Average Class Size
It is a weighted statistic that depicts average number of enrollees per class meeting. The weighting includes number of hours per week the class meets (hours per day X days of the week). This statistic may be derived for instructional modes and/or course levels.
Bachelor's Degree
An undergraduate degree awarded by a college or university upon successful completion of a program of study, typically requiring at least four years (or the equivalent) of full-time study. Common degree types include bachelor of arts (B.A. or A.B.), which refers to the liberal arts, and bachelor of science (B.S.). A bachelor's is required before starting graduate studies.
Banner
Banner Self Service is used by students to register for classes, view your class schedule, pay fees, view financial aid information, view your grades and transcripts, and update your address, phone number, and e-mail address. It is used by faculty to register students, view class lists, grade courses, etc.
BigBlueButton
Supports multiple audio and video sharing, presentations with extended whiteboard capabilities - such as a pointer, zooming and drawing - public and private chat, desktop sharing, and support for presentation of PDF documents and Microsoft Office documents.
Board of Regents
The Board of Regents is a policy-making and coordinating board only; it is not directly involved in overseeing the day-to-day operations of the various college campuses; that responsibility lies with Louisiana’s four higher education management boards: the LSU Board of Supervisors, the Southern University Board of Supervisors, the University of Louisiana System Board, and the Louisiana Community and Technical College Board.
Board of Supervisors
The decision making board in charge of the University of Louisiana System. The UL System Board of Supervisors are appointed by the governor of Louisiana.
Calendar Year
The method by which an institution structures most of its courses for the academic year.
Campus
The grounds and buildings where a college or university is located.
Career Office / Career Services
The office supports all students and alumni of McNeese in exploring and making effective career and educational choices. This office offers counseling, workshops and other resources to help students find internships and jobs or apply to graduate programs.
Chrome
Google Chrome is a freeware web browser developed by Google LLC.
Class Size
The number of students enrolled in a class meeting as of the 14tth instructional day of the semester.
College/School
An aggregation of one or more departments into a major academic organizational unit supervised by a Dean e.g., College of Arts & Sciences, School of Nursing. Its primary purposes are to provide governance, resource management, and planning support for carrying out instruction, research and public service functions.
Commencement
A graduation ceremony where students officially receive their degrees, typically held in May or June at the end of the academic year, though some colleges and universities also hold August and December ceremonies.
Community College
A public, two-year postsecondary institution that offers the associate degree. Also known as a "junior college." Community colleges typically provide a transfer program, allowing students to transfer to a four-year school to complete their bachelor's degree, and a career program, which provides students with a vocational degree.
Conditional admission
An acceptance to a college or university that is dependent on the student first completing coursework or meeting specific criteria before enrollment. For an international student, this can include a requirement to attain a certain level of English-language proficiency if the student's TOEFL score doesn't meet the minimum required.
Core requirements
Mandatory courses that students are required to complete to earn a degree.
Course
A regularly scheduled class on a particular subject. McNeese offers degree programs that consist of a specific number of required and elective courses.
Course Credit
The academic credit value of a course; the value recorded for a student who successfully completes the course.
Course load
The number of courses or credits a student takes during a specific term.
Credits
Units that a school uses to indicate that a student has completed and passed courses that are required for a degree. Each school defines the total number and types of credits necessary for degree completion, with every course being assigned a value in terms of "credits," "credit hours," or "units."
Curriculum
A program of study made up of a set of courses offered by a school.
Dean
The head of a division of a college or university.
Deferral / Deferred admission
Postponing a student's application for early decision or early action, so that it will be considered along with the rest of the regular applicant group. A "deferral" can also refer to a student's act of postponing enrollment for one year, if the university agrees.
Degree
A diploma or title awarded to students by a college or university after successful completion of a program of study.
DegreeWorks
An accessible and user-friendly advisement tool which provides students and advisors with an organized outlook on degree plan evaluations.
Department Chair
The Department chair is usually a tenured faculty member who has taken a leadership role in a department.
Development Office
The development office is the office that is in charge of fund raising for the university. Many campuses have alumni and parent giving programs as integral parts of this office. This office can be very useful for contacting alumni and parents about your issue/cause, or in an attempt to raise money for a club or event on campus. Development offices also work on writing and securing grants for the university around research and other projects.
Edge
A graphical web browser developed by Microsoft and included in Windows 10, Windows 10 Mobile and Xbox One devices, replacing Internet Explorer as the default web browser on all device classes.
Firefox
Mozilla Firefox is a free and open-source web browser developed by Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, Mozilla Corporation.
Graduation Rate
US Department of Education: The four-year or extended-year adjusted cohort graduation rate as defined by 34 CFR 200.19(b)(1)
Headcount enrollment
An unduplicated count of enrolled students. Unless otherwise identified student headcount data represents actively enrolled persons in credit courses as of the 14th instructional day of each semester.
High Needs Students
US Department of Education: Students at risk of educational failure or otherwise in need of special assistance and support, such as students who are living in poverty, who attend high-minority schools (as defined in the Race to the Top application), who are far below grade level, who have left school before receiving a regular high school diploma, who are at risk of not graduating with a diploma on time, who are homeless, who are in foster care, who have been incarcerated, who have disabilities, or who are English learners.
Moodle
A learning management system (LMS) at McNeese that allows you to create online classes, post assignments and assessments, calculate grades, and more. Students can access the class and resources online, complete assignments, and communicate with the instructor.
Office 365
Office 365 is a line of subscription services offered by Microsoft, as part of the Microsoft Office product line. McNeese's subscription includes Outlook, One Drive, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, One Note, SharePoint and more. Access from the MyMcNeese portal.
Pedagogy
A theory of teaching, how one teaches, style or art of teaching. For example: service- learning and experiential education are both pedagogies.
Personalized learning plan
US Department of Education: A formal document, available in digital and other formats both in and out of school to students, parents, and teachers, that, at a minimum: establishes student learning goals based on academic and career objectives and personal interests; sequences content and skill development to achieve those learning goals and ensure that a student can graduate on-time college- and career-ready; and is updated based on information about student performance on a variety of activities and assessments that indicate progress towards goals.
President
The president answers to the System President of the University of Louisiana System. He or she is responsible for the overall management of McNeese.
ProctorU
Provides secure live online proctoring services.
Provost
The provost is also referred to as a Vice President or Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. The primary responsibilities include the management of academic units, the formulation of academic missions and goals for the institution, and the operation of academic support services such as the library and the academic computer center.
Respondus
It has both a browser or monitor features. Respondus Browser is a custom browser that locks down the testing environment within online courses. Students are unable to print, copy, or access other websites and applications, unless specific access is granted by the instructor. Respondus Monitor is a companion application for LockDown Browser that enables assessment sessions to be recorded with a webcam. Ideal for non-proctored environments where online tests pose unique challenges.
Roster
A list of students registered in a course.
Skype
Skype is a telecommunications application software product that specializes in providing video chat and voice calls,one-to-one and group calls, instant messages and file sharing with others.
Student Affairs Office
The Student Affairs Office directs the life of the student on campus through program development and other activities that helps to integrate students into the college or university environment.
Student Credit Hours
The credit value of a course (typically 3 or 4 credits) multiplied by the enrollment in the course.
Syllabus
A document that communicates course information and defines expectations and responsibilities for a course.
Turnitin
Provides instructors with the tools to prevent plagiarism, engage students in the writing process, and provide personalized feedback.
Web Conference
Office of E-Learning recommends using Skype to Skype for free. You can use Skype on a computer, mobile phone or tablet.