Advising Glossary
Welcome to our Advising Glossary, designed to help you navigate the common words, phrases, and abbreviations used in academic advising. Whether you're a student, faculty, or staff, understanding these terms is essential for clear communication and a successful advising experience.
Your Guide to Key Terms and Abbreviations
In this glossary, you'll find concise definitions of frequently used terminology. Our goal is to provide a resource that clarifies the language of advising, so you can make informed decisions and fully engage in your academic journey. Use the search bar below to find glossary definitions. You can use keywords to help you narrow your search results. The table allows you to sort by title or category and scroll through.
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| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Academic (Professional Staff) Advisor | Professional staff who provide guidance on academic requirements, strategies and resources to support program planning and degree completion. Academic Advisors maintain extensive knowledge of academic programs and student services and collaborate with faculty and staff to enhance student performance and retention. |
| Academic Calendar | The academic calendar includes important dates for the academic year. CSUB's academic calendar is broken down by semesters. |
| Academic Disqualification | An academic standing where a student is no longer able to continue taking courses at CSUB and is deactivated in the system due to not meeting GPA requirements. Students on Academic Notice are subject to Academic Disqualification when their CSUB GPA or overall GPA drops below specific limits. |
| Academic Notice | Any Undergraduate student whose CSUB or Overall GPA falls below a 2.0 (good standing) will be placed on Academic Notice (formerly known as Academic Probation) and must attend an Academic Notice Workshop to have their hold removed, which prevents registration for the upcoming term. |
| Academic Requirements Page | Also known as a “Degree Progress Report,” this page displays a summary or checklist of all degree requirements and indicates which requirements have been completed or are outstanding. This summary is accessible through your myCSUB. |
| Academic Standing | A student's status determined by the quality of academic performance and progress toward their degree objective (i.e. Dean's List, Good Academic Standing, Academic Standing, Academic Notice, Academic Disqualification) |
| Academic Term (semester) | Fall, spring, and summer weeks when classes are in session. The fall and spring semesters are approximately sixteen weeks long. The summer session is 6 to 10 weeks long. |
| Academic Outline | Worksheet that will list all your graduation requirements such as general education and major requirements. This resource is usually provided by your Academic (Professional Staff) Advisor during an advising session. |
| Academic Year | The period beginning on the first day of the fall semester and ending the day before the first day of the next fall semester. |
| Admit Term | Term in which a student has been admitted to the university. This term is the first term a student will be able to enroll into classes. |
| Advising Center | TBD |
| Advising Hold | A hold that will restrict course enrollment until the student meets with an advisor. Advising Holds are in the students' myCSUB portal and will prevent registration until an advising session is attended. Advising is important prior to registration, not only for selecting courses for the coming semester, but also to verify whether the student is on track regarding their program of study. |
| AH | Abbreviation for Arts and Humanities |
| AP (Advanced Placement) Credit | Credit awarded by CSUB to its undergraduate degrees for successful completion of examinations of the Advanced Placement Program of the College Board. |
| Appeal of Academic Disqualification or Academic Notice | A petition for reconsideration of an Academic Disqualification or Academic Notice by the university. Students who wish to appeal their Academic Disqualification (dismissal from the University) or Academic Notice (previously known as Academic Probation) must submit a petition to the Academic Petitions Committee. Should the petition be approved, students' academic standing will revert to the academic standing they had in the prior term. |
| Articulation | Articulation agreements are formal agreements between CSU Bakersfield and another post-secondary educational institution. They define how courses completed at another college or university can be transferred to satisfy a requirement at CSUB. CSUB has articulation agreements with California Community Colleges, CSUs, UCs, and numerous private college institutions. |
| Associate Dean | An administrator who oversees student success, student-related matters, faculty recruitment, evaluation, and development, and budget and finance. The Associate Dean reports to and works closely with the Dean and staff to carry out these responsibilities. |
| AV | Abbreviation for Antelope Valley |
| Baccalaureate Degree | Also known as a bachelor's degree, a baccalaureate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities. This degree is typically earned within four years after graduating high school but can take up to six years in some instances. There are two types of Baccalaureate degrees offered at CSUB: Bachelor of Arts degree and Bachelor of Science degree. Both degrees require completion of 120 semester units composed of general education requirements and major requirements. Other university requirements also need to be met. |
| BPA | Abbreviation for Business and Public Administration |
| Catalog | Each CSU campus publishes a catalog which provides academic information including what degrees are offered at the campus, academic policies, department information and short course descriptions. Note that detailed course syllabi or outlines are not available in catalogs. The catalog can be accessed through the university's website. |
| Catalog Rights | To maintain rights to a set of catalog graduation requirements, a student must remain in continuous enrollment. “Continuous enrollment” means that the student cannot miss two consecutive semesters. Summer sessions do not count toward continuous enrollment. |
| Census Day | Census Day (a date which typically occurs at CSUB in the third week of each term), in which a "freeze" occurs. No further changes to a student's course schedule and financial aid can be made after this date. |
| Co-Requisite | Co-requisite courses are courses that must be taken together at any given term. |
| Course Description | Course descriptions are summaries of the content of classes. They can usually cover important topics you will be learning in the class. |
| Course Modality | CSUB currently offers five course modalities. Modalities are different ways courses are offered. These modalities are face to face, fully online, zoom, hybrid, and ITV. |
| Course Withdrawal | Dropping a class a student is enrolled into. Students are permitted to withdraw between the first and twentieth day of instruction (Census): Students may drop classes through their "myCSUB" account through Census Day of the term; the dropped course(s) will not appear on the transcript. Certain dates such as Census Day, can limit the student's ability to drop courses on their own, and additional forms and justification are required. |
| Dean | Top administrator in each unit such as a college or school in a university. The dean works alongside the Associate Dean. |
| Dual Enrollment | CSU Bakersfield has currently partnered with three high school districts for the dual enrollment program—Kern High School District, Delano Joint Union High School District, and Chaffey Joint Union High School District—to offer qualified high school students the opportunity to earn college-credit for courses taken at their own high school site. Students are limited to a total of 6 units of earned coursework per semester. High school freshmen and sophomores are not eligible for the program. Grades earned through the dual enrollment program are included in the student's academic record. Credits earned may be applied to degree programs at CSUB or may be transferred to other universities. |
| Face to Face Course Modality | Courses that require students to attend all class sessions in person at the campus at the time and place listed. |
| Faculty Advisor | A professor who has advising responsibilities. Students are assigned faculty advisors in their major as an additional support system when it comes to major exploration, mentorship, post-baccalaureate education, and degree progress. Faculty advisors work with academic (Professional staff) advisors to enhance student performance and retention. |
| FERPA | Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) in compliance with the Federal Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), prohibits the University from providing certain information from your student records, such as information on registration, grades, billing, tuition and fees assessments, financial aid (including scholarships, grants, work-study, or loan amounts) and other student record information to a third party. This restriction applies, but is not limited, to parents, spouses, or sponsors. Students may grant the University permission to release information about your student records to a third party |
| First Generation | A student who is the first of their family to attend a college or university; parents did not attend college. |
| First Year, First Time-Student | A student who has no prior postsecondary experience and is attending a CSU for the first time at the undergraduate level. The definition of "first-time" allows for students to still be classified as first-time if they have earned college units prior to matriculation. |
| Freshman | A first-year undergraduate student with 0-29.9 semester units |
| Full-Time Status | For undergraduate students, full-time refers to a student who is enrolled in 12 or more semester credits. For graduate and postbaccalaureate students, full-time refers to a student who is enrolled in 9 or more semester credits. |
| GPA | Abbreviation for Grade Point Average. GPA is calculated based on all grades earned at the university. A minimum 2.0 GPA is required to maintain good standing at the university. |
| Grade Forgiveness | Per CSUB catalog, CSUB students will be limited to 16 semester units of course repeats with forgiveness (grade replacements). These are the courses that students retake and for which the lower grade is no longer used in GPA calculations, though both grades remain on the transcript. |
| Graduate Student | A student who has earned a baccalaureate degree and is pursuing another degree |
| Hybrid Course Modality | Courses that are partially face to face and partially online. Students will meet in person at the time and place listed and will also have course content on Canvas |
| Incoming Transfer Student | A student entering CSUB for the first time, but known to have previously attended a postsecondary institution at the same level. |
| ITV Course Modality | Courses in which students meet in person at CSUB Main Campus, or at AV Campus at the same time. Students are expected to attend all class sessions in person in a classroom at the respective location as listed for CSUB Main Campus and AV Campus. |
| Junior | A third-year undergraduate student with 60.0 to 89.9 semester units. |
| Lower Division Course | At CSUB, lower division courses are in the 1000s and 2000s level. These courses usually provide introductory knowledge about a subject and are typically taken by freshmen and sophomore students. |
| Major | Each of the academic disciplines at CSUB has a prescribed set of requirements involving a correlated set of courses that lead to the baccalaureate degree, either the Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science. |
| Medical Withdrawal | Withdrawing from courses because of an extenuating circumstance such as a serious illness or injury. Such requests must be initiated using the online Add/Drop or Term Withdrawal form and require the approval of the instructor of each course being dropped, the Department Chair of the student's major and the approval of the Dean/Designee of the College of the student’s major. Supporting documentation is required for these types of requests. |
| Minor | CSUB offers four different types of minors: a traditional minor from a single discipline, a thematic minor, an interdisciplinary minor, and a special minor. Regardless of type, minors require a minimum of 12 semester units, at least 6 of which must be upper division units. |
| NSME | Abbreviation for Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering. |
| Part-Time Status | For undergraduate students, part-time refers to a student who is enrolled with less than 12 semester credits. For graduate students, part-time refers to a student who is enrolled with less than 9 semester credits. |
| Prerequisite | A course that needs to be completed before taking another one. The prerequisite offers foundational. |
| Registration | Registration is the final step in the matriculation process. When students have been admitted to the university and have determined which courses they should take to meet specific requirements for their degree, they will be ready to register once registration opens for new students. Registration dates are located in the students' myCSUB portal. |
| Repeating Courses | The ability to retake a course to improve a grade. As declared in Executive Order 1037, the university limits the number of times an undergraduate student may repeat a course. The number of credit units counted toward the baccalaureate degree is limited to that of a single registration for that course. The limits below apply to courses taken through the main campus and through Open University. These policies apply only to courses with grades of C- or lower. |
| Runner Connect | A program that facilitates simple appointment scheduling, record keeping of advising and student support services, targeted messaging for student groups, advertisement and attendance tracking of campus events, and early alerts and case management, bringing together faculty, staff, students, and care-units to create a holistic, supportive campus experience. |
| Schedule Planner (Schedule Builder) | An online tool that assists students in creating a customized schedule. Do you find it difficult to create a schedule that works for your busy life? Schedule Builder is a program that gives students the flexibility to plan classes around their job, sports activities, and student life. You can find a video tutorial on how to use schedule planner on the advising registration help website. |
| Senior | A fourth-year undergraduate student with 90.0 or more semester units |
| Sophomore | A second-year undergraduate student with 30.0 to 59.9 semester units |
| SSE | Abbreviation for Social Sciences and Education |
| Syllabus | A syllabus is a guide that provides details about a certain course. It usually includes deadlines, policies, expectations and how the grade for the class is calculated. |
| Term Withdrawal | Withdrawal from the university for the term after the third week of instruction is allowed only for the most serious and compelling reasons. Serious and compelling reasons include documented accident or serious illness, job change, or serious family and or psychological difficulties or other factors beyond the student’s control. Such reasons must be documented by the student. Students must submit the online Term Withdrawal Request Form. |
| Transcripts | There are two types of transcripts: Unofficial and Official. Unofficial transcripts can easily be viewed, downloaded and printed through your myCSUB portal, while official transcripts need to be ordered through the Office of the Registrar. Official transcripts are often required when transferring grades between institutions. Transcripts include your CSUB course work, transfer credit, classification level, GPAs, academic standing, test scores, and more. |
| Transfer Substitution | When a student takes a course at another higher education institution and wishes to get credit for it at CSUB, a course substitution will be required. The department chair of where the course is housed under will evaluate the content of the course taken at the other institution and will determine whether or not it closely matches any equivalent course at CSUB. If approved, the student will get credit for the equivalent course at CSUB. This process is only required for those courses that do not currently have an articulation agreement with CSUB |
| Undergraduate Student | A student at a college or university who has not yet received a bachelor's degree. |
| Upper Division Course | At CSUB, upper division courses are in the 3000s and 4000s level. These are advanced coursesthat build knowledge from lower division courses about a subject and are typically taken by junior and senior students |
| Zoom Course Modality | Courses in which class meetings take place via the online platform Zoom at scheduled timeS. |