Admission | the assessment of the eligibility of an applicant to study a USP program |
Aegrotat pass | a pass granted (on application) to a student who falls ill during, or immediately prior to, their final examination. A student's eligibility for a pass is based on his/her total coursework mark in the course |
Compassionate pass | a pass granted (on application) to a student who, because of the death of a close family member immediately prior to their final examination, either missed the exam or performed poorly. A student's eligibility for the pass is based on his or her total coursework mark in the course |
Completion | the administrative process of checking that a student has met all the requirements of a program in which they wish to graduate |
Core course | a compulsory course that the students doing a particular program must pass |
Course | a component of a discipline, normally one semester or trimester long |
Cross Credit | a USP course awarded to a student on the basis of a pass in the same or equivalent course in a completed USP qualification, or at another recognised tertiary institution. The cross credit awarded may be a specific course or an unspecified course at a particular level |
Department | one of the administrative units into which a Faculty may be divided. A department normally takes its name from the discipline it teaches |
Direct Credit | a USP course which was taken by a student for an incomplete USP qualification, which is counted towards a USP qualification the student is now completing |
Discipline | an area of study such as Chemistry, Economics or History |
Division
| One of the administrative units into which a School may be divided. A division normally takes its name from the discipline it teaches |
Elective course | a course chosen by the student, usually from a discipline outside the student's major(s) or minor(s) which must be passed as part of a program |
Enrolment | strictly speaking, the completion of the three processes of admission, registration and fee payment, but often loosely used to just mean any one of those three, depending on the context |
Faculty | a coherent grouping of academic departments and/or schools, headed by a Dean |
Flexi-school course | formerly known as a summer school or winter school course - a course taught intensively at your local campus during semester breaks |
Grade Point Average | A measure of the overall level of a student's achievement, calculated by assigning points to the grades achieved in each of their USP courses, and finding the average of the points |
Major | a discipline in which a student can specialise when studying for a USP degree; for example, Accounting, Geography, or Physics |
Minor | a supplementary discipline taken in addition to and in support of a major, for a USP degree program |
Mode of study | the medium used in the delivery and support of a course. Possible modes of study currently used are face-to-face (called on campus when referring to Alafua, Emalus or Laucala Campuses), print and Internet (also called online) |
On-campus | describes courses that are delivered face-to-face at Alafua, Emalus or Laucala Campuses |
Prerequisite course | a course that must be passed before a student can register for another specific course, normally at a higher level |
Program | an arrangement of courses fitting the requirements for a USP qualification such as a certificate, a diploma or a degree |
Registration | the process of electronic or manual approval, by appropriate authorities, of students' chosen courses |
Restricted pass | a pass granted to a student who has marginally failed the final course required to complete their program |
School | one of the administrative units into which a faculty may be divided. Usually a school takes its name from the disciplines it teaches. Schools generally have a large number of students and/or are responsible for the award of a degree |
Semester | the normal duration for which a course is offered |
Service course | a compulsory course from outside the major (or minor) discipline, which supports the major (or minor) courses |
Trimester | the normal duration of a GSB course, which is shorter than a semester |
Tutorial | an interactive university teaching technique in which a small group of students (not usually more than fifteen) meets with an academic staff member to discuss concepts covered in recent topics or work through applied examples of theory |
Unsatisfactory Progress | the failure of a student to pass sufficient courses in the preceding academic year, resulting in, initially being put on probation, and subsequently being suspended for one or more semesters |
