College Terminology, Course Information, and Course Abbreviations
ACADEMIC DISQUALIFICATION - The involuntary removal of a student from his/her academic program for unsatisfactory academic performance following academic probation.
ACADEMIC PROBATION - Occurs when a student's cumulative NSC GPA is below warning threshold as determined by credit.
ACADEMIC STATUS - Determined by regulations governing good standing, warning, probation, and disqualification.
ACADEMIC WARNING - Occurs when a student's cumulative NSC GPA is below 2.0 but above warning threshold as determined by credit.
ADMISSION - Formal application and acceptance in a degree program.
ADVISOR, ADVISEE - The advisor is assigned by the college to assist each student in planning the proper academic program. The student is called the advisor's advisee.
AUDIT - To take a course without earning credit or grade.
CORE CURRICULUM - Group of classes in different subject areas that are required of all students obtaining a degree.
CO-REQUISITE - A course that must be taken simultaneously with another.
COURSE FEES - Special course fees are indicated with the course.
CREDIT - Described in semester hours, a credit is defined as three hours of work per week for one semester. Usually this work is made up of one period in class plus two hours of preparation for lecture-seminar classes, or three hours of laboratory classes.
CREDIT LOAD - The total credits for which a student is registered in any registration period.
CURRICULUM - A structured set of learning objectives.
DEPARTMENT - An academic unit of a college
EXTRACURRICULAR - Those activities that are part of student life, but are not part of the regular course of study, such as debate, dramatics and athletics.
GPA - Grade Point Average.
GOOD STANDING - A 2.0 in any given semester as well as a cumulative 2.0 on all college work. Students must be in good academic standing to be eligible to receive financial aid.
GRADE POINTS - Grades are evaluated in terms of quality points. For each credit of a letter grade completed, the following grade points are earned:
In order to graduate, students must have an average of two grade points for each credit attempted for regular letter grade, including all courses that are failed or repeated.
INCOMPLETE - The "I" symbol is a mark that is given when a student has been performing satisfactory work, but for a reason beyond the student's control, has been unable to complete the required work for the course. Incomplete grades revert to grades of "F" if not made up within one regular semester.
MAJOR - Primary subject or field of study.
MINOR - Secondary subject or field of study.
NON-DEGREE STUDENT - Special student status for students not seeking a degree. Registration is limited to 15 undergraduate credits per semester. Non-degree students are not eligible for financial aid.
NON-RESIDENT TUITION - Non-resident students pay tuition in addition to per-credit fees.
NOT REPORTED - The symbol "NR" is assigned when an instructor does not indicate a grade for a student in a course. "NR" must be resolved by the end of the next regular semester, or it will revert to an "F".
PRE-REQUISITE - The preliminary requirement that must be met before a certain course may be taken.
REGISTRATION - Enrolling in classes.
REGISTRATION FEES - All students pay per-credit registration fees.
REGULAR STUDENT - A degree-seeking student who is officially admitted to the college.
REQUIRED SUBJECTS - The subjects that are prescribed for the completion of a particular program.
RESIDENT ALIEN - A student attending the college as a permanent immigrant who has not attained U.S. citizenship.
RESIDENT CREDIT - Credit earned for regular classes conducted on campus, as well as correspondence classes, continuing education classes, and other distance education courses offered through Nevada State College.
SCHEDULE, CLASS - The semester list of courses offered, including the names of the teachers, the days, hours, and locations of the classes.
SCHEDULE, STUDENT - A listing of the courses the student takes each semester.
SEMESTER - 75 instructional days.
SPECIAL FEES - Additional fees, such as lab fees, required.
SUSPENSION (Disciplinary) - The involuntary separation of a student from the college for unsatisfactory conduct.
TRANSCRIPT - A certified copy of the student's permanent academic record on file in the Office of the Registrar. The transcript lists each course the student has taken and the final grade received.
UNDERGRADUATE - A student who has not yet obtained a bachelor's degree.
WITHDRAWAL - The act of officially leaving the college. A student may also drop individual courses without withdrawing from the college. Consult the schedule of classes for specific dates in which the dropping of classes is allowed. Students who drop classes between the seventh day of classes and after 60 percent of the course instruction has occurred receive grades of "W" on their transcripts. Complete withdrawal from the college results in "W" grades if the student is passing classes at the time of complete withdrawal.
REMEDIAL COURSES - (099 or lower courses): May serve as pre-requisites for courses but do not count toward total credits or fulfill degree requirements.
LOWER DIVISION (100 - and 200 - level courses): May satisfy prerequisite requirements for upper division courses.
UPPER DIVISION (300 - and 400 - level courses): Mainly for juniors and seniors; may require prerequisites.
Advance Course Approvals, Pre-requisites, and Attendance Requirements
You must obtain advisor approval and, as required, satisfy the course and/or test score placement prerequisite for your registration to be valid when you pay fees. Each department is authorized to cancel the registration of any student who does not:
- Satisfy the course or test score placement prerequisites
- Attend class during the first week of class
- Obtain permission to attend more than one section of a class
- Pay fees by the due date.
(3+0), (3+3), etc. show the number of 50-minute class periods of lecture (or recitation or discussion) plus the total number of periods of laboratory (or workshop) per week. The number of class periods is not necessarily the same as the number of times the class meets. Thus (3+0) means the course meets for three lecture periods per week and does not have any laboratory periods. Likewise, (3+3) means the course meets for three periods of lecture and three periods of laboratory per week.
1, 2, etc. credits, which appear after the parenthesis indicate the number of credits the course carries each semester.
S/U (in italics) means the course is graded Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory only
ACC – Accounting
AES – Air Force ROTC
ALS – Academic and Life Success
AM – American Sign Language
ANTH – Anthropology
ART – Art
AST – Astronomy
BCH – Biochemistry
BIOL – Biology
BLW – Business Law
BUS – Business
CEP – Counseling Educational Psychology
CH – Core Humanities
CHEM – Chemistry
CHS – Community Health Science
COM – Communications
COU – Counseling
CRJ – Criminal Justice
CS – Computer Science
ECON – Economics
EDEL – Education/Elementary
EDRL – Education/Reading & Language
EDSC – Education/Secondary
EDSP – Education/Special Education
EDUC – Education
EDU – Education
EL – Educational Leadership
ENG – English
ENT – Entrepreneurship
ENV – Environmental Sciences
ESL – English as a Second Language
ETS – Ethnic Studies
FIN – Finance
FIS – Film Studies
FREN – French
GEOG – Geography
GEOL – Geology
HE – Health and Physical Education
HIST – History
HSC – Hearing Science
ISC – Interdisciplinary Studies Core
IS – Information Systems
ITAL – Italian
JOUR – Journalism
KIN – Kinesiology
MATH – Mathematics
MGT – Management
MIL – Military Science
MKT – Marketing
MUS – Music
NRES – Natural Resource & Environmental Science
NURS – Nursing
NUTR – Nutrition
OS – Occupational Science
PHIL – Philosophy
PHYS – Physics
PSC – Political Science
PSY – Psychology
SCM – Supply Chain Management
SOC – Sociology
SPA – Speech Pathology & Audiology
SPAN – Spanish
STAT – Statistics
TCA – Tourism & Convention Administration
THTR – Theater
VIS – Visual Media
WMST – Women’s Studies