Terms Frequently Used In College
@hawaii.edu: The official email of the University of Hawai`i system. Important college and course information will be sent to your @hawaii.edu account.
Academic standing policies: Policies such as probation, suspension, and dismissal vary by institution. Please consult the catalog for details.
Associate in Arts (AA) degree: A degree awarded after 60 credits of liberal arts courses have been completed. Consult the college catalog for a complete listing of required courses.
Associate in Science (AS) degree: A degree awarded after 60 or more credits in a technical-occupational-professional program of study. The coursework allows for immediate application of skills to the workplace. Consult the college catalog for a complete listing of required courses.
Associate in Technical Studies (ATS) degree: A degree awarded after 60 or more credits in a technical-occupational-professional program of study custom designed for an individual student integrating courses from two or more existing programs. Degree has no life beyond the individual student.
Audit: A registration option that allows you to attend lectures and discussions, but not receive credits or grade for the course. You must register and pay regular tuition and fees. Instructor approval required.
Cable courses: Courses delivered over public access channels throughout the State of Hawai`i. Courses are live or taped and may include an Internet component. You are able to attend class in the convenience of your home by tuning into your local cable educational access channel.
Certificates of Competence, Completion, and Achievement: Certificates awarded after completion of 1, 2, or 3 semesters of prescribed course work. These certificates provide short-term training or job upgrading.
Co-requisite: A course that should be taken within the same semester with another course.
Credit: A unit of study used to determine the number of hours per week required in alecture or lab course. Most courses are worth 3 credits. Also determines requirements for a certificate of degree. Sometimes referred to as semester hours.
CRN: The course reference number is a unique number that identifies a specific class. You will use CRNs when you select classes during registration.
CR/NC: Credit/no credit is a grading option similar to “pass or fail” rather than a letter grade. The CR grade is the equivalent of a “C” or better. Courses taken on a CR/NC basis must not be part of the general education and major requirements. Counselor approval required.
Curriculum: A group of courses required for a particular program of study.
Distance education courses: Courses available via appropriate technologies to you if you are qualified and committed to pursuing post secondary education, but cannot attend as an on campus student. Interactive television, cable, and Internet courses designed to combine individual and group activity with interaction between and among students and the instructor.
Enrollment status: Full-time enrollment is registration in 12 or more credits, usually about 4 courses. Part-time enrollment is registration in less than 12 credits.
Erase period: Classes that are officially dropped during this period will not appear on your transcript. Check the semester calendar for deadline.
ESOL courses: Courses that provide comprehensive skills in reading, writing, speaking, and preparation for academic college study if English is not your first language.
Grade point average (GPA): GPA provides you with information about your academic standing. GPAs are computed on a four-point scale for courses in which grades of A, B, C, D, and F are reported.
Interactive television courses: Courses that allow you to take a course from one location while the instructor teaches from another. This type of course simulates a face-to-face class environment as the instructor and you can see, hear, and interact with one another.
MyUH: The University of Hawai`i’s online student information system. MyUH offers secure and personalized access to student services like registration, financial aid, and student records (i.e., grades, transcripts, payments/charges).
Online courses: Internet courses that allow you accessibility on or off campus and communicate with instructors through email and the Web.
Prerequisite: Knowledge, skill, course, or other requirements that must be taken prior to enrollment in a particular course.
Recommended preparation: Knowledge, skills, course, or other requirements not required but highly recommended for success in the course.
Semester: Period of enrollment when you are in school. KCC is on a semester schedule of two periods of 16 weeks into which the academic year is divided. The fall semester is from August to December and the spring semester is from January to May.
STAR: Degree auditing program which matches your academic record against program requirements to show what has been completed and what you still need to complete to meet those requirements.
Syllabus: An outline that instructors use as a guide to explain the course, provideoffice contact information (location, email, phone number, office hours), required text and other materials, assignments, grading policy, attendance, tardiness, course expectations, acceptable classroom behavior, and other policies, etc.
Transcript: An official document showing your educational work in a school or college.
Transcript evaluation: Official evaluation of courses and credits from another college.
Transfer credits: Credits that you can have transferred from one college to another. The receiving college determines applicability of transfer credits to its programs.
Unofficial transcript: An unofficial copy of your KCC transcript available in MyUH.
WI: A designation printed next to a course that indicates that the course can be used to meet the writing intensive requirements for the AA and University of Hawai`i at Manoa degrees. The “WI” designation for a particular class or section of the course may change each semester.
Withdrawal: An officially process to drop a single course or to completely withdraw from college. Check the semester calendar for deadlines.
