Glossary
This glossary includes institutional research terms and definitions that are the most commonly used in the reports published by the Department of Institutional Research and Analytics. The terms are sorted alphabetically based on the English version of the term.
Academic Level: This includes the following levels; “Foundation”, “Undergraduate”, “Masters”, “Pharm.D”, “Ph.D.”, “Diploma”, and “Certificate”. These levels applied to students and courses.
Terms |
Definitions |
|---|---|
| Academic Dismissal: | The involuntary removal of a student from the University for unsatisfactory Academic Achievement such as the grade point average (GPA). |
| Academic Period: | is a portion of an academic year, the time during which an institution holds classes. An academic period can be also referred as a ‘Term’ or ‘Semester’. |
| Academic Probation: |
The academic standing of:
|
| Academic Program: | A combination of courses and/or requirements leading to a degree. |
| Academic Standing | Determined by academic regulations governing good standing, academic probation and dismissal. |
| Academic Year: | Begins at the start of the fall term and ends immediately after the summer term (e.g. academic year 2017-2018 includes fall 2017, winter 2018, spring 2018, and summer 2018). For graduation figures calculation, the academic year count begins at the start of summer and ends at the end of spring (e.g. academic year 2017-2018 includes summer 2017, fall 2017, winter 2018, and spring 2018). |
| Accelerated Program: | Completion of a college program of study in fewer than the usual number of years, most often by attending summer sessions and/or carrying extra courses during the regular academic term. |
| ACT: | Previously known as the American College Testing program, it measures educational development and readiness to pursue college-level coursework in English, Mathematics, Natural Science, and Social Studies. |
| Active Student (AS): | A student status that is assigned automatically once a student is admitted to QU. The student status remains AS unless it is being changed to a different status. |
| Administrative Services Survey (ASS(: | A survey that measures QU faculty and staff satisfaction on administrative services and facilities provided by QU admin units. |
| Admission Terminated (AT): | A student status that is assigned to an admitted student who is not registered in any classes in the same semester of admission and s/he did not receive a deferral. |
| Admitted Student: | An applicant who is offered admission to QU. |
| Alumni: | Former students who have graduated from Qatar University. |
| Applied Student: | An individual who has submitted an application to be considered for admission for any academic program at any level. |
| Associate Degree: | An award that normally requires at least two but less than four years of full-time equivalent college work. |
| Average Class Size: | the total number of students enrolled in all courses divided by the total number of courses. This is normally calculated for courses with a schedule type of Lecture, Lecture/Lab, and Seminar. |
| Bachelor’s Degree: | An award (baccalaureate or equivalent degree) that normally requires at least 120 credits, intended to be completed in four years or more of full-time equivalent college-level work depending on program requirements. |
| Board of Regents: | Appointed by an Emiri decree and functions as the supreme authority within the University. It is charged with setting out the overall policy of the University, monitoring its implementation, as well as providing general oversight of all its activities and systems. It shall exercise ultimate institutional authority as set forth in its Bylaws and in such other policy documents, it deems to be appropriate. |
| Calendar System: | The method by which an institution structures most of its courses for the academic year. As an example; QU follows the semester system (Fall and Spring semesters, with an additional winter and summer sessions). A semester can be also referred as a ‘Term’ or ‘Academic Period’. |
| Catalog Term: | A term denotes which specific set of graduation requirements will apply to a student. Unless altered, a student’s catalog term is the term the student was admitted to study at QU. |
| Census Date: | A cut-off date that has been agreed on as a specific point in time of the year to collect data for monitoring and reporting purposes. Usually, the Student Census date falls on the day immediately following the add and drop deadline. Other census dates can be specified based on data requirements. |
| Classroom Utilization Rate: | calculated based on room occupancy during a specific length of time. For example, considering 8 hours per day as 100% utilization, the 4 hours of occupancy is considered as 50% utilization rate. |
| Cohort: | A specific group of students who share common characteristics established for tracking purposes. As an example, one can refer to the cohort of students admitted in any specific semester or to the cohort of students on scholarship. |
| Concentration: | A field of specialization within a designated major. |
| Contact Hours: | A unit of measure that represents an hour of scheduled instruction given to students (usually 50 minutes of instruction time). Also referred to as clock hour. |
| Counseling Services: | Activities designed to assist students in making plans and decisions related to their education, career, or personal development. |
| Course Schedule Type: | Each course has to be assigned one of the schedule types (Lecture, Lab, Seminar, Internship, Senior Project, etc.). |
| Credit Course: | A course that, if successfully completed, can be applied towards the number of courses required for achieving a degree, diploma, certificate, or other formal awards. |
| Credit Hour: | A course’s unit of measure, representing the number of hours a student spends in-class for the course per week, which is counted toward completion the requirements of a degree, diploma, certificate, or other formal awards. |
| Cross-Registration: | A system whereby students enrolled at one institution may take courses at another institution without having to apply to the second institution. |
| Cumulative GPA: | The total number of grade points accumulated for all registered courses divided by the number of credit hours of the same courses. Refer to [Grade Point Average]. |
| Deferred Admission: | The practice of permitting admitted students to postpone enrollment, usually for a period of one academic term or one year. |
| Degree: | An award conferred by a college, university, or other postsecondary education institution as official recognition for the successful completion of a program of studies. |
| Degree-Seeking Students: | Students enrolled in courses for credit and recognized by the institution as seeking a degree or formal award. |
| Developmental Courses: | Courses required of admitted students who do not achieve the required score in college placement tests (such as ACCUPLACER). These courses are required in order to develop competencies necessary for success in college level courses. See “Foundation Program”. |
| Distance Learning: | An option for earning course credit at off-campus locations via cable television, internet, satellite classes, videotapes, correspondence courses, or other means. QU does not offer this option as a part of academic programs yet. |
| Double Major: | Program in which students may complete two undergraduate programs of study simultaneously. |
| Early Conditional Admission: | is provisional admission pending successful completion of the final year of high school and fulfillment of all admission requirements. |
| Employer Satisfaction Survey (ESS): | This survey aims to identify employer opinions about Qatar University (QU) graduates working under their supervision to develop the program learning outcomes to provide students with skills that contribute to the community and labor market needs through enhancing the existing programs and initiate new programs at undergraduate and graduate levels. |
| Enrolled Students: | Students, both full-time and part-time, who are eligible to register in a term or semester. This category includes students who have the following status: “Leave of Absence”, “No Shows”, “Active”, or “Deferred”. |
| Faculty Rank: | Titles (ranks) of faculty are: Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, and Lecturer. |
| Faculty Satisfaction Survey (FSS): | The survey aims to assess the level of satisfaction on education support services & facilities, research services and facilities, faculty performance appraisal and working environment to get a better understanding of faculty and provide them with the proper work environment. |
| Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE): | A survey designed by Indiana University to complement the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), and aims to measure faculty expectations for student engagement in educational practices that are empirically linked with student learning and development. |
| Faculty Teaching Workload: | The total hours required by a faculty member to teach during a specific period. It is calculated based on specific rules depending on the course schedule type, course credit hours, course contact hours, and number of students enrolled in the course. In QU faculty members who hold rank titles of Professor, Associate Professor, and Assistant Professor are required to teach 18 ICH (refer to [Instructional Credit Hours]), while faculty members who hold rank title of Lecture are required to teach 36 contact hours. Those holding administrative duties will have reduced teaching workload based on approved policy. |
| Fall Cohort: | The group of students entering in the fall term established for tracking purposes. |
| Fall Term: | The part of the academic year that usually begins in September |
| Final Withdrawal (FW): | A student status that implies permanent departure from the University without the immediate expectation to return. |
| Financial Aid: | Grants and assistantships provided to eligible students to meet expenses in one of the following: monthly financial aid, lump-sum financial aid, partial OR full settlement of tuition fees, housing fees, transportation fees and laptop loans. |
| First-Time, Freshman Student: | A student attending QU for the first time at the undergraduate level. This includes students who entered with college credits earned but not exceeding 29 earned credit hours. |
| Foundation Absence Suspension (FB): | A student status that is assigned to an enrolled student in the Foundation Program and who is absent for more than two semesters. |
| Foundation Academic Suspension (FA): | A student status that is assigned to an enrolled student in the Foundation Program for four semesters but s/he has not fulfill the Foundation Program requirements |
| Foundation Program: | An academic entry program designed to bridge any potential gaps between the student's minimum academic skills upon graduating from secondary school and the academic level needed to be successful at the University level. The Foundation Program focuses on improving the basic skill levels of the student in English and Mathematics literacy. |
| Freshman Student: | An undergraduate student who has earned less than 30 credit hours. |
| FTE Faculty (Full-Time Equivalent): | Is a single value providing a combination of full time and part time faculty. Usually calculated by two methods: • Equals the sum total of hours taught (ICH) divided by the number of hours considered to be full-time for a faculty. • Equals the number of full-time faculty plus 1/3 the number of part-time faculty. |
| FTE Students (Full-Time Equivalent): | Is a single value providing a combination of full time and part time students. Usually calculated by two methods: • Equals the student's registered credit hours divided by the number of hours considered to be full-time for a student at that level (30 credit hours per academic year for undergraduate, 18 credit hours per academic year for master’s level). • Equals the number of full-time students plus 1/3 the number of part-time students. |
| Full-Time Employees: | This includes all QU employees on full-time contract (Academics, Researchers, and Staff). |
| Full-Time Faculty: | Full-time individuals who hold academic rank titles of Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, and Lecturer. Additional ranks may be created after the approval of the Board of Regents. |
| Full-Time Staff: | This includes all full-time employees after excluding full-time faculty, TA’s, researchers and Research Assistants. |
| Full-Time Student: | A student enrolled for 12 credit hours or more per semester at the undergraduate level, or a student enrolled for 9 credit hours or more per semester at the Master’s level. Students enrolled at the PhD, PharmD, Diploma and Certificate levels are all considered to be full-time students. |
| Generated Credit Hours: | Is calculated as the total number of students in a course section multiplied by the number of credit hours assigned to the course. |
| Grade-Point Average (GPA): | The GPA is an indicator of the student’s overall academic performance at QU. It is determined by dividing the total number of grade points accumulated for all courses by the total number of credit hours of all courses taken. The total number of grade points earned for each course is calculated by multiplying the number of credit hours assigned to the course by the number of grade points corresponding to the letter grade received (refer to [Letter Grade]). |
| Grade Points: | Numerical value associated with each letter grade (refer to [Letter Grade]). |
| Graduate Alumni Survey: | A survey used to assess the perception of QU graduate students about their educational and work experiences. |
| Graduate Assistants: | Graduate-level students employed on a part-time basis for the primary purpose of assisting in classroom or laboratory instruction or in the conduct of research. |
| Graduate Satisfaction Survey: | A survey to measure graduate students' satisfaction with a wide range of University experiences. |
| Graduate Student: | This includes students enrolled at the Master level, PharmD level, Diploma level and Phd level. |
| Graduates: | Degree seeking students who completed the requirements of their degrees. |
| Graduation Rate: | The percentage of students in a given cohort who graduate from the program in a specific period of time (e.g. 4-year graduation rate is the percentage of students who graduated from the program within 4 years out of the given cohort). |
| Headcount: | Is the actual number of students, staff or faculty regardless of their full-time/part- time status. |
| High School Diploma/Certificate or Recognized Equivalent: | A document certifying the successful completion of a prescribed secondary school program of studies. |
| High School Grade Point Average (HGPA): | The student’s academic achievement in secondary school. In Qatar University, the high school GPA/score is calculated as an average out of 100. |
| Honors Program: | The Honors program is a community of exceptional, motivated, and innovative minds. It serves as a vehicle to enhance the intellectual quality and inspire the academic culture of the University. The program encompasses all undergraduate colleges and programs in the university. |
| IELTS or International English Language Testing System: | Is an international standardized test of English language proficiency. It is jointly managed by University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations, the British Council and IDP (International Development Program) Education Pty Ltd,[1] and was established in 1989. |
| Instructional Activity: | The provision of coursework to students. |
| Instructional Credit Hours (ICH): | The total credit hours taught. It is calculated based on specific rules depending on course schedule type, course credit hours, course contact hours, and number of students enrolled in the course. |
| Instructional Faculty: | During a given semester, any faculty who is teaching at least one course as a primary instructor. |
| Intellectual Property (IP, Research): | Intangible rights to, or tangible embodiment of, any work or invention. Intellectual property can be protected by various patent, copyright, database right, trademark, trade secret, mask work, plant variety protection, and other property laws and treaties. |
| International Student: | a student who is not a citizen or national of the State of Qatar. International students who are in this country on a student visa issued by the University are considered to be Out of the Country International Students. |
| Internship: | Any short-term, supervised work experience (on-campus or off-campus) usually related to a student’s major field, for which the student earns academic credit. The work can be full- or part-time, on- or off-campus, paid or unpaid. |
| Knowledge Based Economy Majors (KBE-Classified Majors): | Majors that contribute to the knowledge based economy and that fall under one of the following 5 categories: “Engineering, Manufacturing & Construction”, “Health and Welfare”, “Life science and Physical Science”, “Math and Computer Science”, “Social sciences, Business, Law, and Services”. |
| Key Investigator (KI, Research): | Member of the research team involved in the scientific development and in the execution of a project |
| Learning Center: | Center offering assistance through tutors, workshops, computer programs, or audiovisual equipment in reading, writing, math, and skills such as taking notes, managing time, taking tests. |
| Leave of Absence (LA): | A student status that is assigned to the student who requests a Leave of Absence for the maximum duration specified in the Student Catalog. |
| Letter Grade: | Symbols used to represent a range of grades. The most common system of assigning numbers to grades counts four points for an A, three and a half (3.5) for a B+, three points for a B, two and a half (2.5) points for C+, two points for a C, one and a half (1.5) points for D+, one point for a D, and no points for F. |
| Major: | A student's main field of specialization. |
| Master's Degree: | An award that requires the successful completion of a program of study of generally one or two full-time equivalent academic years of work beyond the bachelor's degree. |
| Minor: | A student's secondary field of specialization, subordinate to a student's major. |
| Noncredit Course (Non-Gradable): | A course or activity having no credit applicable toward a degree, diploma, certificate, or other formal awards. |
| Non-Degree Student: | A student enrolled in courses for credit and is not recognized by the institution as seeking a degree or a formal award. |
| National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE): | A survey used to measure the level of student engagement in university activities that highly correlate with student learning. This survey developed by Indiana University and targets first-year and senior students in 4-years institutions. |
| Part-Time Faculty: | A faculty member from any rank who is employed as a temporary faculty (including lecturers/TA) to perform teaching duties. This includes Researchers and Staff with teaching assignments. |
| Part-Time Student: | A student enrolled for fewer than 12 credit hours per semester at the undergraduate level, or a student enrolled for fewer than 9 credit hours per semester at the Master’s level. |
| Period-Exceeding: | A student status that is assigned to a student if s/he exceeded the studying years according to the university rules and regulations. |
| Primary Instructor: | The instructor who is in charge of the course and has instructional contact with students in the course and grade-sheet authority. |
| Progression Rate: | is the percentage of undergraduate degree-seeking students who progress to the next classification/level (e.g. percentage of students who progressed from freshman to the junior in a certain period of time). |
| Readmission: | Refers to a process by which applicants who were previously admitted to QU and who enrolled in at least one semester at the university request returning and readmission to Qatar University. |
| Registered Student: | An admitted student who is effectively registered in one or more courses in a semester at QU. |
| Reinstatement: | A process that allows academically dismissed undergraduate students to resume their study at QU after completing a minimum suspension period of one regular semester. |
| Remedial Program: | Refer to [Foundation Program]. |
| Research Assistant: | This includes full-time academics and full-time project-based researchers with the following job titles (Senior Research Assistant, Research Assistant). |
| Researchers: | This includes full-time academics and full-time project-based researchers with the following job titles (Research Professor, Research Associate Professor, Research Assistant Professor, Post-Doctoral, Research Associate). |
| Retention Rate: | Number of students from a given cohort that return in a certain semester, divided by the total number of students in the same cohort (e.g. the second-year retention rate for fall 2017 cohort is number of students who returned in fall 2018 divided by the cohort size). |
| Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT): | Previously known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test, which is an examination, administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), and used to predict the facility with which an individual will progress in learning college-level academic subjects. |
| Senior Graduating Survey (SGS): | To assess Student Learning Outcomes in the Core Curriculum (SLOs), services offered by Career Service Center, teaching, courses offered, grades distribution, use of technology, course availability, core curriculum/ general education and courses offered for major, the relevance of the program and other QU services and facilities provided by different units. |
| Student Classification: |
Refers to the progress of undergraduate students within the program as follows:
|
| Student Holds: | A mechanism preventing a student from either registering in classes or receiving a university service. The student should see the department that placed the hold for resolution. |
| Student Level: | Refers to a student’s educational level at the institution (Foundation, Undergraduate, Master’s, Doctoral, Certificate, Diploma, etc.) |
| Student Load: | Total credit hours for which a student is registered in a given semester or a year. |
| Student Retention: | Refers to a student's persistence at Qatar University from one term to another. For official reporting, retention is calculated by identifying the number of students from each cohort that return in the second fall from their entering term, e.g. the number of students from the Fall 2010 cohort that are enrolled and registered in the fall 2011 term. |
| Student-to-Faculty Ratio: | The ratio of FTE students to FTE faculty. (Refer to [FTE students and FTE faculty]). |
| Teaching Assistant (TA): | This includes full-time academics with a rank title of “Teaching Assistant”. |
| Term GPA: | The total number of grade points accumulated for all courses divided by the number of credit hours of all courses over one semester. |
| Terminal Degree: | Is the highest academic degree in a given field of study. Ph.D.’s and professional degrees are the most commonly known terminal degrees in most academic fields of study. However, as an example, MFA’s and M. Arch (Masters in Fine Arts and Master’s in Architecture) are also considered terminal degrees. |
| Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL): | The standardized test designed to determine an applicant's ability to benefit from instruction in English. |
| Transfer Student: | A student entering the institution but known to have previously attended a postsecondary institution at the same level (e.g., undergraduate). The student may transfer with or without credit. |
| Undergraduate Alumni Survey (UAS): | A survey to assess the perception of QU undergraduate Alumni about their educational and work experiences. |
| Undergraduate Degree-Seeking Student: | A student enrolled in a four- or five-year bachelor’s degree program. |
| Undergraduate Student Satisfaction Survey (SSS): | In house survey targeted to undergraduate students to measure their satisfaction on educational and administrative services and facilities. |
| Visiting Student: | A student who is regularly enrolled and in good standing at another institution and is taking a course at Qatar University for which credit will be transferred to his/her regular institution. |
| Withdrawal from a Course: | After the regular drop/add period, students may withdraw from one or more courses before the withdrawal deadline for the semester. |
| Withdrawal from the Semester: | Withdrawing from all registered courses in a semester. |
| Withdrawal from the University: | Refer to [Final Withdrawal]. |
| Terms | Definitions |
