Glossary of Terms

Ad Eundem Statum: A means of admission to the University on the basis of a qualification awarded by a body other than the New Zealand Qualifications Authority or The University of Auckland.

Admission: The process by which a student applies, and is approved, for entry to the University and to a University qualification.

Bachelors degree: A first degree.

Campus: A geographical location where University of Auckland qualifications are taught, eg, City Campus, Epsom, Tāmaki, Grafton.

Certificate: A qualification awarded after academic study of a coherent programme of between 60 and 120 points.

Class: A component of a course, eg, a lecture stream.

Completing student: A student whose current enrolment is designed to complete a certificate, diploma or degree.

Corequisite course: A course that should be taken in the same semester as another unless it has previously been satisfactorily completed.

Course: The basic component of all academic programmes. A course is normally taught and assessed over one semester. A double-semester course is taught over the consecutive semesters of the same academic year.

Course prescriptions: A list of courses including course code, title, points value, description of content, prerequisites, corequisites and restrictions.

Course schedule: A list of the courses prescribed for a programme which forms part of the regulations.

Coursework: Assessable work produced by students, normally submitted during teaching weeks, eg, essays, assignments, reports, tests, and practical, tutorial and seminar work.

Cross-credit: A course which is common to two University of Auckland undergraduate diplomas or Bachelors degrees and is credited to both.

Current enrolment: Courses or other work taken by a student in a particular academic year or semester.

Degree: Principal qualification awarded by The University of Auckland, ie, bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees.

Diploma: A University qualification, generally awarded at graduate or postgraduate level.

Direct entry: Entry into a higher level of a subject or later part of a degree without the prerequisites.

Dissertation: A written research component of a degree or diploma worth between 30 and 80 points.

Distance education: Courses or programmes of study which provide content and support services to students who rarely, if ever, attend for face-to-face or for on-campus access to educational facilities.

Doctoral degree: A qualification at an advanced level requiring an original contribution to knowledge.

Electives: A defined set of courses for a diploma or degree from which a student may make a choice.

End of lectures: The final day of the final teaching week of a semester. The final lecture for a particular course might occur before this day.

Enrolment: The process by which a student, having gained admission to the University and to a qualification, selects and gains entry to courses and classes.

Examination: Formal assessment under supervision occurring after the teaching in a course has been completed.

Extramural campus: Where the teaching occurs mainly through paper-based study materials without a requirement for students to attend scheduled, on-campus classes. Students’ study is guided by work books and written interaction with teaching staff.

Extramural students: Students who have exemption from receiving instruction on campus.

Flexible learning: Learning characterised by a mixed mode of delivery and assessment of instructional material.

Grade Point Average (GPA): A means of measuring a student's performance at this University. The average grade achieved over a period of time expressed numerically on a scale between 0 (no passes) and 9 (A+ average). GPAs include:

• Cumulative GPA: calculated from all grades achieved by a student. Used for selection purposes unless an alternative has been indicated by the Faculty.
• Satisfactory Progress GPA: calculated from the grades achieved by a student in the last two semesters of enrolment.

Grade Point Equivalent (GPE): A means of measuring a student's prior relevant academic performance and experience. Grades or marks achieved at external institutions and/or in examinations (such as NCEA) expressed as an equivalent to a Grade Point Average on the scale 0-9.

Graduand: A person who has completed the requirements for a degree but has not yet had the degree conferred.

Graduate: A person on whom a degree has been conferred.

Honours: Degrees, in some cases completed within prescribed time limits, may be awarded with honours which signify advanced or distinguished study.

Laboratory: A teaching session of a practical nature.

Lecture: A basic unit of instruction.

Limited entry: Applied to a course or programme for which the number of students that can be accepted is limited because of constraints on staffing, space or equipment.

Major: A required component of a degree, including a specified number of points in a subject at the most advanced level.

Masters degree: A degree programme at a higher level than a bachelors degree.

Maximum full-time study: A student workload of 80 points per semester or 30 points in Summer School.

Minimum full-time study: A student workload of 50 points per semester or 25 points in Summer School.

Minor: A component of a degree including a specified number of points above Stage I in a subject.

Normal full-time study: A student workload of 120 points in one year.

Online campus: Where the teaching occurs mainly through online computer-based interactions without the requirement to attend scheduled, on-campus classes. Communication between teachers and students is via asynchronous platforms such as email, web based texts and bulletin boards.

Part: A defined subdivision specified in the regulations of some degrees.

Plussage: A method of calculating the final result a student has gained in a course by counting either the final examination grade or a combination of final examination grade plus coursework, whichever is to the student’s advantage.

Point(s): A value assigned to a course or other work to indicate its weighting within The University of Auckland’s certificates, diplomas and degrees.

Postgraduate programme: A programme at a higher level than a bachelors degree.

Prerequisite course: A requirement that must be met before commencement of study for a particular course or programme.

Prescribed texts: Textbooks which are considered essential to a course.

Programme: A prescribed set of one or more courses or other work which on satisfactory completion leads to the award of a University of Auckland certificate, diploma or degree.

Project: A piece of investigative written work on a topic approved by the relevant Head of Department and supervisor.

Quarter: A 10-week period of instruction for Graduate School of Enterprise students.

Reassigned course: A course satisfactorily completed for one programme which has been transferred to another programme.

Recognition of Prior Academic Study (ROPAS): A means of assessment of previous study for students from another institution for admission or credit to the University.

Regulation: A rule set down by the University.

Research essay: A research-based essay on a topic approved by the relevant Head of Department and supervisor.

Research portfolio: A coherent, integrated programme of research-based work.

Research project: A piece of research-based work on a topic approved by the relevant Head of Department, usually worth between 30 and 80 points.

Restriction (restricted course): A course in which the learning objectives, content and/or assessment are so similar to a second course that a student cannot be credited with both towards a certificate, diploma or degree. In some cases a restricted course may be taken and credited as a Certificate of Proficiency.

Schedule: University lists of courses, credits or limitations, often in tabular form.

Semester: A period of about 15 weeks which includes about 12 teaching weeks and about three weeks for study and examinations. In addition there is a mid-semester break of up to two weeks.

Specialisation: A coherent group of related courses from different subjects.

Stage: The academic level of study in a subject.

Subject: An area of learning which may be provided by a school or a department, or by departments offering related courses.

Summer School: A six-week period during which a select range of courses is taught and assessed.

Thesis: A research component of a postgraduate programme having a value of 90 or more points which will have a written component but may also include design, creative or performative elements.

Transfer credit: Credit granted towards a University of Auckland qualification from work successfully completed at another tertiary institution.

Tutorial: A small group-learning session.

Undergraduate: A person studying towards a first degree.

Unspecified campus: Applies to courses where the teaching occurs through scheduled face-to-face interactions on sites that are not recognised University of Auckland campuses. Examples include the provision of courses where the course material is delivered in students’ local work-related environment.