Site Glossary
Quick Find:
Definitions for frequently used terminology and abbreviations.
AAA: School of Architecture and Allied Arts.
ABD: All But Dissertation.
Academic Year: Fall, Winter and Spring terms.
Admission Contact: The departmental administrator who can address questions and issues related to admission to a graduate program.
Advancement to Candidacy: Achieved after successfully completing the comprehensive exams and all required coursework. A doctoral student then focuses primarily on the research and development of the dissertation; student may then be referred to as ABD.
AEI: American English Institute.
AEIS: Academic English for International Students.
Calendar Year: A twelve month period of time.
CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement): Contractual employment agreement between the GTFF and the University.
CLEP: College Level Examination Program, credit by exam, administered by University of Oregon Testing Center.
COE: College of Education
Comprehensive Exams: Oral and/or written exams which address the primary subject areas of an academic field; exams are taken after the majority of required course work has been completed and after most of the requirements for the degree, except completion and defense of the dissertation, have been satisfied.
Concurrent Degree: Pursuing two or more degree programs at the same time.
Continuous Enrollment: A graduate policy requiring graduate students to be enrolled continuously until completion of degree.
Curriculum Vitae (CV): A special type of resume traditionally used within the academic community. Earned degrees, teaching and research experience, publications, presentations, and related activities are featured. Unlike a resume, a CV tends to be longer and more informational than promotional in tone. Note: The CV required in theses and dissertations follows a very specific format.
Dissertation: A dissertation is a substantial work of independent original research, at the doctoral level, which makes a contribution to the current body of knowledge in a scholarly field.
Doctoral Committee (Dissertation Committee): A minimum of four faculty members, approved by the Graduate School, who are responsible for the final approval of the dissertation.
Doctoral Residency Year: One academic year (usually the first year of attendance) of three consecutive terms of full-time study taken after acceptance into the doctoral program with conditional-doctoral or doctoral status. Coursework must be in the major.
ETS: Educational Testing Service. A national testing organization which makes available the: GMAT, GRE, TOEFL and TSE among other tests.
External Programs: Competitive funding that comes from an outside agency, such as a federal agency or private foundation. Often referred to as grants or individual awards.
Faculty Advisor: The faculty member appointed to mentor and guide a student through the completion of a graduate degree.
FTE: Full Time Equivalency. The number of hours an employee is expected to work. Forty hours per week is full time or 1.0 FTE. Twenty hours per week is half time or .50 FTE.
Full-Time Enrollment: Enrollment in a minimum of nine graduate level credits. In the case of ABD doctoral students who are enrolled for at least 3 credits of 603 Dissertation, and do not have a GTF or other support requiring full-time enrollment (at least 9 credits), 3 credits of 603 will be reported to the clearing house as full-time for deferment purposes.
GMAT: Graduate Management Admission Test.
GPA: Grade Point Average. A numerical measure of academic achievement based upon a computation figured from the number of credits and grade points earned per course.
Graduate Program Director: The faculty member responsible for administering the graduate program in an academic department.
GRE: Graduate Record Examination.
GTF: Graduate Teaching Fellow.
GTFF: Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation.
Human Subjects: See Research Compliance
IA: International Affairs
IELTS: International English Language Testing System.
In Absentia: Allows doctoral students who have advanced to candidacy to stop out for a maximum of three terms, excluding summer, and still remain in compliance with the continuous enrollment policy.
Internal Programs: Funding, usually competitive, that is sponsored by the university, department, or college itself. May include assistantships, grants, or other awards.
ISSS: International Student and Scholar Services in International Affairs.
Joint Campus: Reciprocal agreement between OUS institutions allowing graduate students to take courses at the other institutions; the tuition is assessed at the home institution and the course and grade are recorded on the home institution transcript.
LCB: Charles H. Lundquist College of Busines.
MAT: Miller Analogy Test.
Minimum Enrollment: Three graduate credits.
On-Leave Status: Allows masters and pre-advancement doctoral students to stop out for a maximum of 3 terms, excluding summer, and remain in compliance with the continuous enrollment policy.
OUS: Oregon University System.
Part-Time Enrollment: Three to eight graduate credits.
Research Compliance: Federal law requires that students who intend to engage in research that involves human or animal subjects receive approval of their research procedures before beginning to collect data. Researchers who want to use human subjects must obtain protocol forms and procedures from the Human Subjects Compliance Office, located in the Riverfront Research Park. Researchers who want to use vertebrate animals must obtain protocol forms and procedures from the Office of Veterinary Services and Animal Care located in Streisinger Hall.
SOJC: School of Journalism and Communications.
SOMD: School of Music and Dance.
SPEAK Test: The Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit test. University administered test offered as an alternative to the TSE; measures the ability of non-native speakers of English to communicate orally in English.
Stop Out: To withdraw temporarily from enrollment at a university or college.
Terminal Project: A terminal project is a presentation embodying the knowledge and skills acquired from course work completed for the master's degree.
Thesis: A thesis is a substantial Master's level paper presenting independent research, which makes a contribution to the current body of knowledge in a scholarly field.
TOEFL: Test of English as a Foreign Language.
TSE: Test of Spoken English.
WICHE: Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.