Glossary of Academic Terms

• Credit – A unit of measure that assigns academic value for a course. TOCC uses the Carnegie Unit or “credit” as a measure. A Carnegie Unit or credit is the equivalent of 50 minutes of class time (often called a contact hour) and 120 minutes of independent-study work (such as homework and study time) per week. One credit hour requires at least 45 hours of work by each student for each unit of credit per term. For regular classes without labs or studios, this means 15 contact hours plus 30 hours of independent-study work per term. Another way to look at this is that for a 3-credit hour class, you are expected to spend 150 minutes in class time and 6 hours of homework and study per week. If the class is a 3-credit hour online course, you are expected to spend 9 hours per week working on your class. Most courses are either 3 or 4 credits. Since courses at TOCC with laboratory sessions are taught as integrated courses, the time requirements are calculated the same as for all other courses.
• Full-time – A student is classified as a full-time student if they are enrolled for 12 or more credit hours in the Fall or Spring semester or for 6 or more credit hours in a Summer session.
• Freshman – A student is a freshman if they have earned fewer than 30 credit hours.
• Grade – A grade is a letter or score that reflects the work and learning a student has achieved by taking a course. According to the criteria established in the course syllabus, the instructor calculates the number of points accumulated from the student’s assignments and tests and assigns a grade. The grade goes on the student’s transcript and becomes part of a permanent record.
• Grade Point Average – The grade point average or GPA is a measure reflecting the combination of credits (also called credit hours) a student earns and the grades received for those credits. The GPA equals the sum of the number of credits per class, multiplied by the points awarded for each class, divided by the number of credits. These calculations are done each semester, and they are summed up for all semesters enrolled at TOCC. A student’s GPA for all of the courses taken while at TOCC is called the Cumulative GPA. Some grades, like T for transfer, are not used in the calculation of the GPA.
• Part-time – A student is classified as a part-time student if they are enrolled for 6-11 credit hours in the Fall or Spring semester or for fewer than 6 credit hours in a Summer session.
• Semester – A semester refers to the cycle of time wherein classes are taught. The semester length at TOCC is 16 weeks. There are two regular semesters in a year, Fall and Spring, and two 8-week sessions within each regular semester. Summer sessions are much shorter, running around 8 weeks in length. Classes taken during Summer sessions earn credits as in a regular semester.
• Sophomore – A student becomes a sophomore once the student earns 30 or more credit hours.
• Transcript – A transcript is a record of the grades a student earns during their time in college. Each semester, instructors submit grades to the Registrar at TOCC, which are added to the student’s transcript. A student can get a copy of their transcript from the Student Services division in I-We:mta Ki: on the S-cuk Du’ag Maṣcamakuḍ (Main Campus) or by obtaining and completing a form available from the admissions office.