Glossary

Academic Warning

Students with a term GPA below 2.0 are placed on academic warning. See the Academic Warning and Probation page for more information.  

Academic Probation

Students whose cumulative GPA (combined average for all terms) drops below a 2.0 (C) will be placed on academic probation. First term freshmen and transfer students may be dismissed if their term GPA is below a 1.0 (D).  See the Academic Warning and Probation page and the Academic Dismissals and Appeals page for more information.

Academic Dismissal

Students who are on academic probation for two semesters may be dismissed with the opportunity to appeal the dismissal to the Academic Review Committee. See Academic Dismissals and Appeals page for more information.

Add/Drop

Students may add or drop classes during the first week of each term.  See the Academic Calendar for more information.

Advisor

A faculty or staff member appointed by the department or college to assist a student with planning academic programs.  See the Advising Center page for more information.

Brightspace

Online learning platform maintained by the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Center on campus.

Commencement

Purchase College’s annual graduation ceremony held in May.

Common Hour

Time frame between 12:00-3:00pm every Wednesday. No classes are scheduled during this time in order to allow students, faculty and staff the opportunity to participate in co-curricular activities.

Credit

The academic value assigned to a course based on the type and level of the subject material, as well as the expected number of hours spent on class preparation. One credit is generally given for three hours of work per week, in and out of the class.

Degree Progress Report (DPR)

The degree progress report provides the student with a list of requirements that must be completed in order to earn a Purchase College undergraduate degree. General college requirements, distribution requirements, and major requirements are shown on this report. Completed courses are shown in each area indicating progress toward completion of the degree requirements. The degree progress report indicates the remaining courses and number of credits required to complete the degree. A student should use the DPR to review requirements prior to meeting with an advisor to plan a schedule for the upcoming semester.

Electives

Courses that are not required as part of a degree program, but are generally chosen and used by a student to supplement or enrich the required curriculum.

FERPA-Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

This federal law gives students certain rights with respect to their educational records. For more information, see the FERPA information pages in the Office of Community Standards  and the Office of the Registrar.

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

The completed FAFSA is necessary if a student is requesting financial grants, loans, or any aid other than from family or scholarships. Not completing this form in its entirety prevents the processing of the request for aid, resulting in aid not being granted. The form can be filed at studentaid.gov.

First Year Learning Community (FYLC) or Freshman Seminar

The FYLC is strongly recommended for the majority of incoming BA and BS freshmen.  Students in certain majors (Art+Design, Biology, Dance, and Music) are required to take their departmental freshmen seminars as part of their curricula. These courses cannot be repeated.

Grade Point Average

Total number of grade points received divided by total number of credits attempted. Grade points are assigned for one term credit of each grade:
A=4.0; A-= 3.7; B+=3.3; B=3.0; B-= 2.7; C+=2.3; C=2.0; C-= 1.7; D=1.0; F=0.0. Grades of I,P,N,S, U and W are not computed.

Leave of Absence

There are two kinds of leaves for students: Personal/Academic leaves, and Medical Leaves.  The first kindrequire a student filling out a form with the Office of the Registrar prior to the 9th week of the semester.  Medical Leaves are granted by the appropriate health provider on campus (Counseling or Health Services) prior to the Medical leave deadline (see the Academic Calendar).

Major

The primary field of study in which a student wishes to receive a degree. Majors require at least 35 credits for BA programs, and can require up to 110 for a BFA program.  See the Majors and Minors page.

Matriculated Student

A student who has successfully satisfied all admission requirements, has been officially accepted into a degree program at Purchase College, and has registered for courses.

Minor

A second field of interest, consisting of a minimum of 20 designated term credits of related course work, 12 of which must be at the upper-division level. See the Majors and Minors page.  Students can have a maximum of two minors.  Note that financial aid will not always cover a minor if credits are not applicable to the student’s overall degree.

Prerequisites

Requirements that must be completed before enrollment in a course.  Prerequisites, if applicable, are listed in the description of the course in the course catalog and the course search.

Proxy Access

Students can allow their parents, guardians, or others access to elements of their student record through myHeliotrope by granting them Proxy Access.  Instructions for doing so are here.

Note that proxy access is not the same as a waiver of a student’s FERPA rights (see under FERPA-Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ).

Resident Assistant (RA)

Undergraduate student leaders who live on each floor/building as the residents.  RAs are trained to create welcoming residential environments on campus through programming, one-to-one resident outreaches, and informative bulletin boards. 

Residence Coordinator (RC)

Full-time professional staff members that oversee the operations of residence halls or apartments, supervise RA staff, teach FYS courses, oversee community development and programming, and serve as a conduct hearing officers among other responsibilities.

Syllabus

A list of course objectives, lecture topics, assigned readings, exams, etc., prepared and distributed by an instructor at the beginning of the semester/term.

Title IX

A federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. In accordance with Title IX Purchase College has policies, procedures, and resources to prevent and address issues such as discrimination based on sex, including sexual violence and gender-based harassment.

Transfer Student

A student who has completed 24 or more term credits at one institution and will resume their college course work at a second institution.

Withdrawal

To voluntarily leave a course at he college without academic penalty before the 9th week of the semester.  A “W” letter grade will be placed on the student’s transcript for each course attempted.  Note that withdrawing from courses can impact a student’s satisfactory academic progress in terms of financial aid.