51ÂÜÀò

Glossary of Terms

This page provides clear definitions for key concepts and metrics commonly used in institutional research, student success analysis, and academic reporting. Use this glossary of terms to better understand the terminology that supports data-driven decision-making.

ACCJC: The ACCJC (Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges) is a regional agency that accredits community and junior colleges to ensure they meet standards of quality and effectiveness.

Persistence: A student's continuous enrollment from one primary term to the next. Can be represented as a rate.

Disproportionate Impact: When a specific student group, defined by characteristics such as race, gender, age, or disability, consistently experiences significantly lower outcomes compared to the overall student population.

Census Enrollment: A student active in the class as of the census date. For classes without a census date (open-entry/exit), a census enrollment includes a student active in the class at any point between the start and end of the class.

Successful Grades: A grade of A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, P, and IP. Grades of IA, IB, IC, and IPP are not assigned at 51ÂÜÀò but would typically be considered successful grades.

Retained Grades: A grade of A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, D+, D, D-, F, P, NP, IP, and FW. Grades of IA, IB, IC, IF, and IPP are not assigned at 51ÂÜÀò but would typically be considered retained grades.

Excluded Grades: Grades DR (System Deregistration), EW (Excused Withdrawal), MW (Military Withdrawal), RD (Reporting Delayed), and UG are not factored in success or retention rates.

Success Rate: The percentage of enrollments earning a successful grade.

 

Retention Rate: The percentage of enrollments earning a retained grade.

 

Headcount / Unique Students: The count of unduplicated students. This can vary depending on what is being evaluated, such as enrollments by year, term, ACC, subject, program, etc.

Full-Time Equivalent Student (FTES): One (1) FTES is defined as 525 hours of student instruction. FTES does not equate to headcount.

 

Full-Time Equivalent Faculty (FTEF): One (1) FTEF is defined as a faculty member teaching 15 hours per week per term.

 

Weekly Student Contact Hours (WSCH): The total number of hours a course is scheduled to meet each week, multiplied by the number of actively enrolled students in that course as of census.

 

FTES/FTEF Ratio: A measure of scheduling efficiency used to represent the number of FTES that one (1) FTEF generates/supports.

 

WSCH/FTEF Ratio: A measure of scheduling efficiency used to represent the number of weekly student contact hours (WSCH) that one (1) FTEF generates/supports.