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Academic Year — Academic year begins in summer session and concludes in the spring semester. For example the 2001-02 academic year is comprised of the Summer Session 2001, the First (Fall) Semester 2001-02, and the Second (Spring) Semester 2001-02.

Alumni — Anyone who has attended or has graduated from a school, college, or university. This includes graduates AND former students for whom we have an active address (i.e., they are not deceased nor “lost”).

ASF — Assignable Square Feet – A measure of the useable space within a building that is available for assignment to user departments. It excludes non-assignable spaces such as public hallways and stairways, building mechanical rooms and restrooms, and also the areas used for walls, mechanical shafts, etc.

Auxiliary Enterprises — These enterprises, which are self-supporting and receive no state funds, include housing and food services, intercollegiate athletics, health and recreation services, parking facilities, transportation and printing services, and the Purdue Airport

Class — A Class consists of one or more Course Sections meeting with the same instructor(s) at a common time. A class is the actual physical group of students and instructors that meet together, including Course Sections that are conjoined or normally meet with each other as part of an instructional offering, such as when a section from both an “honors” course and from the related regular course share a common lecture.

Course Section — A Course Section, or Section, is one or more students meeting together with an instructor(s) to complete the requirements of a formal instructional offering, identified by a specific subject field and course number.

Credit Hours — The semester hour shall be the unit of University academic credit that shall represent approximately three hours of work per week by an average student throughout a normal semester, or its equivalent in total work for short courses.

Dual Level Courses — Courses numbered 500-599 that may be taken by either graduate or undergraduate students.

FTE — Full-time equivalency. A numerical measure used for reporting purposes. For example, full-time equivalent students is calculated by summing up total credit hours and dividing by 15 for undergraduate, professional, and certificate students, and by 12 for graduate students for a specific time period. An FTE employee is defined as effort normally expected of a full-time employee. It is not defined as a particular course load for faculty nor by clock hours for staff; less than full-time staff FTE for faculty and exempt staff is established by mutual agreement between the supervisor and the staff member. FTE for non-exempt staff is based on a 40-hour work week.

IPEDS — Integrated Postsecondary Educational Data System

OIELL — Office of Instructional Excellence and Lifelong Learning

PMU — Purdue Memorial Union

Professional Students — Students who are enrolled in the School of Pharmacy or Veterinary Medicine professional programs.

PUCC — Purdue University Computing Center

Recentered SAT Scores — All SAT test scores for tests taken on or after April 1, 1995, are reported on the recentered scale. Recentering reestablished the average SAT I verbal and math scores near the midpoint of the 200-to-800 scale. SAT II scores, which are linked to the SAT I scale, were also changed to reflect recentering.

SAT — Scholastic Aptitude Test

Section — See Course Section

Semester — Regular fall and spring semesters as defined in the Academic Calendar for each campus

Semester Hour — Normally one lecture or recitation hour per week for one semester equals one hour, or its equivalent for summer sessions, evening credit classes, credit extension classes, summer intensive courses, and credit workshops. Any reference to credit hours, course hours, etc., shall be understood as referring to semester hours.

SEOG — Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant

Summer Session — Regular summer session (eight weeks) or as defined in the Academic Calendar for each campus

WSCH — Weekly Student Class Hours – A measure of instructional activity or load, it is the average number of “50-minute hours” per week that students are in organized class settings in contact with a teacher for instructional purposes. They are weekly averages using a 16-week semester as the base.

Source: Office of Institutional Research