Attachment III USNCC CIAS Definitions.pdf

USNCC CIAS Definitions

Academic Calendar: The schedule of key events/dates that occur at an institution within an Academic Year. These can include course start and end dates, holidays and vacation, exam date, withdrawal dates etc. USNCC Academic Calendars and Partner Institutions may use different lexicons when discussing terms such as terms, semester, or subscription.

Academic Program: A legally authorized postsecondary program of organized instruction or study that leads to a certificate, an associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctor’s degree, resulting in credits that can be applied to one of these degrees. An Academic Program is also known as an educational program, academic offerings, and educational offerings.

Academic Services: educational or educational activities that support students in achieving higher educational goals.

Academic Year: An academic year is one complete school year at the same school, or two complete, half years at different schools. For schools that have a year-round program of instruction, nine months is historically considered an academic year.

Addendum: An item of additional material added at the end of the contract, typically in order to correct, clarify, or supplement something.

Admission Policy: The criteria by which an institution determines which applicants will be admitted.

Articulation Agreement: A documented pathway for the transfer of credits between the USNCC and Partner Institution that also lays out necessary admissions and other related academic policies.

Assessment of Student Learning: a process which shows that, at graduation or other appropriate points, an institution’s students have knowledge, skills, and competencies consistent with institutional and appropriate higher education goals.

Asynchronous Learning: A general term used to describe forms of education, instruction, and learning that do not occur in the same place or at the same time. USNCC offers asynchronous (online) learning to students.

Attachment: Supplementary document containing details, terms, specs, or lists that are physically added to or referenced within the contract.

Award: The degree or certificate granted for completion of an academic program.

Calendar Year: A calendar year is a one-year period between January 1 and December 31, based on the Gregorian calendar.

Census Date: The deadline at which students are confirmed as currently participating in a course within a specific term at their respective PI. The Census Date at USNCC is the 8th day of the Academic Term.

Certificate Program: A certificate program is a coherent course of study leading to the awarding of a credential. A college credit certificate is not intended as a degree, but as a supplement to a student’s specific educational goals or professional career preparation.

Completion of a college credit certificate generally is related to a specific field, and usually associated with a set of occupations.

Credential: Official documented credit that verifies an individual's qualification or competency in a specific skill. Credentials are earned and awarded by completing a course of study, successfully passing an assessment, or meeting specified requirements that verify competency.

Associate degrees and certificates are USNCC credentials.

Curriculum: The formal educational requirements necessary to qualify for certificates or degrees. A curriculum includes intellectual skills (commonly referred to as general education) or specialized study in a particular field, or both.

Degree Program: A degree program is an organized curriculum leading to a degree in an area of study recognized as an academic discipline by the higher education community.

Degree-granting: A post-secondary educational institution that awards accredited associate's, baccalaureate, or graduate degrees.

Degree-seeking: A student who has been admitted for enrollment at USNCC and who has formally indicated the intent to complete a program of study (i.e., AAS, AA, AS degree or certificate only.

Eligibility: A term used by USNCC to indicate the student meets gateway criteria (good academic standing, completed Command Approval, SAF/FERPA, etc.) to register for a course being funded by

USNCC.

Eligibility List: The list of those students who meet the requirements to enroll in a course at the PI. The government will pay for only those students who are on the Eligibility List.

Commented [CU1]: Maybe call this Degree Granting

Evaluated Education Plan: An individualized official academic document provided by the educational institution that:

articulates all degree requirements for degree completion, or in the case of a non-degree program, all educational requirements for completion of the program;

identifies all courses required for graduation in the individual's intended academic discipline and level of postsecondary study; and includes an evaluation of all successfully completed coursework, evaluated credit for military training and experience, and other credit sources applied to the institutional degree requirements.

The Evaluated Education Plan is also known, for example, as a degree audit, military degree plan, academic advisory report (AAR).

Experiential Learning: Knowledge gained through practical work experience or training for which an institution, through a formalized process, may analyze and award related academic credit to a student.

Field (of Study): A general area of knowledge, learning, or research taught as an accredited part of higher education institutions. Also called discipline.

Financial Data Feed: The raw data exchange that occurs on a scheduled basis from the PI to USNCC.

Financial Lock Date: A USNCC determined point in time during the term in which all related refunds (as applicable) have been applied and Financial Reconciliation/Invoicing processes begin. Some institutions have a sliding scale of charges that occur between the Census Date and the Financial Lock Date. This date can correspond to the Census Date at some institutions or can occur from three to seven days after the Census Date at others.

Fiscal Year: An annul period of performance for budgeting, planning, DON reporting that spans 12 months. The Federal government FY runs from October 1 to September 30.

Joint Services Transcript (JST): An official education transcript tool for documenting the recommended college credits for professional military education, training courses, and occupational experiences of Service Members across the services. The JST incorporates data from documents such as the Army/ACE Registry Transcript System, the Sailor/Marine ACE Registry Transcript System, the Community College of the Air Force transcript, and the Coast Guard Institute transcript. The JST will be the primary transcript tool for the USNCC.

Naval Studies (NS) Certificate: Certificate program taught by USNCC comprised of five

Commented [PU2]: @Winn CIV Spencer R (SBL USER) US this is defined in the Financial Reconciliation Training - pls get that def and add it here. I want to be sure it is included and differentiated from census date. TY!

courses, totaling 15 semester credit hours. These courses are: NAV 101 Naval Ethics and Leadership, NAV 102 Modern Naval History, NAV 103 Naval Force Design and Concepts, NAV 104 Civil/Military Organization and Policies, and NAV 105 Introduction to Geopolitics (capstone).

Naval Studies (NS) Course: Any course comprised within the Naval Studies Certificate.

Non-degree Credential: A formal award other than an associate degree or certificate, which includes certifications and licenses (with increasing attention to new types of awards, such as badges and other “micro-credentials”).

Non-Degree,Nnon-program: A student who is permitted to take a set number of courses with the understanding that they will not receive an academic certificate or degree for completing these course(s). Also called visiting student, transient student, etc.

Partner Institution (PI): USNCC contracted university or college providing academic services to USNCC and part of the USNCC Consortia

Professional Certficate : Certificate program(s) taught by partner institutions, which are fully embedded in the Consortium Program or offered as standalone program options.

Program Learning Outcomes Report: Template that is used to track the progress of each program's learning outcomes, as defined by the USNCC partner during implementation.

The frequency of reporting is established in the implementation phase and follows the partner institution’s accreditation reporting calendar.

Program Plan: A comprehensive view of the program of study that includes details of the program and awards conferred; the academic degree plan; the specific courses required for degree and/or Professional Certificate completion; articulation of Naval Studies courses;

teach-out plan; and bachelor degree pathway(s).

Residency Requirement: The number of credits a student must complete at an institution for a credential to be awarded.

Shall: Specifies that the requirement or task is contractually binding, must be implemented and verified, and completion of such will be measured as part of performance management.

Should: Indicates a goal or expected course of action that is to be followed unless inappropriate for a particular circumstance. It is not formally verified or measured as part of performance management.

Standards: Expectations for what PIs are expected to know and to be able to do with what they know in the content areas included in the educational program and the tasks and deliverables in the PWS.

Teach-out agreement: A written agreement between accredited institutions that provides for the equitable treatment of students if one of those institutions stops offering an educational program before all students enrolled in that program complete the program.

Teach-out plan: The written plan and subsequent process by which the institution provides institutional and academic support services to students enrolled in an educational program that has been discontinued. The teach-out process often extends well beyond the termination date (the date on which the site or program is closed permanently to admissions) to allow time for enrolled students to complete their program in a reasonable amount of time. The plan must provide for the equitable treatment of students in an institution.

Transitioning Consortium Student: Transitioning Consortium Student (or TCS) (formerly referred to as teach out), Any student enrolled in a consortium program through USNCC who loses eligibility for enrollment through USNCC (e.g., separation from military service), but was previously accepted by or admitted to Home Institution prior to loss of USNCC eligibility, shall continue to receive the specified benefits related to the Consortium Program contemplated by this Consortium Agreement, except students shall be solely responsible for payment of all tuition and fees.

Transfer Credit: Transfer credit refers to units (hours) of academic credit awarded at an institution in recognition of college level credit earned at another institution.

USNCC Student: An individual learner who is enrolled at USNCC either as a degree-seeking or non-degree-seeking student.

Will: A task or action required by the Government or to describe an action or event expected to take place or exist in the future.