Glossary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Please notify us with questions and concerns about this glossary at institutional-research@sjsu.edu.
A
Academic Year (AY)
A period of time beginning with the fall semester and ending with the spring semester of the regular sessions. The Academic Year does not include the summer. For example, AY 1998-1999 is the fall 1998 and spring 1999. See also College Year.
Admission Basis
A coding system which identifies how a student was admitted based on admission requirements.
Regular Admission: A student who meets all the stated academic requirements for admission to the University.
Exceptional Admission (Special Admit): Campuses are allowed to admit students who are not academically eligible for admission, but are considered disadvantaged. This category could also refer to students with special talents such as athletic or musical abilities. The number of these special admits does not exceed 8 percent of all undergraduates who enrolled during the previous year.
Annualized
Calculated as a sum across all three semesters (fall, spring and summer) within a calendar year. The formula is: sum of fall, spring and summer enrollment divided by 2.
Applied, Admitted, Enrolled Rates
Admission Rate (or Acceptance Rate): Equals number of students admitted divided by number who applied. It is one of the criteria for evaluating a university's selectivity.
Show Rate (or Yield Rate): Equals number of students enrolled divided by number admitted. It is one of the criteria for evaluating a university's recruitment effort.
Enrollment Rate (or Acceptance Rate): Equals number of students enrolled divided by number who applied. It is one of the criteria for evaluating a university's selectivity.
Assigned Time
Assigned time is a faculty assignment where a faculty member can receive workload credit (WTUs). Assigned time WTUs are normally awarded to regular faculty. Part-time temporary faculty could receive assigned time WTUs for special circumstances only. Activities for which WTUs may be assigned are listed by code number.
Average Unit Load (AUL)
Average unit load is the number of units in which students enroll in all courses during a given semester.
C
Census Data
The official data are collected on census date and have been approved by the Chancellor's Office. These are the official numbers for reports to the Federal government, State agencies, and various national organizations. The important census data submissions are Enrollment Reporting System-Student (ERSS) and Academic Planning Database (APDB). See the CSU Enrollment Reporting System data dictionary.
ERSS (Enrollment Reporting System-Student): The Chancellor's Office uses ERSS to monitor the status of all students enrolled in State-supported programs. It is the one of the sources for student FTE count of each campus in the CSU system.
APDB (Academic Planning Database): APDB reports provide information in support of academic planning and administration. These reports present information related to enrollment, student-faculty ratios, class size, mode of instructions, etc., by discipline, discipline category, and administrative structure. These reports are used locally to support such activities as the review and approval of newly proposed degree programs, as well as the continued evaluation of existing programs. They are also utilized by the Chancellor's Office to examine and assess the structure, workload and productivity of each campus's faculty in order to conduct its annual analysis of facility utilization.
Census Date
The official date at which enrollment is reported to the CSU system for each semester. For fall and spring semesters, it is the 20th day of instruction. Official drops after Census date result in a "W" grade for students. Adds after Census, if approved, are not included in the reported enrollment.
Census Enrollment (Headcount)
The official number of individuals enrolled for credit courses in a given semester. These counts are taken at the same time each semester, as of the 20th day of instruction. See also Headcount.
Class Level
A detailed classification of students based upon their academic standing. The level of an undergraduate student as determined by total units earned. For post baccalaureate or graduate students, class level is determined for a student with an acceptable baccalaureate degree. See Student Level for a more general breakdown of student classification.
- Freshman - 0.0 to 29.9 semester units.
- Sophomore - 30.0 to 59.9 semester units.
- Junior - 60.0 to 89.9 semester units.
- Senior - 90.0 or more semester units.
- Post-Baccalaureate - Holding a baccalaureate or equivalent degree.
Cohort Group
A Cohort Group is a group of students with similar college experience (First-time freshmen, Undergraduate Transfers, and First-time Classified Graduates) who matriculate together in the same semester. (Statistical outcomes are considered more meaningful for a homogeneous group). Retention and Graduation Rates are the main measures of progress and success for each group as a whole. The number of students remains fixed, unless a rare error is found in a later year (a senior wrongly classified as a freshman, for example); if necessary that is recompiled (but this seldom affects group rates).
College Year (CY)
A period of time beginning with the summer term and ending with the spring term of the regular sessions. The College Year equals the Academic Year plus the summer term, if any. For example, CY 1998-1999 is the summer 1998, fall 1998 and spring 1999. See also Academic Year.
Continuation Rate (Persistence)
This rate is the proportion of entering students who are still enrolled and continuing towards earning a degree.
Course Enrollment
Enrollment numbers (headcount or FTES) generated through courses. Therefore, when the information is broken down by college, the enrollment is for colleges that offer these courses. It is different from Enrollment (Headcount of Majors).
Course Prefix Abbreviation
A two to four character code which describes the program to which the course is grouped.
Course Type
A classification of how a course is delivered to the student. There are nine course types:
- ACT - Activity
- CLN - Clinical
- DIS - Discussion
- FLD - Fieldwork
- LAB - Laboratory
- LEC - Lecture
- PRA - Practicum
- SEM - Seminar
- SUP - Supervision
Cross-Listed Courses
Courses that share enrollments between two or more departments/colleges. For example, COMM 168A has Communication Studies for the "home" department and METR, ENVS, GEOL and HUM are "dependent" departments). When the enrollment redistribution of cross listed courses, all the enrollments will revert to the "home" department. If the agreement between the departments/colleges is different (official request is required), the redistribution will be based on the formal agreement.
E
Enrollment (Headcount of Majors)
The number of students who have declared majors. Anyone without a major is counted as "Undecided". These numbers are captured at the same time each term, as of the 20th day of instruction (on census date) and have been approved by the Chancellor's Office. See also Headcount.
Enrollment Capacity
How many students can be accommodated in all sections of a course.
Enrollment Status: A coding system which classifies the current enrollment of a student and distinguishes between new, continuing, returning, and transitory students.
Continuing Students: Refers to students who had enrolled the previous semester and returned for the current term.
Returning Students: Refers to students who had enrolled previously, left for more than one term, and were readmitted.
Transitory Students: Students primarily enrolled at another educational institution (often a high school) but have permission to take courses for credit at San Jose State. Includes visitors from other CSU's and international students on one-to-one exchange programs.
Ethnicity
State or Federal mandated categories used to describe the racial/ethnic background of the individual. The individual is to be included in the ethnic group to which he or she appears to belong, is regarded by the community as belonging, or categorizes himself or herself as belonging. For more information, see Executive Order 318.
- American Indian or Alaskan Native - A person having origins in any of the original people of North American or who maintain cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community recognition.
- Asian - A person having origins in any of the original people of the Far East, Southeast Asia , the Indian Subcontinent, or Vietnam.
- Black, non-Hispanic - A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa (except those of Hispanic origins).
- Filipino - All persons having origins in any of the original people of the Philippine Islands.
- Pacific Islander - All persons having origins in any of the original people of the Pacific Islands, including Tahiti, Fiji, and the Marshall Islands, Guamanian, Hawaiian, and Samoan.
- Hispanic - A person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.
- White, non-Hispanic - A person having origins in any of the original people of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East (except those of Hispanic origin).
- Other - For the IR reporting purposes, the "others" category includes all persons who do
not fall into one of the above categories.
- Two or More Races, non-Hispanic - A person choosing more than one race categories (except those of Hispanic origin).
- No Response - Respondents not surveyed or who do not mark a choice of codes from the list provided.
- Decline to state - All persons who overtly decline to identify themselves with any ethnic category.
F
Faculty Contact Hours (FCH)
The number of hours per week during which a faculty member is engaged in classroom or supervisional contact with students
Faculty Early Retirement Program (FERP)
A provision of the current faculty bargaining agreement, which allows faculty to retire but continue a half-time assignment for up to five years after their official retirement date.
Faculty with Multiple Departments
Refers to the faculty who teach in more than one department. The FTES is divided among the departments based on course enrollment. The FTEF is also divided based on the proportion of the WTU/15 in each department.
Faculty Ranks
The basic qualifications and standards in academia established to identify the degree and types of achievement. Grades are assigned based on the educational level and salary range of the faculty members.
Tenure-Track/Tenured Faculty Ranks
| Grade | Faculty Rank |
| 5 | Professor |
| 4 | Associate Professor |
| 3 | Assistant Professor |
| 2 | Instructor |
| 1 | Assistant |
Temporary Faculty Ranks
| Grade | Faculty Rank |
| 5 | Lecturer-D |
| 4 | Lecturer-C |
| 3 | Lecturer-B |
| 2 | Lecturer-A |
| 1 | Lecturer-L |
Faculty Status
Permanent Faculty (or tenure-track faculty): All instructional faculty are either holding or eligible for tenure, including those who have received tenure (tenured faculty) and those who are eligible for tenure but have not yet received it (probationary faculty). These included assistant professor, associate professor, and professor.
Temporary Faculty (or non tenure-track faculty): Instructional faculty members who have temporary appointments and are not eligible for tenure (sometimes known as adjunct faculty). They are not on tenure track nor in FERP program even if their total contract time or instructional WTU may be equal to1.0 FTEF, including instructor and lecturer.
Others: Graduate teaching assistants (TAs), volunteers, and administrators with teaching assignments.
Faculty Tenure Status
- Tenure
- Probationary
- Temporary Lecturer
- Teaching Associate
- Volunteer
First-Generation Students
First-Generation Students are students whose parents did not complete a four-year college degree, meaning neither of their parents holds a bachelor's degree.
First-Time Freshman
A student who has not previously enrolled in an institution of higher education, but who may have earned some college units prior to matriculation. First-time, First-year (freshman) student: A student attending any institution for the first time at the undergraduate level. Includes students enrolled in the fall term who attended college for the first-time in the prior summer term. Also includes students who entered with advanced standing (college credits earned before graduation from high school).
Feeder High Schools
Group of high schools from which many of SJSU's students have come over the years. Regardless of how long a student has been out of school, if the student has not attended any post-secondary educational institution, the student's high school is considered the feeder school.
Full-Time Equivalent Faculty (FTEF)
Full-time Equivalent Faculty reflects both instructional and non-instructional related assignments, measured by weighted teaching unit (WTU).
Instructional FTEF: Faculty members who have a) teaching assignments and b) direct assigned time.
- Instruction Faculty Fraction (IFF): Used to record WTUs associated with a) direct classroom instruction plus b) direct assigned time (assigned time codes 11, 15 - 18). For example, a faculty member with a full-time teaching appointment would have an IFF of 1.0.
- Instructional Administrative Fraction (IAF): Used to record WTUs associated with faculty assignments related to administrative work, including Department Chairs, Associate or Assistant Department Chairs, Athletic Directors, Coordinator of teacher education, Deans, Associate and Assistant Deans.
- Other Support Fraction (OSF): Used to record remaining WTUs (other than IFF or IAF), generated by an MPP position or a Librarian who teach a course, reimbursed time (grants and contracts), or indirect reassigned time such as new preparations, curricular planning, accreditation responsibilities, and CFA activities. It is supported by state budget funding as well as reimbursed time and appointments from non-state funds.
Full-Time Equivalent Student (FTES)
A full-time equivalent undergraduate is a student who takes 15 credits (SCUs) per semester. A full-time equivalent graduate student is one who takes 12 credits (named Rebenched FTES). Thus, undergraduate FTES is calculated by taking all credits for which undergraduates (also included post baccalaureates and credentials) are registered and dividing that total by 15. Graduate FTES is calculated by taking all credits for which graduates are registered and dividing that total by 12. The sum of these is total FTES. No distinction is made between students registered for graduate or undergraduate courses in calculating student FTE.
For example, three undergraduate students who enrolled 6, 12 and 18 units, respectively are counted as (6 + 12 + 18)/15 = 2.4 FTES. AY FTES is the academic year FTES and is the sum of the fall and spring semester FTES divided by two (i.e., the average of the two semesters). CY FTES is the college year FTES and is the sum of the summer, fall and spring term FTES divided by two.
FTEs for Course Enrollment by College/Department:
By using the same formula (see above), FTES is credited to the college/department which offers the courses. A student's FTE is credited to the Journalism and Mass Communication Department when students enrolled in all Journalism and Mass Communication courses, including JOUR, MCOM, and PR prefixes (regardless of the student's major).
FTEs for Course Enrollment by Prefix:
By using the same formula (see above), FTES is computed for a course prefix. A student's FTE is credited to the Journalism and Mass Communication Department when students enrolled in Journalism courses (JOUR prefix) only (regardless of the student's major).
FTEs for Major Only:
By using the same formula (see above), FTES is computed for all courses enrolled by students who declared a given major. It includes all courses on a student's class schedule.
Note: Prior to the Fall 2006, FTES were calculated by dividing student credits by 15 for both undergraduates and graduates (named Traditional FTES).
Full-Time Student
Undergraduate: A student enrolled for 12.0 or more student credit units in a semester.
Graduate: A student enrolled for 9.0 or more student credit units in a semester.
G
Golden Four
Four specific lower division General Education courses that all upper division transfer students must complete to be admitted to the University. Includes Oral Communication, Written Communication, Critical Thinking and Quantitative Reasoning (math). All four courses must be completed with at least a "C-" grade.
Grade Codes
For the grade timing and availability as well as grade changes and discrepancies, refer to the Office of the Registrar. See the current SJSU Catalog for details regarding the grading symbols and policies.
- A-F - Letter grade (+/- grades except no F+ or F-)
- AU - Audit RD Report Delayed
- CR - Credit (Equivalent to C and above)
- NC - No credit (Equivalent to C- and below)
- I - Incomplete
- RP - Report in Progress
- WU - Withdrawal Unauthorized
- W - Approved Withdrawal
Graduation Rate (Traditional)
Refers to the proportion of entering undergraduates (First-time freshmen and transfers) who earned a degree in a specified number of years.
Time Periods
- 6-Year Rate: This rate is computed by dividing the number who had graduated within the six-year period by the entire class.
Levels
- Major: Students that graduate with a degree in their original major. Those students that changed majors are excluded.
- College: Students that graduated with a degree from the same college. For instance, a student who was initially an Electrical Engineering major and switched to Chemical Engineering would be counted. However, if that same student switched to Accounting, they would not be counted because they changed colleges (from College of Engineering to College of Business).
- University: Those students that graduated with a degree from the university.
Graduation Rate (SJSU Approach)
This approach differs from the "Traditional" rate by taking a group of students who start at SJSU at the same time. This group of students is called an "original ". We then allow a period of time to pass in order for the students to make a decision about their program of study (or major). For first-time freshmen the decision period is two years, for transfers it is one year. The students in each of these groups at the end of the decision period are called a "progressive ". The graduation rate was computed by dividing the number of students who graduated from SJSU by the total students in the progressive.
H
Headcount (HC)
The actual number of people counted in a particular group (e.g., students, faculty, etc.). See also Enrollment (Headcount).
I
Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System (IPEDS)
IPEDS was designed to help the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) meet its mandate to report full and complete statistics on the condition of post-secondary education. The IPEDS system is built upon a series of interrelated surveys used to collect data in such areas as enrollment, program completions, faculty and staff, and financial aid. For more information, see the NCES website.
Induced Course Load Matrix (ICLM)
Table shows the information (e.g., headcount, SCUs, or FTES) where rows are groups of students (majors) and columns are organizational units offering courses. Columns could also be course subjects.
Its identification of interrelations among student’s majors and their course preferences makes it useful for academic planning and curriculum reviews, particularly in simulation models for exploring costs, personnel, and space needs.
L
Lower Division Transfer Pattern (LDTP)
For a particular major and CSU campus means the systemwide lower-division transfer patterns for that major and the corresponding campus-specific lower-division transfer patterns that best prepare students to complete a baccalaureate degree in a specified major.
P
Part-time Student
SJSU's definition: Any undergraduate student taking fewer than 12 credit hours and any graduate student taking fewer than 9 credit hours.
IPED's definition: Any undergraduate student taking fewer than 11 credit hours and any graduate student taking fewer than 8 credit hours.
R
Resident Area
- Santa Clara County - A person with permanent address in Santa Clara County
- West/South Bay Area - A person with permanent address in Monterey, San Benito, San Mateo, Santa Cruz
- East Bay Area - A person with permanent address in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, Stanislaus
- Northern Bay Area - A person with permanent address in Marin, Napa, San Francisco, Solano, Sonoma
- Southern CA - A person with permanent address in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego
- Other CA Counties - A person with permanent address in other California counties
- US - A person with permanent address in other U.S. States, excluding California
- Foreign - A person with permanent address in foreign countries
Retention Rate (Traditional)
This rate is the proportion of entering students who still enrolled and had earned a degree during a defined period.
Time Periods
- 1-Year Rate: This rate is computed by dividing the number of students who had graduated within the first year or still enrolled at the beginning of the 2nd year by the entire class.
- 6-Year Rate: This rate is computed by dividing the number of students who had graduated within the six-year period or still enrolled at the beginning of the 7th year by the entire class.
Levels
- Major: Students that either still enrolled or had graduated with a degree in their original major. Thus, those students that changed majors are excluded.
- College: Students that either still enrolled in the college where they initially enrolled or had graduated with a degree from the same college. For instance, a student who was initially an Electrical Engineering major and switched to Chemical Engineering would be counted. However, if that same student switched to Accounting, they would not be counted because they changed colleges (from College of Engineering to College of Business).
- University: Those students that either still enrolled or had earned a degree from the university.
Regular Session
The state-support instructional program offered in the summer, fall and spring semesters. It does not include self-support Summer Sessions or self-support Extension Programs.
S
Special Sessions or Self-Support Programs
Special sessions are the instructional programs that can be offered to matriculated students on a self-support basis at times and in locations not supported by State General Fund appropriations. All students in special session degree programs must be matriculated. Non-matriculated students paying self-support fees may enroll in special sessions courses on a space-available basis.
Degree, credential, or certificate programs offered through special sessions must secure all regular campus and system approvals. These programs may have a state-supported counterpart operating on campus, or they may operate only as self-support programs through special sessions. It is important that special sessions courses shall not be offered at times or places that are likely to supplant or limit offerings of the state support program (Educ Code Section 89708).
State-Support Programs
State-support instructional programs offered in the summer, fall and spring semesters. They do not include self-support Summer Sessions or self-support Extension Programs.
Student Credit Units (SCU)
Identifies the total number of earned course credit units for all students enrolled in a given section. For example, ENGL 122 in spring 2008 was a 3-unit class with 48 students enrolled. Thus, SCU is computed as 48*3=144.
Student-Faculty Ratio (SFR)
The ratio of Full Time Equivalent Students (FTES) divided by Full Time Equivalent Faculty (FTEF). For example, if a department employs 10.4 FTEF and teaches classes with a total enrollment of 212 FTES, then the departmental SFR is 212/10.4 = 20.4.
Student Level
A general classification of students based upon their academic standing. The three classifications are:
- Undergraduate
- Credential
- Graduate
See Class Level for a more detailed breakdown of student classification.
Student Tracking
Student tracking relies on the identification of a particular group of students () that meet all of a selected set of criteria, such as the term they first enrolled in college. To support retention and graduation research, the Institutional Research at San José State University provides the information for three approaches to tracking student progress toward degree:
- Traditional Tracking Approach: It has been the most widely used approach for program and college level tracking over the last two decades. This approach captures the academic major that students declared at the beginning of their first semester. Although students may switch the major prior to graduation, this approach concerns the first declared major and ignores any subsequent ones.
- Conventional Tracking Approach: This approach was designed to recognize that students change their major often and the connection with the most recent academic program contributes to student progress. Therefore the latest declared major or degree major in case of graduation is assigned to study student persistence and attrition. If students agree to change their major, this approach does not recognize the initial declared major at the beginning of their first semester.
- SJSU Tracking Approach: This is an in-house approach designed to allow students enough time to decide about their program of study (or major). For first-time freshmen, the decision period is two years, for transfers it is one year. We consider a group of students who start at SJSU at the same time, but do not start tracking until the end of the decision period. The newly defined group is called a "progressive ". Therefore, the graduation rate was computed by dividing the number of students who graduated from SJSU by the total students in the progressive.
T
Team-Taught Courses
Refers to the courses taught by more than one faculty. The FTES of the courses is divided among the instructors, according to the percentage of instruction assigned to each instructor.
Time to Degree
The total length of time it takes a student, from his/her first day of class, to receive a degree. For CSU analysis purposes, total time to degree (TTD) is a measure of the time lapse between matriculation to degree completion.
Transfer Student
A student entering SJSU for the first time but known to have previously attended a post-secondary institution at the same level (e.g. undergraduate, graduate). The student may or may not transfer credits from previous courses to SJSU to fill their SJSU degree requirements.
U
Undergraduate Student
A student enrolled in a baccalaureate degree program (without previously receiving a degree from a college or university).
Unduplicated Headcount
The number of individual students enrolled in one or more courses. Thus, each student is counted once, regardless of the number of courses enrolled. See Enrollment (Headcount).
Underrepresented Minority (URM)
URM students include African-American, Hispanic, and American-Indian students.
Non-URM students include white and Asian/Pacific Islander students. (Note: In Hawaii, Native Hawaiians and Filipinos are included as URM students.) Students whose race was classified as unknown or other were excluded from the race metrics. Nonresident aliens were excluded from all metrics.
W
Weighted Teaching Units (WTU)
It is a measure of faculty workload. For example, a lecture class that meets three hours per week generates 3 WTU. WTU is computed based on the type of courses (determined by CS Number). Faculty workload allocated for a course is determined by the C-classification or S-factor of a course and total number of student credit units for the course.
C-Classification or Non-Supervision Courses: CS Numbers 1 through 21. WTU is computed as the product of Course Credit Units and a K factor". For most courses with C-classifications, the WTUs assigned are calculated by multiplying the student credit units by the K-factor for that course classification.
S-Factor or Supervision Courses: CS Numbers 23, 24, 25, 36, & 48. WTU is computed as the number of students enrolled (headcount) times an adjusting factor. For S-factor (supervision) courses, the credit hours do not affect faculty workload; instead, workload is assigned according to the number of students supervised.
References: Course Classification C/S Definitions [pdf], SJSU Guidelines and Instructions for Reporting Faculty Assigned Time, and the Curriculum Office Course Classification website.
Writing Skills Test (WST)
WST required of all undergraduate and graduate students prior to enrollment in 100W courses. Students who have successfully completed 100W at SJSU or met the GWAR requirement at another CSU campus do not need to take the WST. Due to COVID-19, the in-person WST has been suspended indefinitely. Students now complete a brief online exercise called the Upper-Division Writing Directed Self Placement (WST-DSP).
