Degree Audit User Training | Terms | Office of the Registrar

Glossary

Familiarize yourself with the terms used in the new degree audit system.

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Administrative Notes

notes connected to requirements and can have up to 250 characters. Use these notes to give more detail on the requirement or restriction. (NOTE: This will not display on the student's audit)

Affiliated Studies

how students register:

when they participate in study abroad programs offered by organizations and institutions with which the University has an affiliation agreement, and
when they engage in independent study or research and have been awarded a University-approved scholarship, fellowship, or grant.

(NOTE: Students enrolled in affiliated studies are considered full-time students.

Alias Course

a pointer course used in place of a course that is actually stated in the requirement.

Audit

a check of a student's academic record against degree requirements.

Authorization Role

a designation used to authorize staff for specific tasks involving the degree audit system.

authorizer – allowed to authorize people for the new degree audit system
advising audit submitter – allowed to submit audits in setup & live
certified audit submitter – allowed to submit certified audits in live
override maintainer – allowed to perform overrides in live and migrate overrides from setup to live.
rule maintainer – allowed to alter rules in setup (NOTE: authorization for this role also grants access to perform overrides in setup if the individual is also authorized as an override maintainer)

Base Course

a course which is offered under several titles. The master record has its own general title that is distinct from the more specific topic titles.

Branching

the ability to create new requirements off of a base requirement.

Catalog

contains regulations and degree requirements. The catalog of the University is the document of authority for all students. Any academic unit may issue additional or more specific information that is consistent with approved policy.

Catalog Code

digits specifying a catalog. Specific catalogs are identified by their dates. The code consists of four digits: the last two digits of the first year and the last two digits of the second year printed on the cover of the catalog (ex: 12-14 catalog).

Catalog Validity

students are eligible for degree plans described in catalogs that are in effect while they are enrolled. For specifics on catalog validity for undergraduate degrees, see Graduation Under a Particular Catalog in the latest undergraduate catalog. Transfer students are eligible for any valid catalog during their enrollment in a Texas public institution of higher education.

Certified Audits

audits submitted at the end of the semester for enrolled degree candidates. All grades for in-residence courses must be submitted before a certified audit can be submitted.

Core Curriculum

state-mandated core curriculum.

Core Curriculum Code

three-digit code designating an area in the state-mandated core curriculum.

Course

an approved offering from an academic unit in which students may receive a grade or credit.

Course ID

the field of study and course number of a course. These together specify a course.

Course Level

the course level indicates rank as specified by the second digit of the course number at UT Austin (Except in the Colleges of Pharmacy and Law. All courses in the School of Law and some courses in the College of Pharmacy are considered professional rank.). IDA 2.0 can distinguish between the following:

lower-division - (middle digit is 0 or 1)
upper-division - (middle digit is 2 through 7)
graduate - (middle digit is 8 or 9)

Course Relation

a relation set up between courses that are similar or identical so that credit can be properly accounted for in degree audits. The term always refers to the three inventory relations: duplicate, same-as, and replacement relations. The two course schedule relations are scheduled-same-as and room-share.

Course Schedule

a publication listing every course being offered in a particular semester.

Course Type

tells how the course was taken:

in-residence - UT Austin courses taken previously, being taken now, or for which a student is registered
past study-abroad courses - (unique number is 00180) title of the course begins with SA
current study-abroad courses - (with course number SAB 300 until the course is completed and evaluated)
affiliated studies - (A S 000)
in absentia - (ABS)
credit-by-exam - student must apply to have these courses added to their records; for more information, see Course Placement and Credit by Examination in the latest General Information catalog
correspondence - see the course schedule from UT's Distance Education Center
extension - includes past and current classroom courses from UT's University Extension. Current University Extension courses are evaluated in audit as if it had a grade. They are not included in certified audits and will not keep staggered certified audits from running even though the grade has not yet been received. (Note: that audits run using future classes do not include future extension courses.)
transfer - a course taken elsewhere and transferred to the University

Current Classes

classes in which a student is currently enrolled. The student's record is updated in real time when the student registers. You can see current classes on audits, Advisors Toolkit, Easi, and NRRECS.

Degree

degrees are often more general than the degree profile. For example, a student earning a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Economics will receive a diploma for the Bachelor of Arts. See the latest catalog for a list of degrees offered.

Degree Code

a one-character code used to identify a degree type. These can mean different things in different schools.

For example:

A = Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Architecture
B = Bachelor of Business Administration
D = Doctoral degree
F = Bachelor of Fine Arts
M = Bachelor of Music or Master's degree
P = Plan II Bachelor of Arts
S = Bachelor of Sciences

Degree Plan Interface Code

a code used to specify a degree program. It consists of, in order, a:

1 digit school code,
1 digit degree code,
3 digit field of study or department code,
2 digit major code, and sometimes
2 digit track special program code
2 digit special program code

For example, L A ECO BA is the program code for a Bachelor of Arts offered by the College of Liberal Arts with a major in Economics.

Degree Plan Restriction

excludes courses from counting toward the entire degree.

Department

an organizational division of a college. Departments often have the same names as the field of study offered by that department, but some departments offer more than one field of study. For example the Department of Middle Eastern Studies offers such fields of study as Arabic, Persian, and Jewish Studies. For a list of departments, see UT's web listing of Colleges and Academic Units.

Department Code

a code of up to three letters to indicate a particular field of study, major, minor, department, or course prefix. If two letters are used and the letters are from two different words, there will be a space between the letters (for example, the code for Business Administration is B A). If the two letters are from the same word, there will be no space between the letters (the code for French is FR)

Dropped Course

a course that has been dropped from the inventory because it is no longer being offered

Duplicate Course Relation

a relation between two or more courses which are too similar in content for more than one to be counted for credit. For example, one course may be an honors version of another or there may be different versions with similar content for different majors.

Enrollment Status

includes the following:

UT - enrolled at UT
elsewhere - enrolled at some institution other than UT
concurrent - enrolled at both UT and another institution

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Field of Study

an area of subject matter covered in course offerings. Fields of study are offered by departments or schools. For example, the School of Music offers courses in bassoon (BSN), clarinet (CLA), and conducting (CON).

Flag, Curriculum

a notation for skills and experiences included in a section or course.

These flags include:

Writing ( WR) courses that require students to complete regular and substantial writing assignments, require students to read and critique each other's writing, and improve their critical thinking skills.
Quantitative Reasoning (QR) courses based on the use of quantitative skills (e.g., data analysis and modeling, simulation, statistics, probability, and quantitative decision analysis) to analyze real-world problems.
Global Cultures (GC) courses based on content dealing with the cultures and perspectives of a non-U.S. community, country, or coherent regional grouping of countries, past or present.
Cultural Diversity in the United States (CD) courses based on content dealing with the culture, perspectives, and history of one or more underrepresented cultural groups in the United States.
Ethics and Leadership (EL) courses based on work in practical ethics, i.e., the study of what is involved in making real-life ethical choices.
Independent Inquiry (II) courses based on the students' independent investigation and presentation of their own work. The presentation of their work can take place in many venues including presentations in a capstone course, a performance, independent research or a thesis.

Future Classes

classes for which a student has registered but which have not yet begun. Future University Extension classes do not appear on audits.

Global Educational Opportunities

UT students can participate in several kinds of global educational opportunities (also known as study abroad) such as:

affiliated studies courses appear on degree audits as "AFFILIATED PROG STUDY ABROAD" with a unique number of 00060 for a long semester, 70055 for the first summer term, 70065 for the second summer term, or 70060 for the whole summer session.
faculty-led programs courses appear on degree audits the same way courses in residence do or the same way affiliated studies participation is shown, depending on the program.
Maymester abroad four-and-a-half-week courses that take place immediately following the spring semester at an international course location; courses appear on degree audits as UT courses taken in residence.
international study and research (ISR) independent study or research undertaken at an international location; courses appear as ISR 000 for undergraduates or ISR 080 for graduates.
non-UT programs other programs; courses appear as transfer courses. These courses may or may not be accepted for transfer credit. If occurring during a long semester, these programs require students to take a leave of absence and apply for readmission.
reciprocal exchange (also known as study abroad or exchange);courses appear on degree audits as SAB 300.

For more information, see study abroad in the latest General Information Catalog or contact the Study Abroad Office.

Grades

all courses are assigned a grade as explained under evaluation in the latest General Information catalog.

Below is a brief key to grade symbols used at UT:

A excellent
B above average
C average
CR credit for a credit/no credit (grades A - C) or pass/fail (grades A - D) class; not included in GPA calculation
D pass for undergraduates, failure (no credit received) for graduates
F failure (no credit received); included in GPA calculation
I permanent incomplete, cannot be changed to a grade; not included in GPA calculation
NC no credit for a credit/no credit class
Q drop; student officially dropped the course (no penalty, no grade); not included in GPA calculation
S satisfactory; this code is used for DEV classes only; not included in GPA calculation
U unsatisfactory; this code is used for DEV classes only; not included in GPA calculation
W withdrawn; student withdrew from the university (no grade); not included in GPA calculation
X temporary incomplete; course must be completed by the end of following semester (grade turned in by end of grade reporting for the following semester) or it turns into an F for undergraduate students or an I for graduate students; not included in GPA calculation (until changes to a grade); will postpone the running of a staggered audit until they are changed or until the last day, whichever comes first
Z student is registered on the credit/no credit or pass/fail basis; no grade has yet been assigned; will postpone the running of a staggered certified audit until they are changed or until the last day, whichever comes first.
* grade not yet assigned; for continuing students in dissertation, master's report, departmental report, treatise, and the second portion of thesis (698B) and recital (698RB)
# grade was not submitted in time for this report

In Absentia Registration

registration by students who have completed degree requirements but have not yet graduated. Registration appears as ABS on the student's record. See also in absentia registration in the latest General Information catalog for more information.

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Keyset

process where we can identify a certain student population.

Legislative Requirement

a requirement decreed by the Texas Legislature rather than the university system, university, school, or department. This phrase is most often used to refer to the state's history and government requirements.

Major

the major field of study pursued by a student working toward a degree.

Major Code

a two-letter code used to distinguish major plans within a department. This code is usually redundant with the degree code, but may be used to further distinguish between degrees. For example, if the only distinction made for a department is between a B.A. and a B.S., then the values 'BA' and 'BS' are used. Otherwise initials or prominent letters of the major's title are used.

Minor

a field of study other than that chosen for the major for which a student may be required to take significant coursework. Some degree programs require a minor. There may be considerable leeway in which field of study a student may choose.

Minor Trigger Requirement

every major degree plan in the 2016-2018 catalog and future catalogs will carry one minor trigger requirement in IDA 2.0, even if a minor is not required for the major degree plan.The minor trigger requirement is an empty requirement by defaut.

Moreable Minor

a minor which includes more than one field of study. Moreable minors are only valid in catalogs prior to the 16-18 catalog, and are created and housed on a student's profile. When adding a profile for the student, the following are automatically created:

BIO includes the following biological science departments: BIO, BOT, MIC, and ZOO
B A includes the following business departments: B A, ACC, ACS, B C, B L, FIN, I B, INS, LEB, MAN, MIS, MKT, MSC, R E, RES, RMI, STA, and TR; does not include C M, DPA, O A, OAX, R M, RET, SEC, or TRS
COM includes the following communications departments: COM, ADV, CMS, CSD, J, P R, RTF, and SPE
ED includes the following education departments: ED, ALD, EDC, EDP, HED, HRD, KIN, SCI, SED, EDA, FLE, SME, UTL, and UTS; does not include PED

A moreable minor may also be created in a student's profile by listing multiple fields of study (such as S W and SOC). A moreable minor can hold only 20 fields of study.

Option

options are found within a section of a requirement. Within options, course lists are processed one at a time until the requirement is satisfied.

Option Restriction

excludes courses within a specific option.

Override

an adjustment made to a student's audit to adjust the outcome of the audit. Overrides are done to make exceptions for students, to deal with situations for which the system does not have enough information, or to hand-approve a non-course requirement such as completion of a portfolio.

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Planned Classes

these may be classes that the student is planning to take in the future or considering taking in the future.

Planner

the part of IDA where students and prospective students can add courses that are not on their academic record, and then run an audit using planned courses to see how these proposed courses would count toward a degree.

Prefix

a one-letter code at the beginning of course numbers of courses taught in the summer to describe when the courses are offered:

f - first session (first half of the summer)
s - second session (second half of the summer)
w - whole session
n - nine week session

Primary Course Key (PCK)

a ten-character code identifying a course. Example: The primary course key for ADV 371J is 1000000186.

Production

refers to a working database, as opposed to a quality assurance or development database.

Profile

an online summary of a student's degree objectives consisting of a student ID, program, catalog, and possibly a minor. Default profiles are created automatically once per week for all currently enrolled students with a declared major who do not already have a profile using that major. Advisers can update these default profiles to tentative or official profiles.

Progress Towards Degree/Time to Degree

a percentage that estimates how far along students are in completing their coursework requirements for their degree plan.

Replacement Course Relation

a relation between two or more courses that are taught under different course numbers at different times. For example, a field of study may change names or a course may change from a topics course to a stand-alone course.

Requirement/Restriction ID

a seven-digit number identifier that, in conjunction with the catalog, uniquely identifies a degree requirement or restriction; this ID is generated whenever a requirement or restriction is created.

Requirement

used to find courses that can fulfill course requirements. It includes not only a statement of the requirement, but also instructs the system on such matters as to which part of the student record to look at, in which order, what to look for, and which standards to check.

Restriction

requirement that restricts or eliminates the use of courses. Examples include special processing restrictions, degree plan restrictions, scope restrictions, subset restrictions, option restrictions, and exception restrictions.

Same-As Course Relation

a relation between two or more courses in different fields of study that are identical (they have the same title, subject-matter description, contact hours, prerequisite, identical content, and offered together in the same room). There is a strict one-to-one equivalency between courses that are considered to be identical. (Two courses together cannot be the same as a single third course, for example.)

Scheduled-Same-As

a relation between sections of two or more courses taught at the same time in the same place with the same content. When courses are created in the course-schedule, the departmental course scheduler creates the scheduled-same-as relationship. This relationship cannot exist between courses with different levels and are semester based.

School Code

a one-letter code indicating a particular school or college. The codes, organized by level and in alphabetical order by school, are:

Undergraduate:

9 Architecture
2 Business Administration
C Communication
3 Education
4 Engineering
5 Fine Arts
J Geosciences
L Liberal Arts
E Natural Sciences
N Nursing
S Social Work
U Undergraduate Studies

Graduate & Professional:

B Graduate Business
6 Graduate School
7 School of Law
8 Pharmacy

School/Major Code

a school code combined with a five-digit code assigned at admission and adjusted when students declare a major in the dean's office overseeing that major. This code is used for admissions, advising, and registration purposes. It is also sometimes called a major code or an advising major code.

Scope

a label for a requirement to categorize it for purposes of later re-use and display. Requirements are displayed in the audit according to how they are scoped.

Scope Restriction

excludes courses from counting toward any requirements within a given scope.

Section

a set of one or more course groups in requirements/restrictions.

Semester

half of an academic year. The University offers courses in the fall and spring semester as well as a limited number of courses in the summer.

Semester Code

five-digit number indicating the year and semester. The first four digits are the year and the last digit indicates the semester, as follows:

2 spring
6 summer
9 fall

Senior Countdown

program that proides an opportunity for students to earn rewards and gain access to networking events in their senior year. Students who meet with their adviser and confirm they will graduate in four years can sign up for the program.

Session

courses are offered in fall and spring semesters and summer sessions. Students still receive credits measured in semester hours, but since sessions are shorter than semesters, students must attend more hours per week. There are currently four (mostly overlapping) sessions during which summer classes can be taught: first session, the second session, the whole session, and the nine-week session.

Slotting Audits

slotting audits are submitted programmatically based on a student's profile, and multiple audits will be run for students with multiple profiles. The degree audit with the highest percentage completed towards degree will be considered for registration slot assignment.

Special Program Code

a two-character code used for those degree programs with special programs

Special Processing Restrictions

restrict courses from counting toward the degree in specific situations:

duplicates
outside enrollment
prior degrees
nonstandard course formats

Stand-alone Course

a course whose content is fully indicated by the course number. This is contrasted to a topics course which includes several related courses taught under one course number.

Subset Restriction

excludes courses for a subset of course requirements.

Topic

one offering of a topics course.

Topics Courses

a set of different but related courses that are taught under the same department-number combination such as Music 307. These courses have the same base title but different "topic" titles. For example, the base title for Music 307 is "Topics in Popular Music." Anyone who takes that course has to choose one of the topics being offered. In Fall 2000, three topics were offered: "History of Rock Music," "Jazz Appreciation," and "Music of Black Americans." The students who took these courses will have the relevant topic title appears on their transcripts. Often, when a particular topic has been taught several times, it is assigned a topic number.

Topic Number

a number between 1 and 99 (or 001 and 099) indicating a numbered topic of a topics course. Some topics are unnumbered and do not carry a number. Only numbered topics appear in the course inventory.

Topic Title Inventory

a web-based interface that allows you to search and view topic titles. The Topic Title Inventory allows you to view the number of times a topics course has been offered, as well as the first time CCYYS and unique.

Track Code

a two-character code used for those degree programs with a choice of tracks within one degree code; these codes are not necessarily consistent across majors.

Transfer Courses

courses taken at other institutions and accepted in transfer for credit at UT Austin.

Transfer Credit, Generic Abbreviations

course abbreviations for transfer courses for which no direct UT Austin equivalent is known. If such a course is in a discipline offered at UT Austin, the transfer evaluation awards credit with no specific course number, for example "HIS 3HRS."

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Unique Number: a five-digit number assigned to each section of a course that is taught. Every section offered in a given semester or summer has its own unique number.
UT EID: an electronic identifier allowing access to secure services at the university.
Zero-hour Course: a course with zero hours of credit and a zero as the first digit of the course number. These courses do not appear in the course listing of a degree audit (unless stated otherwise below) and are not evaluated within the degree audit.