Academic Calendar. All of the important dates and deadlines for applying for enrollment, registering for classes, dropping or withdrawing from classes, holidays, exams, fee deadlines and more.
Academic Fresh Start. For students who have attended college before but were unsuccessful, this program can help them start a new college career by calculating your GPA and credit hours toward graduation only upon the return to college. Students must meet certain qualifications and apply to take advantage of Academic Fresh Start.
Academic Dishonesty / Classroom Misconduct / Cheating Policy. This policy prohibits plagiarism, cheating and other forms of academic misconduct. A student guilty of academic misconduct — either directly or indirectly, through participation or assistance — may face academic penalties at the discretion of his or her instructor.
Academic Record. A student’s permanent record of academic credit, including credit earned at Pellissippi State and credit transferred from other regionally accredited higher education institutions. Pellissippi State maintains digital records, and the assistant vice president of Enrollment Services is responsible for their maintenance and security.
Advisor. A faculty member or academic counselor who meets with students each semester to help in registering for classes and discussing progress toward achieving educational goals.
Alternative Scheduling. Some courses and programs are delivered in alternative or flexible scheduling formats, including online, on the weekend or in the evenings. Other flexible scheduling options include traditional and accelerated pathway cohorts, hybrid online/on-campus courses, two-way audio/video courses, telecourses and even DVD courses.
Associate Degree. Pellissippi State awards associate degrees of several types. An Associate of Applied Science degree is awarded to students who complete a Career Program. An Associate of Arts or Associate of Science degree is awarded to students who complete a Transfer Program like Tennessee Transfer Pathway. Additional degree types are unique: the Associate of Applied Science in Nursing (a Career Program), the Associate of Fine Arts in Music (a Transfer Program) and the Associate of Science in Teaching (a Transfer Program).
Attendance Policy. This policy states that Pellissippi State students will attend and participate in all scheduled class, laboratory or clinical sessions. Some courses may have special attendance requirements, which will be delineated in the course syllabus.
Audit. A student audits a class when he or she takes a class for information only, not for credit. Auditing students still must pay all fees and attend classes, but they are not required to complete assignments or take exams as outlined in the course syllabus.
Career Program. An academic program that prepares students to begin a particular type of career immediately after graduating from Pellissippi State with an Associate of Applied Science degree.
Career Programs Guarantee. Pellissippi State guarantees that any graduate from one of our Career Programs who is judged by his or her employer as lacking in the technical job skills expected of an entry-level employee will be provided additional courses (up to 15 semester hours) by Pellissippi State at no charge. This is also called the Job Competency Guarantee.
Cohort. Cohorts can have two meanings here at Pellissippi State. Traditional Pathway Cohorts are block scheduled. Block scheduling means all of your classes are likely to contain the same people. This group of fellow classmates is called a cohort. Accelerated Pathway Cohorts are still block-scheduled, but they also let part-time students complete a degree in the same amount of time a full-time student could: i.e., two years. Accelerated cohorts often have short semesters (sometimes as short as five weeks) and longer classes (sometimes several hours), and classes might meet in the evening or on weekends.
Concentration. The area of specialization within a degree program. For example, a student can earn a Business degree with a concentration in Culinary Arts.
Continuing Education Unit. Also abbreviated as CEUs, these units represent successfully completed hours of study in non-credit, lifelong learning or continuing education courses.
Co-op. Some academic degree programs offer co-op positions — paid positions with local companies that are akin to internships or apprenticeships. The Placement Office can help students in Career Programs find co-op opportunities.
Corequisite. A course that must be taken prior to or at the same time as another course.
Corequisite Remediation. At Pellissippi State, corequisite remediation courses in English, math and reading combine remedial skill-building into a standard college-level courses. Students in these classes make up skill deficiencies while simultaneously earning college credit. Students are placed into corequisite remediation courses based upon ACT, SAT or other entrance or challenge tests (like Accuplacer). Students in corequisite remediation courses may be restricted from taking some other college-level courses until they successfully master any necessary college-level competencies.
Course Load. The total number of credit hours that make up a student’s semester schedule.
Course Waiver / Substitution. Course waivers and substitutions are granted only in special cases — typically, when a degree program’s curriculum changes or a course is deleted. The course that is waived must be substituted for by a course of equal or greater credit. Waivers and substitutions are not permitted in Tennessee Transfer Pathways. Any waivers or substitutions that are part of a Transfer Guide must be approved by the four-year institution that hosts that agreement.
Credit Hours. The number of hours awarded for a particular course. A minimum of 60 credit hours is required for graduation.
Curriculum. A particular plan of study, i.e. the specific courses that make up a degree program.
Degree. Students earn degrees as official recognition that they have completed a program’s curriculum and general requirements. At Pellissippi State, students earn associate degrees.
Degree Audit. A record of a student’s progress toward a particular degree and/or major and/or area of concentration. The audit shows all the courses a student has completed toward that degree, any courses that are in progress and any outstanding courses still needed to fulfill degree requirements.
Directory Information. Most student information is confidential, but some information about a student may be disclosed without the consent of the student, to any person requesting the information. This “directory information” includes the student’s name, address, college email address, telephone number, major field of study, participation in officially recognized activities, dates of attendance, degrees and awards received and the most recent previous educational institution the student attended. Students who does not wish directory information to be released without their consent must provide written notification to Enrollment Services.
Dual Enrollment. High school students can dual enroll in one or more specified college courses, for which the student can earn both high school and college credit.
Educational Records. These are all records that contain information directly related to a student and that are maintained by or on behalf of an educational agency or institution. Exceptions to educational records include the following: sole possession records, employment records (unless contingent on attendance), law enforcement records, medical/health records and alumni records (those that only contain information about a student after he or she is no longer a student).
Elective. A course that the student can choose to complete degree requirements.
Fees. The amount of money owed to Pellissippi State for courses a student takes. If a student misses a fee payment deadlines, his or her semester schedule will be dropped. Fee payment deadlines are listed in the Academic Calendar .
Financial Responsibility Statement. In this agreement between the College and each student, the student agrees to the financial terms and conditions required by Pellissippi State, and gives Pellissippi State permission to contact him or her via cell phone and auto-dialer. Students must accept this statement before they register for classes each semester.
Full-Time Student. A student enrolled in 12 or more credit hours during any semester.
General Education Courses. Every Tennessee Board of Regents institution incorporates a common General Education core curriculum into its degree requirements and accepts all courses designated as meeting these requirements at other TBR institutions. Pellissippi State is a TBR institution. Additional information about general education courses is available on the TBR website.
Grade Point Average (GPA). An overall average of grades for all the courses a student takes for a semester and during his or her academic career. The college-level GPA does not include grades earned for corequisite remediation courses for English, reading and math.
Grant. Financial aid that does not have to be paid back. Some grants have specific application and/or maintenance criteria.
Hold. A hold on a student account shows up in myPellissippi. Holds can appear for a number of reasons, typically related to an unmet requirement. Holds are blocks that can prevent a student from registering for classes, receiving financial aid or obtaining a transcript.
Internship. Some Career Programs require students to complete an internship — an unpaid position with a local company to gain experience related to the student’s area of study — before they can graduate.
Legitimate Educational Interest. Administrative officials, like faculty and staff, may request information about a student to fulfill their assigned job responsibilities. Any information disclosed to an administrative official is limited to that of a legitimate educational interest, and only to the information necessary for that faculty or staff member to fulfill his or her duties.
Lifelong Learning. Non-credit courses (sometimes called continuing education courses) that are offered for business, professional or personal development.
Major. The student’s program of study. Students whose primary goal is to transfer to a four-year college or university can enroll in a Transfer Program. Students whose primary goal is to seek immediate employment after graduation can enroll in a Career Program.
Non-Degree Student. Any student who is enrolled in classes at Pellissippi State, but who does not intend to earn a degree at Pellissippi State or another institution, is non-degree seeking. These students may be auditing courses or taking classes for personal fulfillment. Non-degree students are not eligible for traditional financial aid, and may not be able to register for certain classes.
Part-Time Student. A student who is enrolled in less than 12 credit hours during any semester.
Prerequisite. A requirement that must be met before enrolling in a certain course.
Prior Learning Assessment (PLA). Prior Learning Assessment is an evaluation and assessment program, through which a student can earn college credit for life experience, military service, previous career and even volunteer work.
Registration. Registration is the period during which students can sign up for the classes for the next term. Registration periods are designated in the Academic Calendar .
Satisfactory Academic Progress. Satisfactory Academic Progress (sometimes abbreviated as SAP) is a measure of a student’s success in pursuing an academic degree, calculated from your GPA and from the percentage of classes successfully completed compared to those that a student has not completed or has failed. Poor SAP can have consequences for financial aid. SAP derives from a Department of Education policy with which Pellissippi State must comply.
Scholarship. Financial aid that does not have to be paid back. Scholarships often have specific application and/or maintenance criteria.
Semester. Semesters are 15-week periods during the fall, spring and summer in which students can complete coursework. Semesters are the periods of time during which classes meet and final exams occur. Students in Accelerated Pathway Cohorts may have shorter semesters than the traditional 15 weeks.
Site Campuses. Pellissippi State has five campuses in Knox and Blount Counties: the Blount County Campus, Division Street Campus, Hardin Valley Campus, Magnolia Avenue Campus and Strawberry Plains Campus.
Syllabus. The outline of objectives, contents and requirements for a course.
Tennessee Promise. A last-dollar scholarship for Tennessee high school graduates to earn an associate degree, which began in 2015. As a last-dollar scholarship, Tennessee Promise covers tuition and mandatory fees not covered by the Pell Grant, the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship or the Tennessee Student Assistance Award, among others.
Tennessee Transfer Pathways. A type of Transfer Program overseen by the Tennessee Board of Regents. Students in these pathways earn an Associate of Arts or Associate of Science degree with a concentration in their area of study. Tennessee Transfer Pathway credits can be transferred to any other Tennessee Board of Regents institution, public state university or University of Tennessee institution.
Testing Center. A center on each Pellissippi State campus that provides standardized testing and makeup testing for students.
Transcript. An official record of academic history, provided by a high school or college a student has attended.
Transfer Credit. Credit awarded by a receiving college or university for equivalent coursework at another institution.
Transfer Guide. A partnership between Pellissippi State and a four-year college or university that satisfies degree requirements at both institutions. Students can use Transfer Guides to transfer credits from Pellissippi State to another institution. Transfer guides are sometimes called articulation agreements.
Transfer Policies. The policies and conditions of eligibility at a receiving institution that determine the amount of credit awarded to a student transferring to that institution.
Transfer Program. Transfer Programs are designed for students who wish to earn an associate degree in order to transfer earned credits to a four-year college or university. Tennessee Transfer Pathways are a type of Transfer Program. Transfer Programs are sometimes called University Parallel Programs.
Transfer Program Guarantee. The Pellissippi State guarantee to Transfer Programs graduates that Pellissippi State will refund tuition for any course passed with at least a C grade if a student is unable to transfer that earned course credit to a four-year college or university with whom Pellissippi State has an articulation agreement. The guarantee is valid for two years after graduation from Pellissippi State. The course must appear on the transfer equivalency table and an articulation agreement with the four-year institution.
Visiting Student. A visiting student is one who is enrolled at another higher education institution but who is taking credit classes at Pellissippi State for a semester, with the intent of transferring credits back to his or her home college or university. These students are not eligible for traditional financial aid, and may not be able to register for certain classes without providing proof of proficiency through ACT or SAT scores and/or college transcripts from other institutions.
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