Campus Terminology – Academic

Refer to www.rockhurst.edu for detailed information on these terms and policies.

Academic Leadership

• Professor (Assistant, Associate) – An instructor with a doctorate degree or equivalent qualifications who teaches and researches in their areas of expertise. Instructors at Rockhurst have various titles, including faculty, Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor. Your faculty (sometimes in conjunction with your Academic Advisor) should always be your first level of outreach if you have questions or concerns about a course. To identify your professors, head to your Student Portal > Student Academic Services > Profile.
• Department Chair – Oversees the administrative and teaching activities of instructors within a campus department offering degrees and Core courses.
• College Dean – Oversees the educational and administrative affairs of programs and departments within a college, reports to the provost. Rockhurst University has three deans for each of its colleges: the College of Arts & Sciences, the College of Business and Technology, and the Saint Luke’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences. Something important to keep in mind is the hierarchy of communication relating to questions or concerns with a course. Keep this order in mind: Faculty > Department Chair > Assistant/Associate Dean > College Dean.
• Provost – Coordinates all academic programs, degrees, policies, and activities at Rockhurst, working closely with college deans and professors regarding the educational offerings of a university. Reports to the university president.
• President of Rockhurst University – Responsible for the operation of the entire university, overseeing all academic, administrative, and student support operations to ensure their success.
  • General Information: rockhurst.edu/about/presidents-office

Academic Terms

• Academic Warning – The status a student is given if they fall below good academic standing and are at risk of dismissal from the institution.
• Academic Standing – The status of a student’s academic career; usually determined by their GPA and other considerations.
• Advisor/Advisement/Advising – Advisors are staff members assigned to students within their college to assist in the advisement process by aiding in declaring majors and minors, assisting students in semesterly class scheduling, and ensuring students fulfill graduation requirements.
• Certificate – A non-degree credential that provides knowledge or skill in a specific area. (add better definition later)
• CLEP – College Level Examination Program, proficiency tests in selected courses that can be administered to students who desire to obtain college credit.
• Concentration – A specific area of emphasis that allows a student to narrow their degree path within a broad major.
• Course Catalog – A college publication that describes academic programs, policies and procedures, majors and minors and required courses.
• Course Sequence – A group of courses that must be taken in a specific order.
• Credit Hour – A measure of a class’s time based on how many hours students spend in class, which can vary from institution to institution.
• Cumulative Exam – An exam that covers everything learned in a course up until the current point. For example, a cumulative midterm would incorporate concepts from the start of the term to the midpoint, and a cumulative final exam would incorporate concepts from the start of the term to the end of the term.
• Cumulative GPA – Cumulative GPA includes a student’s completed coursework and can change as more courses are completed.
• Degree Audit – This refers to a formal evaluation of your academic coursework and an analysis of the degree requirements you still need to complete to graduate.
• Electives – Classes chosen by students that either fulfill a general education requirement or pique their interest outside their major’s core courses.
• Faculty – Academic staff, including both full-time and adjunct professors.
• FERPA – The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, the legislation that ensures educational institutions protect students’ educational and personal information.
• Liberal Arts – An Interdisciplinary study of the humanities, social, and natural sciences meant to provide students with a broad spectrum of knowledge.
• Major – A student’s primary area of study; it typically reflects the field in which they plan to get a job after graduation.
• Minor – A secondary focus meant to add value to the student’s major.
• Office Hours – Time set aside by professors or instructors for students to visit their office and ask questions or discuss the course.
• Overload – A course load of more than 18 credit hours that needs special approval.
• Prerequisite – A course required to take more advanced courses or to apply for a program.
• Program of Study – The specific curriculum that leads to a degree or certificate.
• Registrar – A specialist tasked with handling several administrative and logistical areas of academia, including but not limited to registering students for classes, preparing student transcripts, preparing class schedules, and analyzing enrollment statistics.
• STEM – The collective subjects of science, technology, engineering, and math.
• Syllabus – A description of a course distributed by the professor, which typically outlines the course by providing important dates, grading scales, and projects listed.
• Transcripts – An official academic record of courses taken and grades earned at a given institution issued by the institution's Registrar’s Office.

Financial Aid/Student Accounts

• FAFSA – The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, an application that students complete to determine eligibility for federal loans and grants, state grants, and institutional need-based aid.
• Financial Aid – Funds students can receive for tuition or expenses that may or may not have to be paid back.
• Grant – A form of financial aid that the student does not have to repay.
• ITINS(Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) – A number issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) used to identify an individual in tax returns and other documents filed with the IRS.
• Loan – A form of financial aid that the student must repay.
• Master Promissory Note (MPN) – A legal document that is a student’s agreement to repay their loans and any accrued interest and fees.
• Promissory Notes – A legal contract in which a borrower agrees to repay a loan according to the terms and conditions.
• Student Accounts – An office responsible for financial transactions, bookkeeping, etc., for an institution.
• Student Fees – Used to fund institutional programs beyond academic that can include, but are not limited to, student union operations, student government activities, and athletics.
• Transact – The official payment platform for students at RU.

Student Support Services

• Accommodations – Accommodations, such as extra time on tests, are granted to students with a diagnosed disability or medical condition that affects their ability to learn or function on campus.  Students must meet with Student Accessibility Services to establish official accommodations.
• Peer Coaching – The Peer Coaching program consists of certified peer educators who can assist all students by offering direct coaching and support related to each student’s own academic journey and interest areas.  Peer Coaches also co-teach the Manresa class, designed for all First-Time college students.
• Student Accessibility Services (SAS) – Office that coordinates accommodation for students with disabilities or medical conditions.
• Success Coaching – Individualized coaching for academic, co-curriculars, personal, and financial success. Coaches help students navigate the transition to college and the various resources available at Rockhurst.
• Supplemental Instruction (SI) – Regularly scheduled out-of-class group study sessions in select traditionally challenging courses, led by trained SI leaders who utilize collaborative activities to promote greater understanding of course materials. Sessions are free and optional for students.
• Tutoring – One-on-one help from a trained peer tutor with course content, exam prep, writing, or general questions.  Tutoring through the Aylward-Dunn Learning Center is FREE for all Rockhurst Students.

Library Services

• A to Z Library Databases – List of online resources that can contain peer-reviewed information and journals. You may find the list of all the databases we have and the subjects they are associated with here.
• Interlibrary Loan – A library service that allows the library to request materials from other libraries throughout the nation. May be called Tipasa and/or OpenRS.
• Liaison Librarian – Greenlease Library participates in the liaison librarian model. This means that each discipline has a specific librarian to support that discipline's research needs.
• Library Chat – Online tool that can be found on the library's main website, where students can type in questions and connect with a real-life librarian 24/7. Like how Chat GPT would function with an actual person.
• LibGuides – An online resource that contains a curated list of library resources, websites, and more devoted to a specific topic. Each major at Rockhurst has a LibGuide, which can be found here.
• One Search – Located on the library's main website, this search engine searches through all available resources at the library.
• Research Consultation – A time that is prearranged with a librarian to get research support and/or citation support for a class. Each discipline has a librarian whom you can schedule a research consultation with.

Student Life Terms

• Extracurricular – Optional activities that students can participate in outside of academic classes.
• Fraternity & Sorority Life – A collection of fraternities and sororities whose names originate from letters in the ancient Greek alphabet.
• Intramurals – Recreational sports available for students, faculty, and staff to compete against each other that are offered throughout the academic year.
• Pan-Hellenic – National Pan-Hellenic Council, the national organization that governs and supports the historically African American fraternities and sororities.
• Panhellenic – National Panhellenic Conference, the governing body that supports the traditional Panhellenic sororities.
• Rockspace – Rockhurst University’s student engagement platform. This is where you can join organizations, vote in student elections, take surveys, and discover upcoming events on campus. You can access this from your RU Portal.

Career Development

• Career Fair/Career Expo – Events held on campus to connect you with employers.  Students are encouraged to attend early in their college experience to explore internship and/or full-time employment opportunities.
• Co-op/Internship – A cooperative education program that allows students to work in their chosen field to gain skills and experience. It can take place during the semester, replacing some or all classes, but continues the student’s enrollment in the institution.  Summer is the timeframe when most are completed.  Also known as experiential education.  

General and Miscellaneous Terms

Accreditation – A certification where a school or instructional program meets set standards by a nationally recognized organization or regional accrediting bodies.

Admitted – A student’s status of being accepted into an institution or program.

Alumni – Graduates of an institution

Bachelor’s Degree – An undergraduate degree that generally requires four years (or a certain number of credit hours – 128 at Rockhurst) to complete.

Commencement – A formal graduation ceremony that celebrates recent graduates with their friends and family.

Commuter – A student who does not live in on-campus housing and commutes to campus from their off-campus residence.

Deciding – When a student has not declared a major. Utilize campus resources to explore academic options and determine a field of study and career path.  

Doctoral Degree – The highest academic degree awarded by universities or other educational institutions. It signifies the culmination of advanced study and original research in a specific field.

Enrollment – The process of completing the registration process by paying tuition and fees, OR the total number of registered students for a particular program or the whole institution.

First-Generation Student – A college student whose parent or guardian has not graduated from a four-year college or university.

Full-Time Student – A student who is enrolled in at least 12 credit hours in the spring or fall terms and at least six credit hours in the summer term.  For graduate students, a student must be enrolled in at least 9 hours of credit.

Immunizations – Required vaccinations for a student to attend the institution and/or to live in on-campus housing.

Intent – A legally binding contract that states a student will attend an institution for at least one academic year in exchange for an athletic scholarship.

Master’s Degree – A graduate-level degree pursued after completing a bachelor’s degree that requires up to two years of full-time study and provides a high level of mastery in a specific field.

Non-Degree Seeking Student – A student who takes classes from an institution but does not intend to earn a degree.

Orientation – The official process either before or at the beginning of the school year that serves as a training period for new students, typically including activities and/or courses intended to introduce the institution and available resources.

Part-Time Student – A student who is enrolled in less than 12 credit hours during an academic semester.

The Portal – Online student portal where students can access their grades, course schedule, Canvas, tuition bills, and virtually everything they need as a student.

Registration – Process of reserving a spot in specific classes for enrolled students.

Residence Hall – Campus housing where students live within proximity to academic buildings.

Residency – Referring to whether a student lives within the boundaries to be considered as an in-state student or an out-of-state student.

Resume – A Document developed and used when applying for an internship or full-time employment.  

Scholarships – Awards provided to students from the institution or outside entities to assist students in paying tuition and/or day-to-day expenses.

Semester – The academic year is divided into three semesters: fall, spring, and summer.

Jesuit Identity and Campus Ministry

• Jesuit – The Jesuits are an apostolic religious community called the Society of Jesus. They are grounded in love for Christ and animated by the spiritual vision of their founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola, to help others and seek God in all things.
• Core Values – Rockhurst University, like all 27 Jesuit universities in the U.S., is guided by a set of core values. These annual themes are infused into the Rockhurst experience, from academics to special events to student reflections.
  • Contemplation in Action
  • Cura Personalis (care for the whole person)
  • Finding God in All Things
  • Magis (more/deeper)
  • Reflection and Discernment
  • Wisdom
• Engage RU – Web-based portal where students learn about, register for, and log service hours.  Tracking service hours is crucial for students (applying for Rockhurst housing, scholarships, graduation, jobs, medical school, graduate school, law school, post-grad service, etc.).
• Finucane Day of Service – An annual Orientation event that invites Rockhurst University incoming students, returning students, employees, and alumni to grow in service and fellowship with the KC community.    
• Kateri – An intentional Community of students living together with the goals to grow in understanding of themselves and the world around them. They do this through the community pillars of simplicity, spirituality, hospitality, community, service, and sustainability.
• Mass – Worship that happens with Liturgy of the Word and Liturgy of the Eucharist.
• Liturgy – A form of public prayer to God.
• Prayer Service – A gathering of people for a specific occasion as a form of worship.
• Retreat – A time set aside from campus for prayer, reflection, meditation, self-discovery, building relationships, and immersing oneself in nature.
• Community Engaged Learning Course – Rockhurst University class in which students participate in community service, then reflect (paper, discussion, etc.) upon that service as a graded assignment.  
• Solidarity-Immersion Trip – Annual trips during winter, spring, and summer breaks in which Rockhurst students travel to destinations such as Belize, Alabama, New York, the Dominican Republic, and Upper Michigan to work, learn, and laugh alongside our hosts. The application process starts each year in September.

Rockhurst Jargon

The Caf – Slang term for the Thomas More Dining Hall (TMDR), located within Massman Hall.

Rock Alerts – The University issues emergency alerts via email and text message in the event of school closings and other emergency messages. You may also receive automated tornado warning messages for Jackson County, Missouri, when the National Weather Service issues them.

Rook Room – Rockhurst University is a popular student choice hub located in Massman Hall. It’s a central spot on campus where the students can relax, socialize, and enjoy various amenities.

Residence Life

• Academic Integrity – Policies and principles that promote honesty and fairness in academic work, including cheating and plagiarism
• Area Coordinator – Professional staff who manage multiple residence halls or areas within the campus housing
• Behavioral Standing – Expectations for student behavior both on and off campus, including respect for others and adherence to laws and university policies
• Blocks – The number of meal swipes you have to use as part of your meal plan in the Thomas Moore Dining Room. These can only be used in the dining hall.
• Code of Conduct – A set of rules outlining the responsibilities and proper practices for students within the institution
• Community Assistant (CA) – Similar to RAs, they help facilitate community development and support residents, often during the summertime.
• Complainant – A person who brings forward a complaint alleging a violation of the Code of Conduct
• Corcoran Hall – An underclassmen residence hall located on the northeast side of campus next to the Mason-Halpin Fieldhouse on the corner of Rockhurst Rd.
• Desk Assistant (DA) – Student staff who work the front desks of residence halls, providing administrative support and assisting residents
• Double Room – A regular-sized room in the residence halls designed for two people, equipped with two beds, two desks, two desk chairs, and two wardrobes.
• Flex Dollars – the number of dollars you must use as part of your meal plan in dining areas outside of the Thomas Moore Dining Room. You can always add more flex dollars to your meal plan throughout the semester. Flex dollars not spent at the end of the Fall semester will roll over to the Spring semester, but any flex dollars not spent at the end of the Spring semester will expire.  
• Hearing – A formal process used to address allegations of student misconduct
• McGee Hall – Serves as a residence hall for underclassmen located in the southwest corner of campus.
• Meal Plan – the dining service plan each student who lives on campus is required to have, depending on which residence hall or housing option the student lives in. These are also available for commuter students, staff, and faculty.
• Mediation – A process where a neutral third party helps resolve disputes between students through discussion and negotiation
• Private Room – A higher-cost double room set up for 2 people that is assigned to only one person, either for accommodation purposes or as requested by the student.
• Quiet Hours – Designed times during which noise levels must be kept to a minimum to ensure a conducive environment for studying and sleeping
• Residence Life – Aim to create a supportive, engaging, and educational living environment for students through mentoring and conduct.
• Resident Assistant (RA) – A student leader who works with the Office of Residence Life and oversees a floor or area of our residential housing options
• Resident Director (RD) – An employee within the Office of Residence Life who oversees a residence hall or on-campus housing area and manages RAs within that hall or housing area
• Respondent – The student accused of violating the Code of Conduct.
• Rock Row – One of our on-campus housing options available for upperclassmen through our annual Housing Lottery Selection process. These are homes equipped for four people.
• Roommate Contract – Written agreement between roommates that outlines the expectations and responsibilities for each person living in a shared place
• Sanctions – Disciplinary actions taken in response to violations of the Code of Conduct, which can range from warnings to expulsion
• Single Room – A higher-cost, smaller-sized room designed for one person, which comes with an attached bathroom, assigned either for accommodation purposes or as requested by the student. Available on a first-come, first-served basis upon specific request with the Office of Residence Life.
• THV (Town House Village) – one of our on-campus housing options available for upperclassmen through our annual Housing Lottery Selection process. These are townhome-style homes, equipped for either four or six people.
• Xavier-Loyola (XL) – one of our on-campus residence halls available for upperclassmen, assigned through the automatic housing assignment process