The following definitions may be helpful to students’ understanding of the educational culture of postsecondary education:

Academic Record - transcript of grades, courses, credits and related academic information kept on file by the College.

Accelerated Online Course - offered completely online without any onsite face-to-face or traditional classroom meetings at DCCC campuses; does not require students to attend class meetings at designated days and times; shorter in length than a 15-week semester.

Accelerated Hybrid Course - offered in a blended format with both face-to-face or traditional class sessions at a DCCC campus, online class sessions which may be synchronous, and independent work; shorter in length than a 15-week semester.

Accelerated Session - a period less than the fifteen-week semester in which students can complete coursework on an accelerated basis.

Associate Degree (A.A., A.A.S., A.F.A., A.S.) - a two-year degree that usually requires a minimum of 60 credit hours and generally prepares students for further study or entry into the workplace. The credits earned from an associate degree can usually be transferred to a four-year bachelor’s degree.

• A.A. = Associate in Arts
• A.A.S. = Associate in Applied Arts
• A.F.A. = Associate in Fine Arts
• A.S. = Associate in Science

Asynchronous Online Course - offered completely online; students work independently and do not attend class meetings at designated days and times.

Bachelor's Degree - a four-year degree that usually requires a minimum of 120 credit hours and generally prepares students for further study or entry into the workplace.

Certificate - recognition provided for completion of short-term vocational or career-training programs.

Canvas - The online learning management system (LMS) that the College uses to administer courses.

Consortium Agreement - An agreement between two or more schools to recognize registration at each institution for financial aid purposes. It allows students enrolled at more than one school in a given semester to receive the maximum amount of financial aid for which they are eligible by combining enrollment at both schools.

Core-to-Core - Core-to-Core articulations document a particular college's or university's promise to accept the general education credits embedded in a specific degree from the College.

Commencement - The word "commencement" is often used interchangeably with graduation, although students who will graduate (earn their degree) during that academic year may participate in a college commencement ceremony, even if they haven't officially completed their graduation requirements.

Concurrent - Course prerequisite which may be taken BEFORE or in the SAME TERM as the course.

Credit - the value assigned to a college course depending on the number of class hours per week. For example, a three-credit course meets three hours per week. A unit of measuring education credit based upon the number of classroom hours per week throughout the term. 

Dean - A dean is the head of a particular academic division.

Dual Admission - A Dual Admission agreement guarantees admission to the partner school and can also guarantee admission to a particular bachelor's degree.

Elective - a course selected by the student not specifically required for a program or certificate which meets general education or program requirements.

ESL (English as a Second Language) - English courses offered to speakers of other languages who completed most of their previous education outside of the United States to improve their English writing, grammar, reading, speaking and listening skills. Courses are offered under subject 'ELL - English Language Learners.'

Faculty - The staff of professors and instructors at a university.

FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) - Completing the online FAFSA form is the first step in applying for financial aid every year and must be submitted by students seeking grants and/or loans from state and federal governments, colleges and other sources.

FERPA - This stands for Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act. This law protects the privacy of educational records and transfers from parents to the students themselves when they turn 18 or start college. FERPA covers all school-related records, including your student's grades, information from the campus health center, disciplinary records, and more. If students want to give a parent or another third party access, they may complete a FERPA waiver. There is an exception: If the college feels there is a need to protect the health and safety of your student or others, they may disclose information.

GED (General Educational Development) - a test for people who have not graduated from high school that is used to confirm their mastery of information covered in a basic high school curriculum.

Hybrid Instruction - offered in a blended format with both face-to-face or traditional class sessions at a DCCC campus, and online class sessions which may be synchronous or asynchronous.

Hybrid-B code - is a sub-category of Hybrid Instruction. Courses categorized as Hybrid-B, indicate a face-to-face class which also has an online synchronous option.

Hy-Flex Instruction - offered in a blended format with one or more face-to-face or traditional class sessions at a DCCC campus with option to attend some or all sessions online and to engage partially or entirely asynchronously.

Internships - option to attend college and do paid work, receiving credit for both.  is a short-term job, usually for the summer or a semester, that your student takes to get experience in their field of interest. Internships may be paid or unpaid; sometimes students can earn course credit for them. In some academic programs, an internship may be required to graduate.

Major - the course of study in which a student concentrates coursework, time and attention.

Placement Test - assessment given to new students to determine their skill levels in English, reading, and mathematics, and their academic starting point.
 
Prerequisite - Many college classes must be taken sequentially, in a certain order, from lower to higher level. A prerequisite is a course a student must complete before taking another specific course. For example, English Composition I is a prerequisite for English Composition II.

Registration - The period during which a student can sign up for the classes they wish to take in the following quarter or semester or the transaction through which students enroll in coursework.

Semester - usually a fifteen-week period in which college courses are completed.

Synchronous Online Course - offered completely online and requires students to log in to attend class meetings with faculty present at designated days and times, similar to the on‑campus classroom environment.

Synchronous & Asynchronous Online Course - offered online with a mix of logging in to attend class meetings with faculty present at designated days and times, similar to the on-campus/traditional classroom environment, and independent work that occurs outside of designated meeting times.

Traditional Classroom Course - students and instructors meet in a classroom at one of the College’s campuses at designated days and times. 

Subject Abbreviations:

The following subject abbreviations are used throughout the catalog and refer to courses within a specific discipline.

• ACC, Accounting
• ADJ, Administration of Justice
• AHA, Health Administration
• AHM, Allied Health Medical
• AHN, Allied Health Nursing
• AHS, Surgical Technology
• ARB, Arabic (archived Fall 2023)
• ARC, Architecture
• ART, Art
• AUT, Auto Mechanics
• BIO, Biology
• BUS, Business
• CHE, Chemistry
• COMM, Communication Studies
• CPT, Carpentry
• CUL, Culinary Arts
• CS, Computing Science
• DPR, Computer Information Systems (archived Fall 2022, see CS)
• DRA, Drama
• ECE, Early Childhood Education
• ECO, Economics
• EDU, Education
• EGR, Engineering
• ELL, English Language Learners
• ELT, Electrical Occupations
• EMER, Emergency Management and Planning
• EMS, Emergency Medical Services
• EMTP, EMT Paramedic
• ENG, English
• ESL, English as a Second Language (archived Fall 2024, see ELL)
• ESS, Earth and Space Science
• FRE, French
• FST, Fire Science Technology
• GER, German (archived Fall 2023)
• HIS, History
• HRM, Hotel and Restaurant Management
• HUM, Humanities
• HUS, Human Services (archived Fall 2024)
• HVA, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
• IMM, Interactive Multimedia
• INT, Interdisciplinary
• IST, Industrial Systems Technology
• ITA, Italian (archived Fall 2023)
• MAT, Mathematics
• MPT, Municipal Police Training
• MTT, Machine Tool Technology
• MUS, Music
• NAP, Nurses Aide Program
• NDT, Neurodiagnostic Technology (archived Fall 2023)
• NET, Network Engineering
• NUS, Nursing
• OCS, Occupational Studies
• PCT, Process Control Technology
• PHI, Philosophy
• PHY, Physics
• PLB, Plumbing
• PLG, Paralegal Studies
• POL, Political Science
• PSY, Psychology
• REA, Reading
• RTH, Respiratory Therapy (archived Fall 2023)
• RUS, Russian
• SCI, Science
• SOC, Sociology
• SPA, Spanish
• STEM, Science, Engineering, Technology & Math
• SWO, Social Work
• TCC, Technical Department Core
• TCS, Construction Technology
• TDD, Drafting and Design Technology
• TEC, Technical Study
• TEL, Electronics Technology
• TME, Mechanical Technology
• TSC, Trauma Studies
• WLD, Welding