Glossary
AACSB Accreditation. Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. An accreditation designation awarded by the International Association for Management Education, an independent association which accredits business colleges and schools.
Academic Year (AY). Instruction equivalent to two semesters of approximately 15 weeks apiece or three quarters of approximately 10 weeks a piece, either of which may include examination days.
ACRL. Association of College and Research Libraries
ADDA. American Drafting and Design Association
AF. Academic Foundations (The General Education program at MSU Billings)
AIS. Administrative Information Systems
ARM. Administrative Rules of Montana
AS. Academic Senate
ASE. Automotive Service Excellence, a designation awarded to those successfully completing automotive educational programs at vocational-technical institutions or colleges of technology.
ASMSUB. Associated Students of Montana State University Billings
AWS. American Welding Society
AY. Academic Year
BOR. (Montana) Board of Regents
BPR. Business Process Redesign
Campus. Physical location and infrastructure of the University at MSUB, comprising of three sites. The East Campus consists of Colleges of Allied Health Professions, Arts and Sciences, Business, and Education; the West Campus – the College of Technology; and the Downtown Campus – College of Professional Studies and Lifelong Learning.
CAHP. College of Allied Health Professions, created in 2004
CAS. College of Arts and Sciences
CASE. Council for Advancement and Support of Education
Catalog. The official bulletin or publication of a postsecondary education institution stating admission and graduation requirements, majors, minors, current offerings, costs, faculty, and all other significant information necessary for an accurate understanding of the institution. At MSU Billings, the catalog is titled the General Bulletin.
CAER. Center for Applied Economic Research
CBA. Collective Bargaining Agreement--the document setting forth faculty rights, responsibilities, and terms of employment, ratified by the Faculty Association and the Board of Regents. The CBA is one product of the Collaborative Bargaining Process instituted at MSUB in 1994. Prior to 1994, the Collective Bargaining Agreement was the only product of negotiations between the Faculty Association, the Administration, and third-party mediators.
CCSSE. Community College Survey of Student Engagement
CCFSSE. Community College Faculty Survey of Student Engagement
Certification. A process by which an agency or association grants recognition to an individual who has met certain predetermined qualification specified by that agency or association.
Chancellor. The Chief Executive Officer of MSUB
CIO. Chief Information Officer of MSUB
COB. College of Business
COE. College of Education
COEC. College of Education Council
Collective Bargaining Agreement. See CBA
College. MSUB is composed of three major administrative divisions: Academic, Administrative, and Student Affairs. The Academic division is structured under the Provost and Academic Vice Chancellor as six colleges: College of Allied Health Professions, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business, College of Education, College of Professional Studies and Lifelong Learning, and College of Technology.
Cooperative Education. A combination program of study and practice – conducted on an alternating schedule of half-days, weeks, or other period of time – providing employment of students with organized on-the-job training and correlated higher education instruction.
CORE. Council on Rehabilitation Education, an independent association which accredits counseling and rehabilitation programs.
COT. College of Technology
Course. A single instructional subject commonly described by title, number, and credits in the college catalog or bulletin.
CPA. Certified Public Accountant
CPSLL. College of Professional Studies and Lifelong Learning
CQI. Continuous Quality Improvement
CQI-FYI. Newsletter published by the CQI Office and distributed to the University community.
Credit, Unit of. A quantification of student academic learning. One unit represents what a typical student might be expected to learn in one week (40-45 hours including class time and preparation) of full- time study. Thus a six-week summer session might, if fulltime, equate to six units. An alternative norm is one unit for three hours of student work per week (e.g., one hour of lecture and two of study or three of laboratory) for ten weeks a quarter or 15 weeks a semester. A full-time graduate program is usually 10 to 12 units. Considerable excess allowed on the grounds of student ability should be subject to special analysis and approval.
CUBA. College and University Business Administration, a guide published by NACUBO (q.v.).
CUPA. College and University Personnel Association
D2L. Desire to Learn, software platform for eLearning.
Degrees.
A.A., A.A.S., A.S., etc. A lower-division undergraduate degree normally representing about two years (60 semester or 90 quarter units) of college study or its equivalent in depth and quality of learning experience. The A.S. implies more applied orientation and the A.A. the more liberal education orientation, although these distinctions are not always clear. At MSUB, no fields or disciplines are specified on an A.A. or A.S. diploma. Previously areas of study were cited on the diploma, but following Board of Regents’ action in 1998, this has been discontinued. The A.A.S. degree is awarded by the College of Technology and has degree designators in specific fields.
B.A., B.S., etc. An undergraduate degree normally representing about four years (120 semester or 180 quarter units) of college study or its equivalent in depth and quality of learning experiences. The B.S. implies more applied orientation and the B.A. the more liberal education orientation, although these distinctions are not always clear.
M.A., M.S. A first graduate degree, representing about one year (30 semester or 45 quarter units) of post-baccalaureate study or its equivalent in depth and quality. The distinctions between M.A. and M.S. are similar to those between B.A. and B.S. Some M.A. and M.S. degrees are merely continuations at a higher level of undergraduate work without basic change in character. Others emphasize some research and may lead to doctoral work.
M.B.A., M.H.A., M.P.A., M.S.I.P.C., etc. Professional degrees requiring up to two years or equivalent. Extensive undergraduate preparation in the field may reduce the time required.
Ph.D. The standard research-oriented degree which indicates the recipient has done, and is prepared to do, original research in a major discipline. Usually requires three years or more of postgraduate work, including an original research thesis or project. Prepares students mainly as scholars and researchers. MSUB does not offer the Ph.D. degree.
Ed.D., Psy.D., M.D., J.D., etc. Professional degrees with emphasis on technical knowledge which prepares students for a profession. Normally requires three or more years of carefully prescribed postgraduate work. MSUB does not offer doctoral-level professional degrees.
Department. An organizational unit within a College, organized around a discipline or area of academic specialization.
DRTC. Department Rank and Tenure Committee
Downtown Campus. Located in downtown Billings, the site of the College of Professional Studies and Lifelong Learning.
East Campus. The East Campus consists of the Colleges of Allied Health Professions, Arts and Sciences, Business, and Education.
ETF. Employee Transaction Form
FACC. Faculty-Administration Collaborative Committee. An ongoing collaborative committee composed of four Faculty Association representatives and four Administrative representatives to address issues related to the Collective Bargaining Agreement and recommend changes to the CBA.
Faculty. As used here, refers to instructional faculty, not librarians, administrators, counselors, etc., who may have faculty rank. Full-time faculty: those employed by the institution, the majority of whose assignment is class or course instruction, but which may also include institutional non-class-related faculty responsibilities such as academic advisement, curricular development and review, faculty selection and evaluation, and the like. Those performing these functions may also be considered full-time faculty if a portion of their assignment is research, service, or academic administration.
Faculty Association. The faculty labor union, affiliated with the Montana Education Association and the Montana Federation of Teachers, in force for the colleges on the East campus.
Fiscal Year (FY). The 12-month period beginning July 1 and ending June 30.
FS. Facilities Services
FSSE. Faculty Survey of Student Engagement
FTE. Full Time Equivalent
Full-Time Faculty. A measure of employment where 1 FTE represents an individual employed full-time to perform teaching, research, and service for the academic year. A full load for a full-time faculty member at MSUB represents at least 21 credits of teaching and three credits of research or other professional endeavor.
Full-Time Student. A student enrolled with 12 or more undergraduate credits.
GAAP. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
GASB. Governmental Accounting Standards Board
GPA. Grade Point Average
Graduate Division. Courses generally reserved for Graduate students, which are numbered at the 500 level.
Graduate Student. Student who has earned a baccalaureate degree and is pursuing post-baccalaureate studies including a master’s degree.
Headcount. The number of students enrolled in an educational institution, program, course, etc., without regard to the number of credit hours being taken by individual students.
HR. Human Resources
HQT. Highly qualified teacher
IRB. Institutional Review Board
IT. Information Technology
IPEDS. Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
KEMC. Public radio station licensed to MSU Billings and located on the East campus. Part of Yellowstone Public Radio.
LEAP. Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership
LibQUAL. A suite of services that academic libraries use to solicit, track, understand, and act upon users’ opinions of service quality, created by the Association for Research Libraries.
Lower Division (LD). Courses generally reserved for freshman and sophomore students and which are numbered from 100 to 299.
LOA. Letter of Appointment
Mission and Goals Statement. The statement in which an institution identifies and demonstrates its understanding of its unique mission and goals. Particular institutional purposes vary widely. They encompass the intellectual and affective development of the student, the pursuit of knowledge, the study of values and attitudes, public service, and a great deal more. The institution’s statement of mission describes its particular philosophic stance and serves as a guide for educational planning. It also operates as a frame of reference for decisions about such practical matters as students’ admission and retention, the curriculum, the faculty, and allocation of funds.
MCA. Montana Code Annotated
MCD. Montana Center on Disabilities—a public service unit of MSU Billings.
MSU. Montana State University, the designation for units of the Montana University System (MUS) affiliated with Montana State University Bozeman.
MSUB. Montana State University Billings
MUS. Montana University System. See University System.
NCAA. National Collegiate Athletic Association
NACUBO. National Association of College and University Business Officers
NAFSA. National Association of Foreign Student Affairs
NASAD. National Association of Schools of Art and Design, an organization providing accreditation to programs of art and design.
NCATE. National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education, an organization providing accreditation to teacher education programs.
NCES. National Center for Education Statistics, located within the U.S. Dept. of Education and the Institute of Education Sciences.
NOCTI. National Occupational Competency Testing Institute
NSSE. National Survey of Student Engagement
OCHE. Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education
OIP. Office of Institutional Planning
OMNI. Outreach Montana: Networked Information, a regional library consortium of 6 academic libraries, electronically linked, of which MSUB was the founding institution. Now the OMNI-MSU group, which consists of 9 academic libraries in Montana.
OPI. Office of Public Instruction, a Montana State agency overseeing K – 12 education in Montana.
PIN. Personal Identification Number
Part-Time Faculty. A measure of employment that denotes an individual employed to instruct fewer than 12 credits during an academic year.
Part-Time Student. An undergraduate student enrolled with 11 or fewer credits
PEG. Performance Enhancement Group, Ltd. Contracted with to complete the Alumni Satisfaction Survey
PFC or P-for-C. Partners for Change Task Forces
President. The Chief Executive Officer of Montana State University Bozeman, to whom the Chancellors of other colleges and universities in the MSU system report.
Prior Experiential Learning (credit for). Credit granted toward the award of a certificate or degree for prior learning experiences that can be shown through various means of assessment to be the equivalent of learning gained through formal collegiate instruction.
Program. A systematic, usually sequential, grouping of courses, forming a considerable part, or all, of the requirements for a degree or a credential. May refer to the total educational offering of an institution.
RACE. Research and Creative Endeavor
Rank. The level of distinction faculty members hold among their peers. Rank includes Lecturer, Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor.
RAF. Recruitment Authorization Form
RNTTA. Renewable Non-Tenure Track Appointment at the West Campus
Scholarship (Scholarly Activity). Commitment to the pursuit of truth or knowledge. All faculty in institutions of higher education are expected to devote continuing study to their respective fields of knowledge or professions in order that they may be aware of the most recent developments and information in their fields and thus be prepared to perform their teaching function at an appropriate level.
SEOG. Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant. A federal grant awarded to Pelleligible students who need additional financial assistance in order to matriculate at an institution of higher education.
SSIG. State Student Incentive Grant. State funds awarded to Pell-eligible students who need additional financial assistance to matriculate at an institution of higher education.
Student Credit Hour (SCH). Student Credit Hour is a unit used to measure student participation in courses. The number of credits assigned to a course is generally based on the number of hours the course meets during the week. The number of SCH is derived by multiplying the number of students enrolled in a course by the course credits (3.0 credithour course x 30 students = 90 SCH).
SSI. Noel Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory
Strategic Plan. A document, originally prepared by MSUB in 1995, and updated regularly since that time, setting forth the priorities and plans for the University and for the Colleges and divisions within the University. The Strategic Plan is used in making decisions about resource allocations, new program additions, and every other major undertaking of the institution.
Terminal Contract. A contract agreement setting beginning and ending dates of employment of a faculty or staff member with no legal obligation that the expiration of the contract is to be followed by another contract agreement.
UBC. University Budget Committee.
Undergraduate (UG). Student who has not yet earned a baccalaureate degree
University of Montana. U of M, or University of Montana, units are affiliated with the University of Montana, located in Missoula.
URTC. University Rank and Tenure Committee
University System. In Montana, the dual structure of state-owned and state-governed institutions of postsecondary education, consisting of colleges and universities affiliated with the University of Montana, and colleges and universities affiliated with Montana State University.
Upper Division (UD). Courses generally reserved for junior and senior students and which are numbered from 300-499.
VTEM. Vocational Technical Educators of Montana—the faculty labor union, affiliated with the Montana Education Association and the Montana Federation of Teachers, for the College of Technology at MSU Billings and other Montana two-year units.
West Campus. Consists of the College of Technology located on the west side of Billings.
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