SIS Terminology - Faculty

A Short Glossary of Academic Terms in the Student Information System (SIS)
The SIS is an integrated database system that includes HR- and student-related information previously stored in separate systems (including the admissions database, the student records database, the fees and deposits system, the current accounts receivable system, and the system for student financial aid). Users will access the system through the web, most readily at Buckeye Link.

The SIS has been implemented in phases that follow the life cycle of a student’s interactions with the university. Starting on April 27, current students began using the SIS to schedule for summer and autumn terms 2009, and starting with summer term 2009, faculty will need to use the system to access their class rosters and post grades for their classes.

Prominent features of the system are its three self-service centers—for faculty, staff, and students—as well as the Course Catalog and the Schedule of Classes, which have been converted into the SIS. Since the SIS employs terminology that may vary slightly from the terms that Ohio State has conventionally used, the list below provides some definitions and equivalents.

SIS (HR/SIS)	Acronym for the Student Information System. Can be paired with HR (Human Resources) to refer to the shared, integrated database. The SIS is Ohio State’s modified version of Oracle’s PeopleSoft Enterprise Campus Solutions.
Faculty Center	A website where faculty, TA’s, and other instructional staff can access their class rosters, post grades for their classes, send e-mails to students on their rosters, and (for faculty who are advisors) view information about their advisees.
Term	Quarter or Semester
Session 1/Session 2	The five-week classes offered during summer quarter formerly known as Term 1/Term 2 classes.
Career	All course work a student has taken at the university within the context of a single academic record. Ohio State has designated eight careers in the system: Undergraduate, Graduate, Dentistry, Law, Medicine, Optometry, Pharmacy, and Veterinary Medicine. Transcripts are generated by career.
Program	The college or other academic unit (Engineering or Humanities, for example) to which a student is admitted, in which a student enrolls, and from which a student graduates.
Plan	Plans include majors, minors, and certificates. Within an undergraduate career in the Humanities (program), a student can major in Classics (plan) and minor in Political Science (also a plan).
Sub-Plan	A specialization, track, or strand within some majors or minors. A student majoring in Classics, for example, can specialize in Latin.
CPP and/or CPP Stack	The combination of a student’s career, program, and plan(s). See the illustration below.

Course Catalog	Course Bulletin
Requisite	A prerequisite or co-requisite to a university course
Schedule of Classes	Master Schedule of Classes
Class	Course Section: a specific offering of a course or a course component within an academic term.
Class Number	Call Number
Course Component	Lecture, recitation, lab, etc.
Units	Credit Hours/ Credits/ Hours
Enrollment Appointment	Scheduling Window (for students)
Negative Service Indicator	Hold (on a student’s record). In the SIS, information about the reasons for the hold, the office that placed it, and the amount due is available by clicking the indicator.
Positive Service Indicator	An indication that a student has been assigned some level of priority during registration. The reason for priority (honors student, scholar, student-athlete) is available by clicking the indicator.
FERPA	Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as Amended. No information about the student should be given to a third party if the student has exercised her/his FERPA rights by asking for a non-release of information.
Campus ID	OSU Internet Username (name.n)
OSU ID	A unique identifier given to each person in the shared SIS and HR database

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SIS Terminology - Faculty