Definitions of Common Terms

Academic level
Undergraduate or graduate

Administrative employee
A person whose assignments require primary (and major) responsibility for management of the institution, or a customarily recognized department or subdivision thereof.

Average annualized full-time undergraduate degree credit
The fall undergraduate degree-seeking student full-time equivalent plus the spring undergraduate degree-seeking student full-time equivalent divided by two.

Citizenship, country of
The country to which an individual acknowledges citizenship. Country of citizenship is not equivalent to country of permanent residence.

Class level
Students are classified on the basis of earned credits from all sources:
Freshmen: 0 - 29.9 credits
New freshmen: students enrolled in college for the first time as freshmen.
Other freshmen: students who have been enrolled in college at the freshman level in the past and who are still freshmen based on their earned credits.
Sophomores: 30 - 59.9 credits
Juniors: 60 - 89.9 credits
Seniors: 90 + credits
New graduates: students enrolled as graduate students for the first time.
Other graduates: students who have been enrolled as graduate students in the past and who are still graduate students.
Unclassified: students enrolled on a course-by-course basis in undergraduate and graduate classes as extramural (nondegree) students. Students enrolled in the gerontology certificate program are included in this category.

Common Data Set (CDS)
A standard set of questions and data definitions incorporated by four major college surveys (College Board, Wintergreen/Orchard House, Peterson's, and U.S. News & World Report) for use in leading guidebooks, rankings, and resources. The Common Data Set includes standardized questions about a college's academic offerings, enrollment, admission requirements, expenses, and freshman class profile.

Faculty
Persons whose specific assignments customarily are made for the purpose of conducting instruction, research, or public service as a principal activity (or activities), and who hold academic-rank titles of professor, instructor, lecturer, or the equivalent of any of these academic ranks. If their principal activity is instructional, deans, assistant deans, and executive officers of academic departments (chairpersons, heads, or the equivalent) are included in this category.

First-time full-time students (FTFT)
Students enrolled in college for the first time as freshmen on a full-time basis.

Full-time employee
An employee who works a full week, 37.5 or 40 hours, depending on the department, on a 12-month schedule with anticipated continued employment.

Full-time equivalent (FTE)
FTE for undergraduate students is the sum of credit hours attempted divided by 12.
FTE for graduate students is the sum of credit hours attempted divided by 9.

Full-time student
Full-time refers to a semester course load of 12 - 18 credits for undergraduate students and a semester course load of 9 - 12 credits for graduate students.

Nonresident alien (NRA)
A person who is not a citizen or national of the U.S. and who is in this country on a visa or temporary basis and does not have the right to remain indefinitely.

Part-time employee
Persons on the payroll of the institution and classified by the institution as part-time.

Part-time student
Part-time refers to a semester course load of fewer than 12 credits for undergraduate students and a semester course load of fewer than 9 credits for graduate students.

Race / ethnicity
Categories used to describe groups to which individuals belong, identify with, or belong in the eyes of the community. The categories do not denote scientific definitions of anthropological origins. A person may be counted in only one group. The groups used to categorize U.S. citizens, resident aliens, and other eligible noncitizens are:
American Indian or Alaskan Native: A person having origins in any of the original people of North America and who maintains cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community recognition.
Asian or Pacific Islander: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, or Pacific Islands. This includes people from China, Japan, Korea, the Philippine Islands, American Samoa, India, and Vietnam.
Black, non-Hispanic: A non-Hispanic person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa (except those of Hispanic origin).
Hispanic: A person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.
Race/ethnicity unknown: Prior to 1996, "unknown" was not an accepted reporting category. In accordance with federal reporting guidelines, unknowns were statistically apportioned across race/ethnic categories in percentages consistent with the known population.
White, non-Hispanic: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East (except those of Hispanic origin).
Note: All race / ethnicity definitions are taken from the IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) EF-1 report of fall enrollment by race / ethnicity and gender. The revisions to the standards for the classification of federal data on race and ethnicity made in June of 1997 are not included, as they are not yet used at Ithaca College.

Staff employee
Primary occupational activities of staff include technical, clerical, secretarial, skilled crafts, support, service, or maintenance. Primary occupational activity does not include major responsibility for management of the institution; does not include classroom instruction of tuition-paying students; and whose titles do not imply academic rank such as Professor, Associate or Assistant Professor, Lecturer, or Instructor.

Work study
Includes Federal Work-Study and IC Student Employment.