**Policy Authority: University Registrar

Policy Steward: Office of the Registrar 

Glossary of Academic Terms 

My Student Compass Account 

Student Compass Account is the portal students use to access their school email accounts. It is important to check this email account as this is where students receive important information from the University.

What is an Academic Calendar?

A catalogue of the courses offered by the university. The Academic Calendar lists admission and degree requirements, university rules, regulations and important dates. It is available online. The online version of the Calendar is the official version.

What is an Academic Penalty?

An Academic Penalty is the consequence of receiving a failing grade (F) for a course when a student withdraws after the specified withdrawal deadline, as outlined in the Academic Calendar. The failing grade (F) is calculated as a zero, affecting the student’s overall average and potentially impacting their overall academic performance.

What is an Academic Timetable?

An online listing of the courses offered at Cape Breton University in a given term. It includes information on course days and times, location, enrolment information and professors, as well as pre-requisite requirements, if any.

What is an acceptance package?

Once you’ve been accepted, you’ll receive a package from Cape Breton University. It will include your acceptance letter with your student number (CBU ID), information on scholarships and financial aid, and information related to your next steps as a CBU student.

What is an appeal?

Students have the right to challenge any administrative, academic or disciplinary decision directly affecting them which they feel is unfair, improper or wrong (Restricted Enrolment, Suspension, Academic Integrity Violations). The appeal process is formally laid out in academic unit and Senate policies and procedures.

What is Convocation? 

The formal ceremony for the granting of degrees, diplomas/certificates by the Chancellor or President of the University. Convocation ceremonies for students completing degree/diploma/certificate requirements. In addition, there is a Fall Convocation in November for students completing requirements in the Summer Term and May Convocation ceremony (s) for students who complete their studies in December and April.

What is Confirm Your Seat?

Canadian students are required to pay a $300 non-refundable tuition deposit and international students are required to pay a $2,500 non-refundable tuition deposit. This deposit will be used towards your tuition and fees balance and will confirm your seat at CBU. Once you have accepted your offer and confirmed your seat, you can be advised and register for courses.

What is a credit?

A unit used to measure the time spent in a class. Generally, courses taken at Cape Breton University are 3 credit hours, or 6 credits taken over two semesters. Courses with an A or B after the course number are recognized as a 6-credit course.

What is a course code?

A course code the unique identifier for the course. The first four letters in the code indicate the subject area and the last four digits represent the course level. For example, the course code for a 4000-level Psychology course would be PSYC-4611. PSYC represents Psychology and 4611 indicates this is a 4000-level course.

What is an Elective Course?

Most degree programs include required courses and electives. An elective is a course you choose to take out of interest.

What is an Expulsion from the University?

An academic or disciplinary penalty which results in a withdrawal of all rights or privileges available to students for either a definite or indefinite period of time. A notation is placed on the student transcript.

What is a Core Course?

A course is a required course you have to take to fulfill your specific degree program. For example, all students pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration must take two required courses: ACCT-1203 and ACCT-1204.

What are cross-listed courses?

Cross-listing a course means that a single course is offered for registration under two or more departments. In most cases, the course is identical for everyone participating. However, in some cases, the requirements of the course differ according to the listing.

What is an Exclusion?

An exclusion is when one course is sufficiently similar another course that credit will only be given once if both are taken. Some pairs of courses cannot both be taken for degree credit because their content overlaps too significantly.  For example, MATH-1215 and MATH-1000 are both introductory calculus courses and they cover much of the same material. Therefore, if you take MATH-1215 and MATH-1000, you will only receive credit for one of these courses. Additionally, CBU switched from 3-digit course codes to 4-digit course codes. Courses under the same name with differing course codes would be considered exclusions.

What is a degree Regulation?

When a degree student is admitted to the University, the regulations and program requirements for their credential are those in effect at the time of admission. If a student changes program elements in a calendar year subsequent to the term of admission, their program will be governed by the calendar requirements in effect when the change is approved. The general academic regulations governing the student, however, will continue to be those in effect at the time of admission to the University.

What is an Academic School?

Departments (such as English, History and Theatre) are grouped into divisions called Academic Schools.

What are the names of the Academic Schools at Cape Breton University?

Cape Breton University has five Academic Schools which include: School of Arts and Social Sciences (SASS), Shannon School of Business (SSOB), School of Education and Health (S.E.H), School of Nursing (SON), and School of Science and Technology (SST). Professors are known as faculty members.

What is a term average?

A term average is the average grade of all final grades for a particular term. Courses taken for credit with a numerical grade are used to calculate the term average. Courses with a PAS or FAI as a final grade are not included in the calculation.

What is a cumulative average?

A cumulative average is the average grade of all final grades taken at a particular academic level. Courses taken for credit with a numerical grade are used to calculate the cumulative average. Courses with a PAS or FAI as a final grade are not included in the calculation.

What does PAS/FAI mean on my transcript?

Instead of numerical grades, some courses use PAS or FAI to indicate whether a student was successful or not successful in a course. Only certain courses are graded using a PAS or FAI. PAS indicates successful completion of a course and FAI indicates that a student was not successful in a course.

What is an academic level?

Academic Level represents that level of study of a course or program. Undergraduate courses and program are represented on the transcript as UG, post-graduate studies and programs are represented on the transcript as PG, and graduate level programs and courses are represented on the transcript as GR.

What is a prerequisite?

A course, or courses, that need to be taken before you can register for a more advanced course. For example, you need first-year English before you can take second-year English.

What is Graduation? 

The term used when a student has completed all the requirements for their program, AND the Cape Breton University Senate has approved the student to be granted the degree/diploma/certificate that they are eligible for. A student has graduated once the Chancellor or President of Cape Breton University confers credentials to all graduands for that term. Students will receive a notification confirming Senate approval, indicating to them what their official graduation date is; for many students this will differ from their Convocation Ceremony date.

What is a Registrar, Registrar’s Office?

The Registrar’s Office maintains all information about students while they are at Cape Breton University. It also provides certain student services, such as admission to CBU, graduation checks, enrolment letters, students can make payments, etc. The Registrar is the chief record keeper of student academic records.

What is a Semester/Term?

A 4-month period in which courses take place. The three semesters (or terms) occur in the fall, winter, and spring/summer.

What is a Syllabus?

A course outline that each professor distributes to their students at the beginning of the term. This has important information such as readings, assignment due dates, and mid-term test dates.

What is a Lab?

A component of your course containing only a small portion of the larger class that is lead by an instructor or a teaching assistant. They provide opportunities to put into practice or discuss material you are learning in lecture. If a lecture has a tutorial and/or lab you must also register these along with the lecture.

What is a tutorial/directed study?

A tutorial/directed study is a course that does not involve attending classes, but instead involves working independently on a particular area of study. These courses are delivered on a case-by-case basis, usually under special circumstances, and must be approved by the Dean’s office.

What is a transfer credit and non-course equivalency?

Transfer credits are awarded for equivalent courses taken at other post-secondary institutions. Students must provide all post-secondary transcripts when they apply to Cape Breton University to be considered for transfer credit assessment. Non-course equivalencies are awarded when a course credit is awarded based on multiple courses or the completion of a program.

What is Prior Learning Assessment & Recognition (PLAR)?

Prior Learning Assessment & Recognition is the assessment and evaluation of learning, acquired through work and life experience. Students who demonstrate that they have acquired the necessary skills and knowledge through life experience may be eligible to obtain academic credit for this experience through the PLAR process.

What is a repeated course?

Students are only eligible to receive credit for a course once. Students who retake a course, even if they are successful in previous attempts, however, credit will only be awarded once. The highest grade will be used in the student’s cumulative average. Please note that students may only retake a course a maximum of three (3) times.

What does residency requirement mean?

All Cape Breton University students must adhere to CBU’s residency requirement. To graduate with a credential from Cape Breton University, students must complete at least 50% of their program at CBU. Please note that some programs are not eligible for transfer credit, or are not eligible for 50% transfer credit. In these cases, the residency requirement could be up to 100%.

What is a Block Transfer?

Block transfer is an important part of the Cape Breton University Transfer Process. A Block Transfer is facilitating student transfer at a program level rather than at a course level.  Block transfer requires a formal institution-to-institution agreement and students are admitted based on successful completion of a cluster of courses recognized as having academic wholeness or integrity, a certificate, or a diploma.

What does a Major mean?

A Major is a subject or field of study chosen by a student to represent their area of academic interest.  It requires the completion of a required set of courses related to that particular subject. Majors require a minimum of 120 credits to complete.

What is an Area of Study or Academic Field?

Students completing a 90-credit degree in Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Arts Community Studies, or Bachelor of Science should declare their Area of Study or Academic Field in Year Two of their program.  This is a set of courses focused on one particular subject area approved for their program.