A comprehensive Glossary of Terms list is available at www.quest.uwaterloo.ca/help/glossary.html.
Academic Plan
A set of courses, a number of which may be mandatory and of a specialized nature, leading toward a particular degree, option, or minor.
Antirequisites
A condition preventing enrolment in a course. The most common antirequisites are courses that have significant overlap. Degree credit will not be granted for both the antirequisite course and a course naming it as such.
Class Enrolment
The process of selecting and enrolling in courses via Quest prior to final date for fee arrangement, having them approved, and recorded with the Registrar's Office. Some programs or plans may require mandatory core courses to be entered by the Registrar's Office. Deadlines apply (see Calendar of Events and Academic Deadlines).
Corequisite
A course that must be taken concurrently, if it has not been taken in a prior term.
Course
A unit of study relating to a specific academic discipline, and identified by a course name and number.
Credential
A degree, diploma, or certificate.
Cross-Listed Courses
Courses which are listed under two departments and which can be taken for credit from either department, but not both.
Cross-Registration
An arrangement between the University of Waterloo (UW) and Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU) which enables students of either University to take courses at the other institution; the purpose is to provide access to courses which are not offered at a student's home institution. Tuition and related fees, including fees for cross-registered courses, are payable at UW. Students are responsible for additional costs to WLU specific to course(s), such as costs for Distance Education courses.
Distance Education
Course(s) offered via web, audio, and/or print format, allowing a student to study off campus.
Elective
A course not specifically required for a degree but counting towards it, to be chosen freely by the student either from within a specified group of courses or more broadly from courses offered anywhere across the University.
Fee Arrangement
The process of paying tuition, housing, and other applicable fees to the University for a specified four-month term. If a student anticipates that these fees, or a portion thereof, will be covered through a third party, s/he must provide proof of this amount, along with a signed Promissory Note (and payment of the balance, if applicable) by the deadline indicated for that term. Detailed information and forms are available through the Finance website at www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infofin/.
Full-Time Student
A student is considered a full-time student when her/his course load reaches or exceeds 1.5 units in a four-month term. Full-time students are assessed applicable co-operative and incidental fees if their on-campus course load reaches or exceeds 1.5 units in a four-month term.
Letter of Permission
A document permitting a student to take specified courses at another university to be considered for credit toward a particular University of Waterloo degree.
Major
The area(s) of academic emphasis selected in either an Honours or a General plan. Details of course and average requirements are given in the Calendar.
Minor
A group of approved courses taken by a student in an Honours or a four-year General plan in a subject outside the "major" area. Details of course and average requirements are given in the Calendar.
Option
A specified combination or grouping of courses which provides a secondary emphasis in certain plans. The emphasis may be in another academic subject or in a career-oriented area.
Part-Time Student
A student is considered a part-time student when her/his course load is less than 1.5 units in a four-month term.
Practicum
Supervised placement time in a work setting exercising practical routines and techniques related to a particular academic plan or option.
Prerequisite
The requirement(s) that must be met in order to be eligible to enrol in a course, i.e., passed or in-progress course(s), registration in a specific program or plan, academic level, or academic standing.
Priority Enrolment
For courses designated as "priority enrolment," preference in scheduling is given to students who require such courses to satisfy specific degree requirements.
Specialization
A specified combination or grouping of courses which provides primary emphasis within a plan.
Term
A particular four-month period within which sessions are defined and fees are arranged: Fall term – September to December; Winter term – January to April; Spring term – May to August. Also used with reference to work terms for students in the Co-operative system of study.
Unit
The credit value associated with a course. Unit weights are used in the calculation of averages for academic standing. Most courses have unit weights of 0.5, but some have weights such as 0.25, 1.0, 2.0.