going to university TAFE/VET pathways - Flinders University

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terminology
You may have come across some terms in this guide that
are unfamiliar to you. This list of terminology will help you
to better understand what we mean. You may also fi nd it
handy when visiting our website.
Academic staff
All teaching and research staff, including
Professors (the most senior), Associate
Professors or Readers, Senior Lecturers,
Lecturers, Associate Lecturers and Tutors.
Academic year
Begins in late February or early March
and ends in late November.
Award
A degree, Certifi cate, Diploma, Masters
or PhD of the University granted at the
completion of a course of study.
Bachelor degree
Normally the basic (fi rst) undergraduate
degree.
Core topics
Compulsory subjects that form the basis
of a study program.
Credit
Credit is sometimes given for relevant
topics or units previously studied, for
which a student is given an exemption.
Elective topics
Topics which can be chosen to support
core topics – often called optional topics
in Science degrees.
External student
A person undertaking all of their study
by correspondence on either a full-time
or a part-time basis, and who is enrolled
as an external student.
Faculties
The administrative structure of the
University is based on faculties, which
are: Faculty of Education, Humanities,
Law and Theology; Faculty of Health
Sciences; Faculty of Science and
Engineering; and from 2010 the Faculty
of Social and Behavioural Sciences.
Honours degree
Awarded to students who choose to
complete an additional year of study. In
the case of four-year degree programs,
honours may be awarded to students
who perform particularly well.
Major sequence
A sequence of topics that must be taken
in all three years of a degree.
Minor sequence
A small number of topics in one area of
study.
Postgraduate courses
Students must normally have an
undergraduate degree to begin studying
any postgraduate course; this is also
known as Graduate Studies.
Prerequisite
A topic that must be completed before a
higher-level topic can be studied; it is the
student’s responsibility to ensure that
topic prerequisites have been met.
Semester
The academic year is divided into two
semesters – usually late February to mid
June, and late July to November.
Topic
A subject that is studied as part of a
degree program.
Undergraduate degree
A fi rst degree.