Dublin City University - Qualifax

Appendix 8: Glossary of Terms
Dean: a Dean provides academic leadership within a Faculty or School.
Department: a branch of a faculty concerned with a specific area of study.
Diploma: a qualification at the undergraduate or non-degree level, usually after two
years of study.
Direct Application: a student must apply for specific courses directly through the
college and not through the CAO.
Direct Entry: a student may be exempt from usual criteria and may be able to apply
to a college on a variety of grounds (eg. via an Access Course at NUI,Galway), or
if they satisy certain criteria as outlined by the institution. (Check with individual
institutions).
Distance Learning: opportunities to follow a course primarily from one’s home
environment or local community. Classes can sometimes be taken at week-ends, or
part-time and may involve online, televised, or on campus lectures.
Elective: course of your choice, as opposed to a required or mandatory course.
Faculty: 1) parts of the University that are grouped together based on related
disciplines. 2) the professors and instructors who teach University courses.
FEI: Further Education Institute
Fine Arts: have come to mean subjects that include painting, architecture, sculpture,
graphic arts, writing and music.
Foundation/ Access / Bridging Courses: courses which are designed to enable students
to gain the necessary background knowledge and skills in order to undertake study at
3rd level. Check with each institution regarding specific requirements and /or criteria.
Graduate: a graduate is someone who has had a qualification conferred on him/her by
a 3rd level institution following the succesful completion of an undergraduate course
of study.
HEI: Higher Education Institute.
Honours: a degree programme in which a student takes a more intensive concentration
in their major study area (as opposed to an ordinary degree).
Humanities: a traditional body of artistic and intellectual disciplines including
philosophy, literature, history, as well as social sciences and other such subjects (see
Arts/ Liberal Arts).
Independent Colleges: side by side with the publicly funded tertiary sector are a
number of independent institutions and a wide range of institutions mainly involved
in the provision of business and professional educational training. Courses on offer
include; Accountancy and Business Studies, Law, Humanities, Hotel and Catering,
Tourism Studies and Art. Many of the programmes offered by these colleges are
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