Skip Main Navigation
Skip Navigation
  1. Home
  2. Institutional Effectiveness
  3. Data Definitions

Data Definitions

Definitions

  • Basic Skills Course – Those courses in reading, writing, computation (mathematics), and English as a Second Language which are below college level. Depending on the number of levels below college level, basic skills courses may be offered through noncredit community education or credit at AHC. Basic skills courses do not count towards degree or certificate requirements and do not transfer to universities.
  • Census Date of Class –Attendance is to include students actively enrolled as of the last business day in the course prior to census day.
  • Census Day – For classes offered via the daily or alternate attendance daily census methods, census day is the scheduled meeting date of the course that is nearest to one-fifth (0.2) of the number of days for which the course is scheduled to meet.
  • Census Week – For classes offered via the weekly or alternate attendance weekly census methods, census week is the week nearest to one-fifth of the number of weeks in the primary term. Census date is the Monday of census week.
  • Completion – A student who completes a class and receives any grade of A, B, C, D, F, CR, NC, I, P, NP. Students who drop or withdraw from a class are not considered to complete.
  • Contact Hour – The basic unit of attendance for computing FTES.
  • Continuing Student – A student enrolled in the current term and was enrolled in the previous primary (fall, spring) term.
  • Day Class – Starts on or after 6:00am and before 4:30pm, with scheduled meetings on Monday through Friday.
  • Enrollment – A student counted as enrolled in a course if an end-of-term grade notation is recorded on their official transcript (A,B,C,D,F,I,CR,NC,P,NP,W). If a student is enrolled in more than one class, they are counted as enrolled for each class. For example, a student enrolled in three classes will be counted three times in total enrollment at AHC. (For contrast, see headcount.)
  • Evening Class – Starts on or after 4:30pm.
  • First Time Student – A student enrolled in college for the first time after high school.
  • First Time Transfer – A student enrolled at AHC for the first time and who transferred from another institution of higher education.
  • FTEF = Full Time Equivalent Faculty (load)
  • FTES = Full Time Equivalent Student – California state statute regards one FTES to be 525 contact hours.
  • Full-Time Student – Generally considered a student taking 12 or more units during a primary term (fall, spring).
  • Headcount – A student counted as enrolled in at least one class. If a student is enrolled in more than one class, they are counted as only one headcount. (For contrast, see enrollment.)
  • Part-Time Student – Generally a student taking less than 12 units during a primary term (fall, spring)
  • Persistence – Students who continue at AHC from the previous primary term. Term-to-term persistence is calculated for two adjacent primary terms (e.g., fall to spring). Annual persistence is from one year to the next (e.g., fall to fall).
  • Positive Attendance – The actual contact hours (using the CCCCO formula based on a 50-minute compressed hour) that a student attends a class.
  • Retention Rate – The number of enrollments receiving an official end of term letter grade (A, B, C, D, F, CR, NC, I, P, NP) divided by the course enrollment.
  • Returning Student – A student enrolled at AHC after an absence of one or more primary (fall, spring) terms.
  • Successful Completion – A student who completes a class with a grade of A, B, C, CR or Pass.
  • Success Rate – The number of enrollments receiving a successful completion grade divided by the courses enrollment.
  • WSCH = Weekly Student Contact Hours – The number of class hours each course is regularly scheduled to meet during a week multiplied by the number of students actively enrolled in the course.