Section 1501.301  Definition of Terms

"Adult Basic Education" means basic skills courses designed to bring students to a competency of Grade 8 equivalency, including English as a Second Language.

"Adult Secondary Education" means courses designed to bring students to a competency of Grade 12 equivalency, including English as a Second Language, and the high school equivalency examination preparation.

"Associate Degree" means an award for satisfactory completion of a curriculum of 60 semester credit hours or more.

"Associate in Applied Science Degree" means an award for the satisfactory completion of a prescribed curriculum intended to prepare individuals for employment in a specific field.

"Associate in Arts Degree" means an award for the satisfactory completion of a prescribed curriculum intended to transfer to baccalaureate degree programs in one of the arts, humanities, or social or behavioral sciences or one of the professional fields with these disciplines as a base.

"Associate in Engineering Science Degree" means an award for the satisfactory completion of a prescribed curriculum intended to transfer to baccalaureate degree programs in engineering.

"Associate in Fine Arts Degree" means an award for the satisfactory completion of a prescribed curriculum intended to transfer to baccalaureate degree programs in one of the fine arts: art, music, or theater.

"Associate in General Studies Degree" means an award for the satisfactory completion of a curriculum that has been individually designed by mutual agreement between the student and his/her college-appointed advisor to meet the student's educational intent.

"Associate in Science Degree" means an award for the satisfactory completion of a prescribed curriculum intended to transfer to baccalaureate degree programs in one of the mathematical, biological, or physical sciences or one of the professional fields with these disciplines as a base.

"Baccalaureate/Transfer Education" means coursework intended to prepare individuals for transfer into a baccalaureate curriculum in a related field of study.

"Branch" means an administrative unit of a college that has a continuing educational mission and serves as a secondary instructional site for the college.

"Bridge Instruction" means coursework in adult education, remedial education, career and technical education, vocational skills education, or a combination of these types of education, to prepare individuals for entering credit courses and curricula.

"Campus" means an organized administrative unit of a college that has a continuing educational mission and serves as a primary instructional site for the college.

"Career and Technical Education" means organized educational programs of study that prepare students for employment in a specific field and should be aligned with related secondary and/or upper-division programs that require a common knowledge and skill set.

"Certificate" means an award for satisfactory completion of a series of courses or curriculum of less than 59 semester credit hours.

"General Certificate" means a noncredit award for satisfactory completion of a series of courses of 30 semester credit hours or less in adult basic education, adult secondary education, remedial education, vocational skills, or general studies.

"Occupational or Career and Technical Certificate" means a credit award for satisfactory completion of a prescribed curriculum intended to prepare an individual for employment in a specific field.

"College" means a district's administrative unit that is authorized by the Illinois Board of Higher Education to grant postsecondary-level degrees and certificates, is recognized by the ICCB, and provides a comprehensive program of instruction in accordance with Section 1-2(e) of the Act.

"Contact Hour" means instructional time based on a 50-60 minute clock hour of instructional activity that may include classroom, online, laboratory, clinical or work-based instruction or any combination of those instructional methods.

"Cooperative Agreement" means a contract or agreement between a college and one or more other colleges, organizations, associations, educational institutions, or government agencies to obtain, deliver, or share educational services for academic credit.  A cooperative agreement does not include collective bargaining agreements with any labor organization.

"Course" means a sequential presentation, through one or more instructional modes, of subject matter in a particular field to meet specific objectives within a designated time period, such as a semester or a quarter.

"Credit for Prior Learning" means evaluation and assessment of a student's life learning through employment, training and experiences outside an academic environment from which skills that comprise terminal objectives are mastered to an acceptable degree of proficiency for college credit, certification or advanced standing toward further education or training.

"Curriculum" means an approved unit of instruction consisting of a series of courses designed to lead to an associate degree or a certificate.

"District Curriculum" means a curriculum approved for offering within a district, on the basis of student interest, employment demand, and available resources within the district.

"General Studies Curriculum" means a curriculum designed to meet individual student goals, in the promotion of personal improvement and self-understanding.

"Regional Curriculum" means a curriculum approved for offering within a particular region of the State, on the basis of student interest and employment demand within the region. An institution holding authority to offer a regional curriculum shall not exclude additional districts, including those within the defined region or regional consortia of colleges, from requesting approval to offer the same curriculum in its district.

"Statewide Curriculum" means a curriculum approved for offering on the basis of student interest and employment demand statewide. An institution holding authority to offer a statewide curriculum shall not exclude additional districts from requesting approval to offer the same curriculum statewide, regionally or in its district.

"Dual Credit Course" means a college course taken by a high school student for credit at both the college and high school level [110 ILCS 27/5].

"Educational Agency" means an agency, corporation, or other defined legal entity that offers instruction.

"Electronic Exchange System" means an online tool for organizing ICCB proposals and tracking their status.

"Extension Center" means an instructional site for the college that is used for offering some of the college's courses and/or programs for a limited duration.

"GECC"  means the General Education Core Curriculum of the Illinois Articulation Initiative.

"General Education Core Curriculum Credential" or "GECC Credential" means a credential provided by the college for completion of the 37 to 41 credit hours to satisfy the GECC.

"Higher Learning Commission" or "HLC" means an independent corporation that serves as one of six regional institutional accreditors in the U.S. and accredits degree-granting post-secondary educational institutions in the North Central Region, which includes Illinois.

"Instructional Activity" means classroom, online, laboratory, clinical or work-based instruction or any combination of those instructional methods.

"Internship/Practicum" means a course of planned and supervised training that allows the application of theory to actual practice and prepares a student for working independently in a specific career. The internship/practicum generally occurs after the student has completed 12 credit hours.  It takes place at a regular worksite and instruction/supervision is shared by a college instructor/supervisor and a qualified employee at the worksite.  Clinical practicums take place in a hospital or other medical/health facility and require close supervision/instruction/monitoring by a qualified college instructor.

"Laboratory" means a course of planned and supervised training in which students learn new methods or principles through experimentation, observation, and/or practice.  A lab class  can occur at the beginning, middle, or end of a particular course of study and may be a specially equipped room designed for experimentation, observation, and/or practice on the college campus or at the worksite.

"Lecture" means a course presented in an oral or related format that allows for content to be discussed among class participants.

"PBVS Program of Study" means any of the programs listed in Section 10 of the Career and Workforce Transition Act [110 ILCS 151].

"Principal Site" means the official mailing address of the college.

"Private Business Vocational School" or "PBVS" means a non-degree granting institution that is regulated and approved by the Board of Higher Education under the Private Business and Vocational Schools Act of 2012 [105 ILCS 426] and that is nationally accredited by an accreditor approved by the U.S. Department of Education.

"Public Service" means noncredit classes and other activities of an educational nature, such as workshops, seminars, forums, exhibits, and the provision of college facilities and expertise to the community, designed to be of service to the public.

"Remedial Education" means courses in computation, communication (that is, writing and speaking), and reading, designed to improve the competency of high school graduates, or those persons achieving high school equivalency through standardized testing, to the level necessary for placement into communication and mathematics courses required of first‑year college students.  Remedial courses reiterate basic skills that students were expected to have mastered before entry into postsecondary education.

"Research" means investigations or experiments to discover or interpret facts, to revise accepted theories, or to apply those revised theories.

"Secondary School" means a private or parochial secondary school, public secondary school district, or public unit school district.

"Unit of Instruction" means any one of the following:

An organized program of study consisting of a sequence of courses that results in the award to a student of a certificate or an associate degree.

Any existing organized program of study offered at a new geographical location outside of the college district.

Any organized administrative entity that would have a continuing instructional mission, including but not limited to a college, campus or branch.

"Unit of Research or Public Service" means a college's subdivision (e.g., a division, institute or center) that administers one or more research or public service programs.

"Vocational Skills Education" means courses designed to provide short-term job entry training, to upgrade the skills of persons already employed, or to review skills for career re-entry.

(Source:  Amended at 44 Ill. Reg. 18680, effective November 13, 2020)