Glossary search results: 12
A-basisSalary rate computed on a twelve-month, annual basis.
AAPAcademic Advancement Program.  This program has been superseded by the Center for Academic Excellence http://cae.ls.wisc.edu/
Academic StaffAcademic Staff: a professional and administrative employee whose duties are exempt from the overtime provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and who performs work that is primarily associated with a higher education institution or its administration.
Acronym UnscramblerUW-Madison Business Services list of acronyms often used in business processes: http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/acronym/acronym.html
ADAAmericans with Disabilities Act.  See also: http://www.ada.gov/
AG (Administrative Gateway)This term refers to the L&S Administrative Gateway.
AOFAdvanced Opportunity Fellowship.  For Graduate students only.  This fellowship is awarded to highly qualified underrepresented students. To be considered for AOF funding, prospective students must be new to the Graduate School and be admissible to a graduate program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  For further information: https://grad.wisc.edu/diversity/oeid/
APC

The L&S Academic Planning Council, or APC, advises the Dean on planning, program, and fiscal matters, and thus plays an important role in College governance activities.  The Dean chairs the Council's weekly meetings, where topics that affect the whole college (and often, the rest of the university) are discussed by elected and appointed members. Academic and Administrative Deans serve as ex Officio observers to advise the council. Agendas are prepared by the Assistant Dean for Academic Planning, in consultation with the Dean and Associate Deans.  For more information, see the Administrative Gateway document, What is the L&S Academic Planning Council? .

APOAcademic Personnel Office. Main campus office for unclassified human resources, personnel, and related activities: https://www.ohr.wisc.edu/
ARMSArchives and Records Management.  See http://archives.library.wisc.edu/ for more information, including policy on maintaining public records.
ASPPAcademic Staff Policies and Procedures.  For more information, visit the Secretary of Academic Staff website: http://acstaff.wisc.edu/resources/policies-and-procedures
Assessment of Student LearningUW-Madison's accrediting agency, the Higher Learning Commission, defines assessment of student learning as a "participatory, iterative process" that:
  • Provides data/information needed regarding student learning;
  • Engages the institution (faculty, staff, students) in analyzing and using this data/information to confirm and improve teaching and learning;
  • Produces evidence that students are learning the outcomes identified by the faculty;
  • Guides educational and institutional improvement; and
  • Helps the institution understand, evaluate and document whether changes made affect student learning
This iterative process asks a series of "Fundamental Questions, including:
  1. How are your stated learning outcomes appropriate to your mission, programs, students and degrees?
  2. How do you ensure shared responsibility for student learning & assessment of student learning?
  3. What evidence do you have that students achieve your stated learning outcomes?
  4. In what ways do you analyze and use evidence of student learning?
  5. How do you evaluate and improve the effectiveness of your efforts to assess and improve student learning?

In the course of an accreditation review, external consultant/evaluators will gauge the extent to which the university has engaged in assessment for purposes of improving student learning, and used what we find to improve student learning.