Glossary of Terms

Alternative Payment Arrangement (APA) – Used by students who are unable to pay their tuition and Student Assistance Levy (see definition below) by the winter term January 10 due date, but have a proven source of funding. If approved, your payment deadline will be changed from January 10 to January 31 for the winter term.

Ancillary Fees – Levied by the AMS (undergraduate) and SGPS (graduate), a portion of these fees are mandatory, and cover access to athletic, health, and wellness facilities, etc. Some are optional, and support various campus groups, and you can choose to opt out of these when you are on campus in September.

Award – An amount of money you receive to help you in financing your education that you do not need to pay back, which is often given on the basis of academic achievement, financial need, and/or other criteria.

Bursary – An amount of money you receive to help you in financing your education that you do not need to pay back, which is based on an assessment of your financial need.

Domestic Student – A student with Canadian citizenship or permanent resident status, regardless of where the student went to high school, or has lived in the past.

Enrolment Appointment – The date/time when you can start to confirm the courses you want to take for the upcoming year. Prior to this, you can choose courses and put them in your shopping cart (see definition below), but you haven’t completed the course selection process until your Enrolment Appointment starts, which is when you can confirm your choices.

Graduate Student – A student completing a Master’s or Doctoral program in the School of Graduate Studies.

International Student – A student without Canadian citizenship, or permanent resident status.

MyQueensU Portal – A gateway on the Queen’s website, through which you access the SOLUS Student Centre, receive important messages, see news and special events postings, etc.

Net ID –This is usually a combination of your initials and some numbers and, like a user-name, you will need your NetID and a password to log onto the MyQueensU Portal and your Queen’s email.

Open Enrolment –The period during the course selection window when you can select any course you would like to take, provided you have the correct prerequisite(s).

Orientation – Student groups organize academic and social events for new, exchange, and/or transfer students to introduce them to life at Queen’s, and in Kingston.

Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) – Both the federal and Ontario governments provide student financial aid to qualifying Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and protected persons from Ontario while studying at the university level who demonstrate financial need. This funding can be a combination of repayable loans and non-repayable grant assistance.

Preauthorized Payment Plan (PPL) – Available only to Graduate Students, the PPL permits the payment of tuition and associated fees over several months.

Prerequisite – A course that must be completed before you can take another course. For example, to register in most second year Biology courses, you need to have completed a first year Biology course. That first year Biology course is the prerequisite for the second year course.

Professional Student – A student completing a Law, Medicine, or Education degree (including final year Concurrent Education Students).

Registration – Registration at Queen’s consists of three steps: choosing your courses, paying fees, and picking up and/or validating your student card.

Release of Information – Completed through SOLUS, Students are able to assign access to academic and/or financial information for an identified individual.

SOLUS Student Centre –Your online source for all information about your academic and financial information as a Queen’s Student.

Scholarship – An amount of money you receive to help you in financing your education that you do not need to pay back, which is based on superior academic achievement.

Shopping Cart –This is a tool within the SOLUS Student Centre that lets you select courses you are interested in taking before your enrolment appointment begins. 

Student Assistance Levy (SAL) – All students are assessed the SAL, which provides help to improve existing scholarship and student assistance programs, fund summer work experience programs, and support the Queen’s learning environment.

Student Card –Your student card has your picture on it and is used to access the libraries, cafeterias, Athletic Centre, and various other services provided by Queen’s.

Timetable – The course timetable is a list of all courses being offered by Queen’s in the upcoming year, including when and where they will be taught.

Undergraduate Student – A student completing a Bachelor’s degree.

UHIP –The University Health Insurance Plan, a mandatory plan for International Students and/or their dependents, that covers basic doctor and hospital expenses.

Unapplied Credit– credits that cannot be applied to any of the fees currently assessed. Unapplied credits may or may not be eligible for refund.

Verification of Enrolment – A form generated in SOLUS that confirms current, or past, registration for a given academic period.