AASC = Academic Affairs and Standards Council (a contractual curriculum council of faculty, representing each division, that acts upon curriculum changes, participates in annual program review,  and makes recommendations to the administration regarding new programs

       AFSCME = Association of Federal, State, County, and Municipality Employees bargaining unit for clerical and maintenance workers.

       ATC = Alexandria Technical College, a partner in the Distance Minnesota online collaborative.

       BSU = Bemidji State University, the state university located in Bemidji, with which Northwest Technical College is aligned.   We share a President.

       CTS = Customized Training Services; former name of Custom College.

       Custom College =  The arm of the College that contracts with business and industry to provide customized training;  also sponsors open enrollment courses that are open to anyone without being admitted to the College.  These are hour-based courses, not credit-based.

       D2L -= Desire 2 Learn, an instructional management software for online and web-enhanced courses.

       DARS = Degree Audit Reporting System.  Allows learners to track their progress on their degree requirements.

       Distance Minnesota = an online collaborative for the delivery of distance education.   Members are Northwest Technical College, Alexandria Technical College, Minnesota State Community and Technical College, and Northland Community and Technical College

.      EACE = External Admission, Closed Enrollment classification of programs approved for delivery to business employees at their place of employment.  At NTC, we refer to these programs as “Corporate College.”

       FTE = Full Time Equivalent.  The measure of full time employees on an annualized basis. FTE = Full Time Equivalent.  The measure of full time employees on an annualized basis.

       FYE = Full Year Equivalent.  The measure of full time learners on an annualized basis (total credits divided by 30).

       HEAPR = Higher Education Asset Preservation and Replacement.   Funding classification for repair and betterment, major maintenance costs.

       HLC = Higher Learning Commission

       MAPE = Minnesota Association of Professional Employees.  A bargaining unit for director positions.

       MMA = Middle Management Association.  Bargaining unit for middle managers.

       MASP = Master Academic and Strategic Plan at NTC

       MnOnline = the online portal to all MnSCU online courses and programs.   A Call Center hosted by MnSCU is available to all MnSCU learners enrolled in an online course.

       MnQIP = a group of AQIP colleges in Minnesota, composed of primarily MnSCU colleges and universities, but also has participants from University of Minnesota, Augsburg College, Dunwoody College, Capella University, and the North Dakota State College of Science.  Northwest Technical College was one of the founding members of MnQIP.

       MnSCU = Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (the state system governing all state colleges and universities, with the exception of the University of Minnesota.

       MnTC = Minnesota Transfer Curriculum

       MSCF = Minnesota State College Faculty.  Bargaining unit for two-year college faculty.

       MSCTC = Minnesota State Community and Technical College, a partner in the Distance Minnesota online collaborative.  Three of the former multi-campus NTC campuses are part of MSCTC.

       NATEF = National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation.  Sponsor of certification exams for automotive technicians. 

       NCTC = Northland Community and Technical College, , a partner in the Distance Minnesota online collaborative.  One of the former multi-campus NTC campuses is part of NCTC.

       NETS=Northern Educational Telecommunications System, a state-owned network that connects the interactive television capabilities of colleges and universities in northern Minnesota, across the state, and anywhere else with the capability of linking up via fiber optics.

       NTC = Northwest Technical College

       OIC = OIC (Occupational Industrialization Center)  is an employment and training program provided primarily for American Indians.

       Open Enrollment = when applied to the College, this means that we do not have selective admissions.  Everyone who is a high school graduate who completes the application process is admitted to the College.  When applied to a course, this refers to hour-based courses offered through Custom College.  Enrollment is open to anyone and no admission to the College is necessary. 

       REACH Team = Responding Early to Address Concerns Head-on group whose purpose is to intervene as soon as a problem surfaces to attempt to help learners resolve issues before they become crises.  

       SCANS = Secretary's Commission on Advancing Necessary Skills.  This group outlined a set of general skills that are deemed necessary in any occupation.  Most of these would typically be called "soft skills."  

       SSI = Student Satisfaction Inventory  A Noel-Levita instrument that measures learners' responses to many college components on two 7-point scales:  Importance and Satisfaction, measuring the Performance Gap between the two scores. 

       VUE testing = a computerized testing service that provides a venue for taking a variety of tests, such as Microsoft MOUS certification tests.

       WIA = Workforce Investment Act.