Acronym List
Dean of the College Office
Alphabet Soup Glossary

ACS-Associated Colleges of the Midwest. A consortium of 14 independent liberal arts colleges located in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Colorado.

ASC-Academic Standing Committee. Committee of faculty, students, and staff that adjudicates college regulations and makes decisions about students' academic standing.

C@C-Currently at Carleton. A Campus-wide newsletter for faculty and staff published every week during the terms; every other week during breaks.

CALL-Collaborative Assessment of Liberal Learning. Four-college project on student learning funded by the Teagle Foundation.

CDF-Curriculum Development Fund. Grants from this fund are awarded each winter by the Faculty Grants Committee to support curricular development. Very small CDF grants may be awarded any time by the Dean.

CF&PC-Capital Funding and Priorities Committee. Committee of College Council that manages and priorities funding and projects for capital renewal and investment.

CFD-Consortium for Faculty Diversity. The goal of this program is to assist minority scholars in the early stages of their career and to produce a pool of minority scholars who will have firsthand experience teaching at liberal arts colleges. Carleton's goal is to hire one of these applicants as a CFD Fellow each academic year.

CISMI-The Carleton Interdisciplinary Science & Math Initiative. CISMI supports a broad array of multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and collaborative activities between the science and math departments.

CLA-Collegiate Learning Assessment. An assessment “tool” Carleton is administering as part of a grant.

CLAE-Carleton Liberal Arts Experience. A summer program funded by a Carleton trustee, which brings talented high school juniors of African American descent, or students who have an interest in African American culture, to campus for a week-long academic college-prep program.

CSL-Committee on Student Life. Committee of students that advises the Dean of Students; can recommend social policy issues to the College Council. Chaired by the Dean of Students with a student co-chair.

DARC-Digital Asset Resource Center.

DIG-Diversity Initiative Group. DIG exists to discuss, assess and strengthen the College's campus climate, work culture and institutional commitment to diversity. DIG also makes recommendations and proposals for changes in diversity policies and programs to College Council, of which it is a subcommittee.

ECC-Education and Curriculum Committee. Major policy development committee that reports to the faculty, co-chaired by the Dean. Membership includes Associate Dean Liz Ciner, a faculty co-chair, four other faculty, and five students.

ELT-East Laird Times. Newsletter for faculty published by the Dean's office roughly twice per month.

EthIC-Ethical Inquiry at Carleton. EthIC is a new college initiative that grew out of the Program in Ethical Reflection at Carleton (PERC). In response to efforts by the President and Dean's Offices, EthIC is designed to encourage and facilitate the ethical inquiry which is integral to a liberal arts environment.

EXCO-Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees. Meets during months the full Board does not meet. The Dean and other members of Administrative Council attend.

FAC-Faculty Affairs Committee. Faculty "ombuds" committee that promotes faculty interests, mediates faculty issues with each other or administrators, etc. Oversees changes to the part of the Faculty Handbook that requires faculty approval.

FCC-Faculty Compensation Committee. Faculty committee reporting to the FAC. Dean of the College and Vice President and Treasurer sit on it ex-officio.

FCPC-Faculty Curricular Planning Committee. Chaired by the Dean, with faculty elected to ECC plus Associate Dean Liz Ciner as members, the FCPC advises the Dean on curricular planning and allocation of faculty positions.

FDE-Faculty Development Endowment. Fund that supports faculty fellowships on a competitive basis. “Large" grants provide up to one term’s salary and "small" grants of up to $2,500 support smaller projects.

FGC-Faculty Grants Committee. Committee that awards Targeted Opportunities, FDE, and CDF grants. Made up of four elected faculty members, one from each division, and the Dean.

FPC-Faculty Personnel Committee. Committee that makes tenure recommendations to the President and Dean and oversees third-year reviews. Composed of five elected tenured faculty, the Dean, and President.

FOCUS-Focusing on Cultivating Scientists. FOCUS is designed for students interested in science and promoting diversity in the sciences. FOCUS supports students through their entry into the study of science/math at Carleton and as they continue in the curriculum by creating a cohort which enrolls in classes together (in so far as this makes sense), meets regularly in a colloquium throughout the first year, and has an opportunity for work study in the sciences.

FRISCE-Freshman Interdepartmental Science Cohort Experience.

HHMI-Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Major granting agency which significantly supports student research, equipment, and outreach programs in biochemistry, biophysics, and neuroscience fields at Carleton.

IACUC-Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. The committee is responsible for overseeing all activities involving animals at Carleton. As mandated by federal law, the committee must review and approve all research and teaching activities involving animals, to ascertain that these activities meet ethical standards for humane animal care and use, in accord with the standards set out by the NIH and USDA.

ILP- Integrative Learning Project. A grant from the AAC&U and the Carnegie Foundation to examine students’ skills across the curriculum.

JFAC-Junior Faculty Affairs Committee. A committee reporting to the FAC to support untenured Carleton faculty.

LTC-Learning and Teaching Center (The Perlman Center for Learning and Teaching). Led by a faculty coordinator, the Center supports learning and teaching at Carleton, runs a student observer program, organizes the mentoring program, sponsors numerous workshops and seminars and maintains a teaching and learning library.

NCA-North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Our regional accrediting organization.

OCS-Off-Campus Studies. Usually refers to the faculty committee which oversees the off-campus studies program, setting calendar and making policy. Sometimes refers to the office administering the programs or the programs themselves.

PDA-Professional Development Account. An account available to tenured and tenure-track faculty against which they can draw for professional expenses.

POSSE-A team of underrepresented students selected to attend Carleton by The Posse Foundation. A Posse is a simple concept that works for both students and college campuses, a concept rooted in the belief that a small, diverse group of talented students, a Posse, carefully selected and trained, can serve as a catalyst for increased individual and community development.

QuIRK-Quantitative Inquiry, Reasoning and Knowledge.

RAD-Recognition and Affirmation of Difference. RAD was adopted in 1988 as a graduation requirement. Students must take one course certified as centrally addressing diversity issues in a country, tradition, or art from outside Europe or the United States, or with issues or theories of gender, class, race or ethnicity found anywhere in the world.

SERC-Science Education Resource Center. SERC works to improve education through projects that support educators. Although their work has a particular emphasis on undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education, they work with educators across a broad range of disciplines and at all educational levels.

SFDP-Senior Faculty Development Program. Year of reflection, self-designed, special activities, and planning in which tenured faculty participate roughly every ten years.

TP&PC-Technology Priorities and Planning Committee. Committee charged with understanding, keeping abreast and discussing important initiatives undertaken by ITS and helping to articulate and establish strategic priorities for future initiatives.