Glossary of Terms

Laurier's academic calendar contains official information regarding Laurier's program requirements, course offerings and academic regulations.

The application checklist refers to all the steps required to apply for admission. There are two steps: through the OUAC portal, your biographical information and reference contact information is collected, and then supplemental documentation is required by the program(s) to which you have applied, to learn more about you and your academic and non-academic qualifications.

Then you will upload your supplemental documents on LORIS after we have received your initial application (from OUAC). Be sure to refer to your program’s application checklist and to use the template(s) required when uploading your documentation into the appropriate section of your checklist.

Most offers of admission require some admission conditions to be met before being permitted to commence your program (the most common condition is submission of an official transcript). Admission conditions must be cleared by the date specified in the offer of admission. Applicants are notified when all admission conditions have been satisfied and the application record has been updated.

A ceremony that occurs in the spring and fall, to celebrate the academic success and conferral of degrees and diplomas to graduands.

A deferral is a request to defer your commencement into a program to which you have been admitted, where circumstances prevent you from starting at the time specified in the offer. Deferrals are considered and approved by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies only in highly exceptional cases.

Laurier's language of instruction is English, and so we may require you to provide evidence of your English language proficiency by providing your test scores from one of the approved tests.

“Faculty” has two meanings:

1. A division of the university, for example: the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, the Faculty of Science, the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics.
2. A member of the teaching community, for example: a professor or a part-time instructor.

General graduate students are students possessing an honours bachelor's degree or equivalent who are taking one or more graduate courses for credit but are not proceeding to a degree or a diploma at Laurier. Such students are admitted at the discretion of the dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in consultation with the program coordinator.

General Graduate Students are normally permitted to complete no more than 2 half-credit courses.

The Laurier Online Registration and Information System (LORIS) is a web application used by applicants, students, alumni and employees of Laurier. LORIS is a secure self-service site where you can view your application (as completed on the OUAC portal) and upload the required supplemental materials.

Registered Laurier students also use LORIS to add and drop courses, apply for bursary funding, update address information, view their invoices, retrieve tax documentation, review (and accept/decline) any offered financial support, request official Laurier transcripts and more.

With cybersecurity threats becoming increasingly sophisticated, Laurier is joining institutions around the world in adopting multi-factor authentication (MFA) to help keep the digital assets, information, and user identities of our community safe.

It's an easy way to protect your Microsoft 365 email and single sign-on (SSO) account. Sometimes known as two-step verification, MFA adds an extra layer of protection to help prevent hacking, even if they have your password.

An offer of admission is approved by the associate vice-president and dean, Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, confirming that you have been offered space into the program and semester to which you’ve applied. The offer requires your response (accept/decline) within a specified period of time.

An official transcript is a record of your academic work that has the seal and signature of the registrar of the institution you attended. It is usually sent directly from the institution to the recipient, or by you in a sealed envelope that has not been opened.

The Ontario University Application Centre (OUAC) is where you begin your application to graduate studies at Laurier. Tech support for that part of your application is available from OUAC staff.

A transcript contains a chronological listing of courses and grades obtained at your educational institution.

An official transcript is received at Laurier in a sealed envelope, usually with a university seal intact across the envelope flap, has the full name of the institution clearly identified, bears the signature of the registrar (or equivalent) from the issuing institution, includes a legend, and contains security features in the document itself.

Some credentials also require the degree certificate (in addition to the transcript) to be considered official.

An unofficial transcript is a record of your academic career printed on plain paper without a college seal or your registrar's signature. It is issued for your personal use and cannot be used to transfer to another college or university or for official purposes.