The table below is UNM's central repository of terms and data field definitions that are shared across the campus. These data elements are used to define metrics, key performance indicators, and other institutional calculations. If you are unable to find an answer to a data element you are looking for, please contact us.

Data ElementDefinitionLinks
Academic YearBegins with the Summer term of one year and ends with the Spring term of the following year (e.g., Summer 2023-Spring 2024 is Academic Year 2023-24) 
Adjunct FacultyIdentifies a scholar whose primary place of employment is not UNM or whose primary employment within the University is not in a faculty capacity. An Adjunct Professor is an expert in a special field appointed to give instruction on a part-time or discontinuous basis. 
Aggregate DataSummary data reported on by categories so that it is not possible to distinguish the properties of individuals within those categories (e.g., a count of students in a major). 
Award Category

Award category refers to the type of award a student receives following completion of their academic program. The programs offered at UNM Gallup include:

  • Post-secondary certificate: a vocational award completed after earning a high school diploma or equivalent. Some post-secondary certificate are completed in less than one year; others are completed in more than one year but less than two years.
  • Associate's degree: generally earned after two years at the undergraduate level.
  • Bachelor's degree: generally completed in four years at the undergraduate level and include roughly 120 credit hours of coursework. To enroll in a bachelor's degree program, students need at least a high school diploma or equivalent.
Calendar YearThe commonly known year that runs January 1-December 31.
CampusFor the purposes of reporting, there are five campuses in the UNM system: Albuquerque, Taos, Valencia, Gallup and Los Alamos.
ConcentrationA concentration is a specialization within certain majors. Not all colleges have majors with concentrations.
For example, the College of Arts and Sciences (college) may offer a Chemistry (CHEM) major. More specifically, the college offers a Chemistry major with BA Chemistry, BS Chemistry, MS Chemistry and PhD Chemistry programs which correspond to Bachelors, Master's, and PhD degrees in the field.
Course CollegeThe college in which a course is being taught.
DemographicsInformation about a person, such as ethnicity, gender, address, and nationality.
Directory Information

The University, in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, has designated categories of information about students as “directory information,” which is public unless a student asks to have all of it withheld. These categories are:

  • Name
  • Major field of study
  • Enrollment status (full-time, 3/4-time, half-time, less-than-half-time)
  • Dates of attendance (matriculation and withdrawal dates)
  • Degrees and awards received (type of degree and date granted)
  • Participation in officially recognized activities and sports, and weight and height of members of athletic teams

 

A student wishing to keep confidential the directory information listed above must file a written request with the Office of the Registrar. This request may be submitted in person, by mail, or by fax. Once a confidential privacy flag has been placed on a student’s record the directory/public information will not be released to individuals, companies, or third-party entities outside the University of New Mexico. The confidential privacy flag will not automatically be removed upon graduation from the University of New Mexico. If you have requested a confidential privacy flag, your name will not appear in the University of New Mexico Commencement Program.

The following information is needed to process the request by fax or mail: Student name, social security number, and signature.

Employee Class

Employee class refers to a group of similarly situated employees at the university whose positions have been designated, either by the monthly basis of employment, tenure status, exemption status, or professional title. The employee class groups at the University of New Mexico are as follows:

  • 9 Month Faculty (F9)
  • 12 Month Faculty (FY)
  • Executive Faculty (FE)
  • Post Doctoral and Fellows (FP)
  • Temporary Faculty (FT)
  • Graduate Student Bi-Weekly (GB)
  • Graduate Student Monthly (GM)
  • Medical Other - Locum Tenen (MO)
  • Working Retiree (NB)
  • Resident Physicians (RP)
  • Contract Staff (SC)
  • Exempt Temporary Staff (SD)
  • Exempt Staff (SE)
  • Non-Exempt Staff (SN)
  • On Call Staff (SO)
  • Police Bargaining Unit (SP)
  • Temporary Staff Bi-Weekly (ST)
  • USUNM Bargaining Unit (SU)
  • CWA Bargaining Unit (SW)
  • Teaching Non-Credit (TN)
  • University Students Bi-weekly (UB)
  • University Students Monthly (UM)
Enrollment

Enrollment refers to a student's admissions status: A student has accepted the admissions offer and declared the intent to matriculate at UNM Gallup. Active students are both enrolled AND registered in any given semester.

Both enrollment and registration are needed to determine students who are active. Looking only at students who are enrolled will represent an overcount of students, as some may be enrolled in a program but observing a leave of absence or otherwise taking time off from courses.

Ethnicity

A student's self-reported ethnicity based on U.S. Federal categories established in 2010; These categories include: Hispanic, American Indian, Asian, African-American, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, White, Two or More Races, Ethnicity Unknown, and Non-Resident Alien.
Students who are categorized as Hispanic may have reported themselves to be Hispanic and some other race, but Hispanic ethnicity trumps all others. The Two or More Races category encompasses students who report two or more ethnicities other than Hispanic.
U.S. Non-Resident/International category includes all students who are not US Citizens or Permanent Residents (i.e., green card holders).

Expected Family Contribution (EFC)

Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is an index number used to determine eligibility for federal student financial aid. This number results from the financial information provided in the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. EFC is calculated according to a formula established by law and considers a family’s taxed and untaxed income, assets, and benefits (such as unemployment or Social Security). EFC is used to determine federal aid eligibility and financial aid award.

Faculty
Instructor who is assigned to a class and whose name is printed on a class and/or grade roster. Categories:
  • Executive Faculty
  • Adjunct Faculty
  • Visiting Faculty
  • Tenured
  • Tenure-track

Federal Pell GrantFederal Pell Grants, in short, are “federal grants for undergraduate students with financial need.” They do not need to be repaid (except in rare circumstances) and are typically awarded only to undergraduate students who display exceptional financial need and have not earned a bachelor's, graduate, or professional degree. (In some cases, however, a student enrolled in a postbaccalaureate teacher certification program might receive a Federal Pell Grant.) Students with exceptional financial need are defined as students with the lowest expected family contributions (EFC) at the college or university. A student who meets certain requirements might be eligible for a larger Pell Grant if his or her parent died as result of military service in Iraq or Afghanistan or in the line of duty as a public safety officer. Importantly, Pell Grant lifetime eligibility is limited to 12 semesters or the equivalent of 6 years of study. Additionally, Pell eligibility and the amount awarded can differ from year to year.

FERPA

FERPA (the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act) governs how educational institutions protect the privacy of information pertaining to students.

For the purposes of reporting, OIA adheres to the following guidance:
In compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA; 34 CFR Part 99), educational institutions have an obligation to keep students’ educational records and identities secure and private. Publicly releasing data about student enrollment, grades, and other data points can involve a risk to students’ right to privacy. The aggregation of student-level data into department-level (or higher) reports removes much of the risk of disclosure since no direct identifiers (such as a name, Social Security Number, or student ID) are present in the aggregated tables. Some risk of disclosure does remain, however, in circumstances where one or more students possess a unique or uncommon characteristic (or a combination of characteristics) that would allow them to be identified in the data table (this commonly occurs with small subgroup populations), or where some easily observable characteristic corresponds to an unrelated category in the data table.
To prevent any inadvertent disclosure of students’ identities, we will not release data in which a particular group consists of fewer than five (5) students.
In order to mitigate disclosure concerns, we suggest the use of percentages rather than raw numbers or aggregating multiple small groups to create a group larger than 5 to minimize the risk of identifiability.

 

 

Financial Aid

The dollar amounts offered to financial aid applicants.

First-Generation

A student with neither parent having a baccalaureate degree.
The OIA reports first-generation status based on self-reported information on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) regarding the highest level of education completed by both parents (or only one, for single-parent families). If both parents are reported as having middle school, high school, or other/unknown education level, the student is considered a first-generation student. If at least one parent is reported as having some college education or beyond, the student is not a first-generation student.

First-time, Full-time (FTFT)

Freshman students who are attending college for the first time, regardless of dual credit courses in high school, who are full-time, degree-seeking students (enrolled for 12 or more credit hours in the first semester). 

 

Fiscal Year

Runs July 1 of one year to June 30 of the following year (e.g., July 1, 2018-June 30, 2019 is Fiscal Year 2018)

 

Frozen (Census) Data

In order to comply with federal and state data collection requirements (as well as best practices in data curation), UNM Information Technology freezes a selection of Banner tables on the official census date each semester. In the fall and spring semester, this census date falls on the third Friday of the semester (21 days after the beginning of the term). In the summer semester, the census date is on the final Friday of the summer term. The data from these frozen tables are the basis for all official and mandatory reporting.

Full-Time Equivalency (FTE)

A calculation showing how many students would be attending if all were enrolled full time. For IPEDS purposes, FTE = Head count of Full time students + 1/3 * Head count of part time students.
For purposes of the Official Enrollment Report in Fall and Spring semesters, FTE is calculated for undergraduate students by summing Student Credit Hours (SCH) and dividing by 12. In Summer semesters, FTE is the sum of Student Credit Hours (SCH) divided by 6 for undergraduate students.

By federal reporting definitions, full-time status is 12 hours for undergraduates and 9 hours for graduates.
However, when calculating FTE for state reporting, full-time status requires 15 hours for undergraduates and 12 hours for graduates.
This results in slightly lower reported FTE values for state reporting when compared to IPEDS-reported FTE.

Gender

Gender is based on self-identification and reported in the student and HR files.

Grade Point Average (GPA)

A GPA is calculated for all students. 

To calculate a student's GPA, you will need to divide the quality points by the number of credit hours. Quality Points are a function of both the grade (expressed in numeric form) and the number of credit hours.
Grade Scale:
  • A+: 4.33
  • A: 4.00
  • A-: 3.67
  • B+: 3.33
  • B: 3.00
  • B-: 2.67
  • C+: 2.33
  • C: 2.00
  • C-: 1.67
  • D+: 1.33
  • D: 1.00
  • D-: 0.67
  • F: 0
For example, an A+ is equivalent to 4.33 points, meaning that a student who receives an A+ in a 3 credit-hour course earns 12.99 quality points (3 x 4.33) for that course. If calculating a student's overall level GPA, you will need the total quality points for all courses taken at that level at UNM as well as the total number of credit hours taken at UNM at that course level.

To calculate a term-specific GPA, you will need to total the number of quality points earned in that semester divided by the total credit hours attempted in that semester.

If you are calculating the average GPA for a group of students, do not simply average their individual GPAs. You will need to total all quality points earned by those students and then divide that by the sum of all credit hours attempted by those students. This allows the calculation of a true average, which ensures that no individual GPA is over- or under-weighted in the overall calculation.
Graduation Rate

The percentage of first-time, full-time freshmen from a particular fall cohort who graduate prior to a specific subsequent term. Generally, the graduation rate for a given freshman cohort refers to the percentage of full-time students in the cohort who graduate within 6 years, or prior to the start of the cohort's 7th fall semester.
Graduation rates are computed based on 4, 5, 6, or 8 year time periods, and generally include only students who began as first-time, full-time freshmen. The Outcome Measures survey calculates a graduation rate for other groups of undergraduate students, including first-time part-time students, transfer-in students, and students who transfer out.
While there is currently no established official methodology for calculating graduation rates for master's and doctoral students, it is possible to determine a graduation rate with a few parameters in place; namely, the initial term of matriculation and the term by which these students may have graduated.

Grant

A type of financial aid typically given to students who demonstrate some type of financial need, and can originate from the institution, the state, the federal government, or even private groups. Like scholarships, they do not need to be paid back. The most well-known type of grant is the federal Pell Grant, which provides funding to undergraduate students who demonstrate very high levels of financial need through their Estimated Family Contribution, which is calculated on the student's Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) based on family size and family income.

Head Count

Actual number of enrolled students; typically reported as unduplicated totals (i.e., when reporting on full academic year headcounts, students are only counted once rather than by semester).

Instructional Staff Rank
  • Professor - Faculty member
  • Associate Professor (one step up from an assistant professor) - Faculty member
  • Assistant Professor (Entry Level Faculty member)
  • Instructor (normally holds a minimum of a Master’s degree or equivalent)
  • Lecturer (Only teaching)
  • No Academic Rank
IPEDSAcronym for Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System; A set of surveys from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) designed to collect and share information on institutions of higher education pertaining to enrollments, degrees, demographics, human resources, financial aid, admissions, academic libraries, and finance.
These surveys are administered at the federal level and are required of all institutions of higher education that participate in, or are applicants for participation in, any federal financial assistance program authorized by Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965.
LoansA type of financial aid typically given to students who demonstrate some type of financial need, and can originate from the institution, the state, the federal government, or even private groups. Like scholarships, they do not need to be paid back. The most well-known type of grant is the federal Pell Grant, which provides funding to undergraduate students who demonstrate very high levels of financial need through their Estimated Family Contribution, which is calculated on the student's Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) based on family size and family income.
Lower Division CoursesLower-division courses introduce undergraduates to an academic discipline. Usually have course numbers starting with 1 or 2 (100-299 or 1000-2999 range)
MyReports/ODS DataData pulled from MyReports/ODS reflects live rather than frozen data. These live data are updated every night during a regular overnight process, and will show data as of 5:00 PM the day before. It is often not possible to match data pulled from MyReports/ODS to public-facing and/or official reports generated by OIA since the latter are generated from frozen data. MyReports is best for more timely data used for tracking changes or making comparisons over a period of time (days, weeks, months, semesters, or academic years).
MajorArea of study being offered by the various colleges in the university.
NMHEDAcronym for the New Mexico Higher Education Department; The state-level governing body that oversees institutions of higher education and collects data pertaining to students for purposes of compliance, record-keeping, and analysis. OIA submits raw data files to the NMHED multiple times per year with record-level information on enrollments, courses, student courses, degrees, and financial aid. The files submitted to NMHED are the basis for many other reports generated throughout the year.
Non-DegreeNon-degree students are enrolled but not seeking a degree, and will be listed under Non-Degree for both major and college.
Official/Census DataCensus data (sometimes referred to as "official data") are derived from frozen tables captured as of the census date each semester. These tables contain information on student enrollment, course information, demographic information, and previous education. The census snapshot is taken on the third Friday of spring and fall terms and on the last day of the summer term.
Point in Time DataIn contrast to official/census data, point-in-time data are data pulled from any specific date. Often it is a comparison of data from a previous year on the same day of the week or month as the current date (e.g., Friday 8/4/2023 compared to Friday 8/5/2022). Point-in-time data are not official/census data nor do they match data queried on other days from the ODS/Banner/MyReports. Note: Point-in-time data are not used in official reporting.
ProgramA program incorporates the level of study and the degree of the student while a major is simply the area of study. The program is thus the specific degree being conferred on the student at graduation, which includes the degree, major, and college.
Public Service StaffAn occupational category used to classify persons whose specific assignments customarily are made for the purpose of carrying out public service activities such as agricultural extension services, clinical services, or continuing education. Regardless of title, academic rank, or tenure status, these employees formally spend the majority of their time carrying out public service activities.
RegistrationRegistration refers to a student's active course load: A student has registered for at least one course in that semester. Both are needed to determine students who are active. Looking only at students who are enrolled will represent an overcount of students, as some may be enrolled in a program but observing a leave of absence or otherwise taking time off from courses.
Research StaffEmployees hired in a faculty role who are working mainly on research and have few (if any) teaching responsibilities.
Retention
Percentage of first-time, degree-seeking freshmen (or freshmen cohort) who remain enrolled in a subsequent semester. For example, the 1-year retention rate for the 2015 freshmen cohort reflects the percentage of students in the cohort who remain enrolled at the start of the fall 2016 semester. This includes students who are away as national/international exchange students or on cooperative work assignments. The “retention rate” for a given freshmen cohort generally refers to the 1-year rate, or 3rd-semester retention.
Scholarships
A type of financial aid given to students for need, merit, or some combination of the two. These monies are disbursed to students and do not need to be paid back. Scholarships can originate from the institution, state, or private groups.
Staff
  • Full time: An appointment of at least .75 FTE (equivalent to 30 or more hours per week)
  • Part time: An appointment of less than .75 FTE (equivalent to less than 30 hours per week)
  • Regular
  • Temporary
Student Classification
Provides information on both level of study and class level.
  • CC: Concurrent Enrollment
  • N1-N5: Nursing, Levels I-V
  • NU: Non-degree undergraduate student
  • UA: Freshman, First Year First Semester
  • UB: Freshman, First Year Second Semester
  • U2: Sophomore
  • U3: Junior
  • U4: Senior
Student College
Student College is the college where a student is registered as a degree-seeking major. In a given semester, a student can only have one Student College, but can take courses that belong to different course colleges.
Student Credit Hours (SCH)
SCH is the summation of all credit hours taken by students in a given course, subject, semester, campus, or level.
Student Level
Students are categorized based on the level of study as follows:
  • NU: Non-degree Undergraduate; Includes non-degree students who have not yet earned a baccalaureate degree, concurrent enrollment students, and dual credit students.
  • AD: Associate's; Includes all degree-seeking students at branch campuses pursuing an Associate's degree (AA/AS/AAS). Typically takes courses with course numbers ranging from 100-299.
  • CP: Branch Certificate Program (less than one year, one-year, or one to two-year certificates)
  • UG: Undergraduate; Includes all degree-seeking students at the baccalaureate level and Albuquerque campus undergraduate certificates (one-year, one to two year and two-year certificates). Typically takes courses with course numbers ranging from 100-499 or 1000-2999.
Student Status
Students are classified as either Active (AS) or Inactive (IS) based on enrollment and registration in consecutive semesters. If a student does not register for courses for three consecutive semesters, they will be listed as Inactive in the fourth semester after their last registered semester.

To illustrate: Louie Lobo registered for and took a course in Spring 2022. He then did not register for courses in Summer 2022, Fall 2022, or Spring 2023. His student status in these three terms was listed as Active. In Summer 2023, his status would have changed to Inactive. If he continues to not register for courses, he will not be included in any student data beginning in Fall 2023.

When calculating headcounts for a program in a specific term, only those students with Active status should be counted. Further, students must be both enrolled and registered to be included in any institutional headcount totals. Student status can be found in Academic Study along with enrolled and registered status.
Time to Degree
Time to degree is determined by calculating the number of years a student takes to complete a degree from the initial semester of matriculation in that degree program. Time to degree differs from graduation rates in that time to degree reflects the number of years taken to complete a degree program, and graduation rates reflect the percentage of students in a given cohort or group who complete their degree programs within a given time frame (typically 4, 5, or 6 years in the case of undergraduate students).
Transfer Student
A transfer student is an undergraduate student who moves from one institution to another at the same level. Students can transfer from another institution within New Mexico or another state to UNM.
Students need to have earned at least 24 semester credit hours at another college or university after completing high school to transfer to UNM. Students who enroll at UNM after completing an Associate's degree (AA or AS) from a regionally-accredited community college are also considered transfer students.
Transfer Pathways
UNM student entry type is recorded as either Native, Branch, or Transfer (N, B, or T). ‘N’ would indicate that the student began as a first-time freshman at the UNM Albuquerque campus in that semester and thus would not be considered a transfer student. A student with an entry type of ‘B’ would indicate that a student transferred to the Gallup Campus from another UNM branch – either Albuquerque, Los Alamos, Valencia, or Taos. These students are recorded then as “Branch” transfers. Finally, a ‘T’ entry status would indicate that a student transferred from another institution that is not a UNM branch campus (e.g., CNM, NMSU, University of Texas, etc.).
Undecided
Degree-seeking students who have not yet decided on a major will have a major of Undecided (UNDC) and a college value of UC for undergraduates or GP for graduate students.
Under-represented minority (URM)
URM groups are racial and ethnic groups considered underrepresented in higher education (or specific fields of higher education) relative to their proportion in the general U.S. population or historically within higher eduation institutions.
There is no uniform definition of URM. For example, the NIH defines URM as Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders; the NSF defines URM as Black or African American, Hispanic, and American Indian or Alaska Native.
Unit-Record Data

Unit-record data refers to the extraction and provisioning of information on individuals such as name, address, or email. Unit record data are data that has not been aggregated (grouped). These are data specific properties of individuals and may be personally identifiable and sensitive, such as information on grades, personal characteristics, or other non-directory information.

Work Study

A type of financial aid awarded to students who may have financial need and provides income to students who work a part-time, on-campus job. Work study can be funded by the institution, state, or federal resources, and the money earned does not need to be paid back. Work study is typically awarded only to undergraduate students.