Glossary Of Terms

Monique Staats Updated by Monique Staats

Below are some of our commonly used terms:

Credential / Certificate: Earned upon successful completion of all the individual courses comprising the program, and available through your student portal. eCornell offers professional development credentials, not certifications.

Course: These are individual 'classes', with specific topics and comprised of modules. Course content is authored by Cornell University faculty, and designed to fit your schedule, regardless of your continent or time zone, as they are asynchronous. Most run in two-week sessions, with fixed start and end dates. The majority of our courses are 100% online and self-paced, so you are never required to log in at any particular hour or day. Courses must be marked Complete earn your credential.

Complete: Within the course environment (Canvas) all course requirements have been met.

Incomplete: One or more requirements were not met within the course window. If the course is still active, you can reattempt/resubmit the incomplete work. If the course has ended, you will need to retake the course.

Extension: Special circumstances may allow you to request a brief period of time to continue working on course requirements.

Course Access: Typically two weeks in duration per course; courses open on a Wednesday at 9 am ET. During the course window, course requirements must be completed and receive a grade of 100%, which is indicated by a notation of 'Complete' vs. 'Incomplete'.

Confirmation of Completion Letter: Available in the student portal once a course's requirements have been fulfilled and the status is registered as complete.

Module: A section of learning material components within a course, like a chapter in a book.

Program: Used interchangeably with the term 'certificate' or 'credential', a collection of courses that must be completed to earn a credential.

Student portal: Available via portal.ecornell.com with a username and password. This portal provides a link to access the course platform (Canvas), the ability to maintain student profile information, follow program progress, download earned credentials or confirmation of completion letters, etc.

Canvas: The eCornell learning environment, where courses take place. This is accessible via lms.ecornell.com with a username and password, or by clicking Take Me To My Courses from the student portal.

Transfer request: Submitted by a student via self-service, or with the Student Support team to enlist eCornell staff assistance to reschedule/switch course start dates, within the transfer window. Even though your request has been submitted, your revised schedule may take up to 48 hours to show on your student portal.

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