Academic calendar
Mini-1 2026 runs Aug 24, 2026 – Oct 10, 2026. Calendar aliases that share a date range are grouped together, with every source term still shown.
- Summer Session All 2026
- Summer Two & Mini 6 2026
- Mini-1 2026Mini-1 Fall 2026Relevant now
- Fall 2026
- Mini-2 2026Mini-2 Fall 2026
- Mini-3 2027Mini-3 Spring 2027
- Spring 2027
- Mini-4 2027Mini-4 Spring 2027
- Mini-5 2027Mini-5 Summer 2027
- Summer One / Mini-5 2027
- Summer 2027
- Summer Session All 2027
- Mini-6 2027Mini-6 Summer 2027
- Summer Two / Mini-6 2027
- Mini-1 2027Mini-1 Fall 2027
- Fall 2027
- Mini-2 2027Mini-2 Fall 2027
- Mini-3 2028Mini-3 Spring 2028
- Spring 2028
- Mini-4 2028Mini-4 Spring 2028
- Mini-5 2028
- Mini-5 Summer 2028
- Summer 2028
- Mini-6 2028Mini-6 Summer 2028
Campus language
Search the full glossary. Nothing is sampled or hidden when the search field is empty.
Showing 67 of 67 terms
A
- AB
- Activities Board, the student-run organization that plans concerts, movies, and campus events.
B
- Booth
- A Spring Carnival competition where student organizations build elaborate multi-story structures.
- Boss
- Boss House, a smaller residential community often paired with McGill.
- Buggy
- The Sweepstakes race, a unique CMU tradition involving gravity-powered vehicles steered by 'drivers'.
C
- Carnival
- Spring Carnival, the university's largest annual tradition featuring Buggy, Booth, and Midway.
- CFA
- College of Fine Arts, referring to the college and its iconic building.
- CIA
- Carnegie Involvement Association, a long-standing student organization active in Buggy and Booth.
- CIT
- Carnegie Institute of Technology, the common name for the College of Engineering.
- CMU CS Academy
- An outreach program providing computer science curriculum to high schools.
- CMU TV
- The student-run television station and video production club.
- CMUWA
- Carnegie Mellon University Women's Association.
D
- DineX
- DineXtra, the flexible spending currency used for campus dining and some off-campus partners.
- Donner
- Donner House, a large, centrally located traditional-style residence hall.
E
- E-Tower
- Ellsworth Terrace, an apartment-style residence hall.
- Entropy
- The main on-campus convenience store located in the Cohon University Center.
- Exchange
- The Exchange, a dining location in the Tepper Building known for sandwiches and salads.
F
- Fairfax
- Fairfax Apartments, a university-affiliated apartment building on Fifth Avenue.
- Flex
- Flex dollars, a declining balance used for food purchases outside of set meal blocks.
G
- GSA
- Graduate Student Assembly, the representative body for graduate students.
I
- iCafe
- The Intelligent Workplace Cafe located in Margaret Morrison Carnegie Hall, known for coffee and snacks.
K
- KGB
- A social and satirical organization known for quirky events and 'booth' construction; not the Soviet agency.
- Kiltie
- A member of the Kiltie Band, CMU's bagpipe-led marching band.
- Kiltie Band
- The university's marching band, known for wearing kilts and performing at football games.
L
- La Prima
- A popular espresso bar and coffee shop located on the 5th floor of Wean Hall.
M
- Mid-sem
- Short for mid-semester break or the period of intense exams in the middle of the term.
- Mid-semesters
- The CMU term for midterm exams.
- Midway
- The area during Spring Carnival featuring rides, games, and the Booth competition.
- Morewood
- Morewood Gardens, a large residential complex housing both freshmen and upperclassmen.
- Morewood Gardens
- Often referred to simply as 'Gardens,' a large residence hall complex.
- Mudge
- Mudge House, a mansion-style residence hall known for its courtyard and traditional architecture.
O
- OM
- Orientation Mentor, a student leader who assists incoming freshmen during Orientation week.
P
- Pausch Bridge
- The Randy Pausch Memorial Bridge, which lights up at night and connects GHC to Purnell Center.
- Plaid
- The school's official pattern and a general term for school spirit.
- Push
- The act of pushing a buggy during the uphill portions of a race.
- Pushers
- The student athletes who push the buggy during the uphill segments of the race.
R
- Resnik
- Resnik House, a residence hall that also houses a major dining servery.
- Resnik
- Refers to the Resnik Servery, a dining hall with multiple international food stations.
- Rez on Fifth
- Residence on Fifth, a popular upperclassman housing option located on Fifth Avenue.
S
- Schatz
- Schatz Dining Room, a buffet-style eatery in the CUC that hosts brunch and upscale dinner.
- Scotty
- The Scottish Terrier mascot of the university.
- ScottyLabs
- A student organization that develops technology and hosts hackathons like TartanHacks.
- SCS
- School of Computer Science, often used to refer to the community or the specific academic unit.
- SDC
- Spring Carnival Committee, the group responsible for organizing the university's largest annual tradition.
- Shirley
- Shirley Apartments, a university-owned housing option typically for upperclassmen.
- SLICE
- Student Leadership, Involvement, and Civic Engagement, the office managing student organizations.
- Stever
- Stever House, a freshman residence hall known for being the first LEED-certified dorm in the world.
- StuCo
- Student College, where students teach courses to their peers for credit.
- StuGov
- Student Government, the representative body for undergraduate and graduate students.
- Sweepstakes
- The formal name for the annual 'Buggy' push-cart races.
T
- Tartan
- The university's nickname and the specific plaid pattern associated with the school.
- Tartan
- The Tartan, Carnegie Mellon's student-run newspaper.
- Tazza
- Tazza D'Oro, a coffee shop located in the Gates Hillman Center.
- The Apartments
- General shorthand for university-affiliated housing like Fairfax or Shirley.
- The Cut
- The large central grassy lawn where students relax, play frisbee, and walk to class.
- The E-Tower
- The Morewood E-Tower, a specific wing of the Morewood residential complex.
- The Exchange
- A dining location in the Tepper Building known for its salads and sandwiches.
- The Fence
- A wooden fence on the Cut that student groups paint overnight to advertise events or causes.
- The Gardens
- Morewood Gardens, a large upperclassman and freshman residence complex.
- The Highlands
- A group of university-owned apartments and houses located slightly off-campus.
- The Mall
- The grassy area between Doherty Hall and Hamerschlag Hall.
- The Pausch
- The Randy Pausch Memorial Bridge, which connects the Purnell Center and Gates Center and features light displays.
- The Rez
- Resnik House, a residence hall that also houses a dining facility.
- The Tartan
- While also the newspaper, it refers to the university's Scottish-themed identity and mascot.
- The Tartan
- The official student-run newspaper of Carnegie Mellon.
- The Underground
- A dining area in Morewood Gardens featuring multiple food concepts like burgers and tacos.
W
- Walking to the Sky
- The tall, controversial pole statue featuring figures walking upward, located near Warner Hall.
- WRCT
- The campus radio station, 88.3 FM, which is student and community-run.
Places and practicalities
Buildings, logistics, and other local references drawn from the approved campus snapshot.
- Andrew ID
- The unique username assigned to every student for email and digital service access.
- au_bon_pain_at_skibo_caf
- Au Bon Pain at Skibo Café
- Baker
- Baker Hall, home to the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
- BH
- Baker Hall, part of the Baker-Porter complex housing humanities and social sciences.
- Block
- A meal credit unit used for entry into dining halls or for specific meal deals at retail locations.
- Blocks
- Meal units used to enter all-you-care-to-eat dining halls or for specific meal deals.
- Canvas
- The primary Learning Management System used by professors for course materials and assignments.
- CFA
- The College of Fine Arts building, known for its grand architecture and niche 'niches' painted by students.
- Cluster
- Public computer labs located throughout campus buildings like Wean and Gates.
- CMU ID
- The official identification card used for building access, meal plans, and Port Authority transit.
- CMU Time
- The unofficial campus convention where classes and meetings begin 10 minutes after their officially scheduled start time.
- CUC
- The Cohon University Center, the primary hub for student life and activities.
- D-List
- Email distribution lists used by departments and clubs to reach specific student groups.
- D-Lists
- Departmental or organizational email distribution lists used for mass communication.
- DH
- Doherty Hall, home to many chemistry and engineering labs.
- DineX
- Dining Exchange, a flexible spending account included in meal plans for food purchases.
- DineXtra
- Declining balance funds that can be used at campus dining locations.
- Doherty
- Doherty Hall, a primary building for chemistry and engineering labs and classrooms.
- entropy
- Entropy+
- Escort
- The university-run shuttle service that provides safe transportation around campus and nearby neighborhoods at night.
- Flex
- Flexible spending currency that can be used for dining and at certain off-campus partners.
- GHC
- The Gates and Hillman Centers, the main buildings for the School of Computer Science.
- Hamerschlag
- Hamerschlag Hall, an engineering building famous for its circular rotunda and smoke stack.
- Handshake
- The platform used by the Career and Professional Development Center for job postings and interviews.
- Health Services
- Refers to University Health Services (UHS) located in the Morewood Gardens building.
- HH
- Hamerschlag Hall, the iconic engineering building with the rotunda.
- hunan_express
- Hunan Express
- Hunt
- Hunt Library, the main campus library located at the end of the Cut.
- maggie_murph_cafe_by_de_fer_coffee_tea
- Maggie Murph Cafe by De Fer Coffee & Tea
- nourish
- Nourish
- NSH
- Newell-Simon Hall, part of the School of Computer Science complex.
- PH
- Porter Hall, an academic building housing various humanities and social science departments.
- Plaid Cash
- A debit-like account on the student ID used for laundry, printing, and some off-campus vendors.
- PlaidCash
- A prepaid debit account on the ID card used for laundry, printing, and some off-campus merchants.
- PRT
- Pittsburgh Regional Transit; students use their ID card to ride city buses and inclines for free.
- rohr_caf_la_prima
- Rohr Café - La Prima
- SafeRide
- A university-provided shuttle service that offers safe transportation around campus and nearby neighborhoods at night.
- SafeWalk
- A campus security service that provides escorts for students walking at night.
- schatz_dining_room
- Schatz Dining Room
- SIO
- Student Information Online, the web portal used for registration, grades, and financial accounts.
- Tartan Card
- The official student ID card used for building access, dining, and transit.
- TartanCard
- The official CMU student ID card used for building access, meal plans, and transit.
- Tepper
- The Tepper Quad, which houses the business school and a large fitness center.
- The Escort
- A nighttime shuttle service that provides safe transportation to nearby neighborhoods.
- The Hub
- The central office for enrollment services, including ID cards, transcripts, and billing.
- The Shuttle
- The university-run transportation service that provides safe rides around the local neighborhood.
- The UC
- The Cohon University Center, the central student union building.
- the_edge_cafe_market
- The Edge Cafe & Market
- UC
- The Cohon University Center, the hub for student life and dining.
- Wean
- Wean Hall, a major academic building known for its brutalist architecture and 'the bridge'.
- WEH
- Wean Hall, a major academic building known for its brutalist architecture.
Quick answers
Useful facts students can verify from the guide above.
- What academic term is relevant now?
- Mini-1 2026 runs Aug 24, 2026 – Oct 10, 2026.
- How much campus context is included?
- 67 approved campus terms and 51 local details are included in full.
- Are all approved campus terms included?
- Yes. The complete approved glossary is available in the scrollable, searchable campus-language section.
- Where does this guide come from?
- Calendar dates, campus terms, and local details come from DormWay's approved campus reference library.