Academic calendar
Fall First 7-Week Session 2026 runs Aug 24, 2026 – Oct 9, 2026. Calendar aliases that share a date range are grouped together, with every source term still shown.
- Summer Regular Session 2026 (12 weeks)
- Summer 2026 Second 6-Week SessionSummer Second 6-Week Session 2026
- Fall First 7-Week Session 2026Relevant now
- Fall Regular Session 2026 (15 weeks)
- Fall Second 7-Week Session 2026
Campus language
Search the full glossary. Nothing is sampled or hidden when the search field is empty.
Showing 9 of 9 terms
A
- ACM
- Association for Computing Machinery, a professional student chapter active within the World Campus community.
- Async
- Asynchronous learning; refers to courses without a set meeting time where students work at their own pace.
B
- BWS
- Blue & White Society, the student chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association which has a dedicated World Campus wing.
S
- Sync
- Synchronous learning; refers to courses that include live, scheduled video sessions.
U
- UP
- University Park; the physical main campus that World Campus students often distinguish themselves from or visit for graduation.
W
- WC
- Common shorthand for World Campus used in forums and student communications.
- WCPB
- World Campus Program Board, the organization responsible for planning virtual and in-person events for online students.
- WCSGA
- World Campus Student Government Association, the primary representative body for online students.
- World Campus Student
- A specific identity used by students to distinguish their online experience from the residential 'Penn Stater' experience.
Places and practicalities
Buildings, logistics, and other local references drawn from the approved campus snapshot.
- Canvas
- The Learning Management System (LMS) where all World Campus course content, assignments, and discussions are located.
- east_food_district_findlay_commons
- East Food District (Findlay Commons)
- Examity
- An online proctoring service frequently used for high-stakes exams in World Campus courses.
- IdentiCard
- The official Penn State photo ID card, which World Campus students can request by mail for student discounts and library access.
- LionPATH
- The central student information system used for enrollment, checking grades, and managing financial aid.
- north_food_district_warnock_commons
- North Food District (Warnock Commons)
- Outreach Building
- The physical administrative headquarters for World Campus located in Innovation Park at the University Park campus.
- pollock_dining_commons
- Pollock Dining Commons
- ProctorU
- A common third-party online proctoring service used for monitoring exams via webcam.
- south_food_district_redifer_commons
- South Food District (Redifer Commons)
- SRTE
- Student Rating of Teaching Effectiveness; the end-of-semester course and instructor evaluation surveys.
- Starfish
- The academic advising and student support platform used to schedule appointments and track academic progress.
- The Virtual Classroom
- A common student reference to the Canvas dashboard where all course materials are hosted.
- west_food_district_waring_commons
- West Food District (Waring Commons)
Quick answers
Useful facts students can verify from the guide above.
- What academic term is relevant now?
- Fall First 7-Week Session 2026 runs Aug 24, 2026 – Oct 9, 2026.
- How much campus context is included?
- 9 approved campus terms and 14 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.