Sonia: Glossary of Terms

Sonia provides default terminology for each school, but these terms may not align with every institution’s preferred language. Because the terminology is closely integrated with application functionality, it is important to understand the meaning of each default term before assigning an alias.

Aug 3, 2026
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Sonia: Glossary of Terms

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Sonia Glossary of Terms

Sonia provides default terminology for each school, but these terms may not align with every institution’s preferred language. Because the terminology is closely integrated with application functionality, it is important to understand the meaning of each default term before assigning an alias.

Although some terminology settings can be customized at the university level, this document focuses on School Terminology. In the following section, each term is presented in both its singular and plural forms. The default term appears as a label beside a text field, where schools can enter their preferred alias.

The examples included reflect common terminology variations observed in Sonia implementations across institutions worldwide.

Graphical user interface, application Description automatically generated

Singular Terminology

Account code: When generating mentor payment invoices this field can be used to specify from where the monies ought to come. It only appears on the invoice reports (single site or multiple site). Examples: Account number, Fund, Bank, Education Number.
Block code: Can be used for mutually excluding students from placement groups with identical block codes.
Code (placement request): Used to group Placement Requests for filtering before rostering supervisors.
Company number: A formal government issued business identification number. Examples: Australian Business Number, ABN, New Zealand Business Number, NZBN
Cost of Placement: Monetary value, currency, and unit for the price of student placement at a site.
Other: Refers to Sonia custom fields. Examples: Custom fields, bespoke fields, Additional information.
Duration (mentor): A set unit of duration against the site mentor at the position level. Examples: Hours, Days, Weeks, Time
Duration (supervisor): A set unit of duration against the supervisor at the position level. Examples: Hours, Days, Weeks, Time
Hierarchy: Sites structured into an organizational tree.
History: The previous placements of a student.
Home phone: The telephone number associated with the student/supervisor/site contact’s home address.
Location: For specifying additional information about the geographic details of a site. Examples: County, Parish, Boroughs.
Location group: For grouping or categorizing a collection of locations under one description. Examples: Northern counties, Southern suburbs
Meeting place: Instructions for where students should meet with their site contact/mentor on placement.
Next of kin: Details for the next appropriate person to contact in an emergency for students and supervisors. Examples: Emergency Contact
Parking: Instructions for where students should park their cars when on placement including considerations for costs, permits, hours etc. Examples: Parking instructions
Postal address: The country specific geographic location for sending physical letters or communiques to students/sites/supervisors. Can be the same as student street address but can be overridden and used as student’s temporary placement residence address.
Street address: The country specific geographic location for where the student/supervisor resides or where to find the placement site.
Student filter: An extra field to be used for whatever custom purpose related to student enrolment. Examples: Matriculation Term/Year, Graduation Year
Student notes: Additional details for students pertaining to the placement site or their placement.
Tax: A country specific contribution to government revenue. Examples: GST, VAT
University: The overarching educational institution.
Work phone: The telephone number associated with the student/supervisor/site contact’s workplace address.

Plural Terminology

Activity/Activities: The exercise done by a student/supervisor during that period on placement and recorded against their timesheets.
Advertisement/Advertisements: A site, sharing placement opportunities directly to students to view and join. Examples, Post an Opening
Area/Areas: The primary descriptor or classification for a placement.
Affiliation/Affiliations: To classify sites according to government or industry organizational structures.
Campus/Campuses: The name of the physical location the student attends to undertake their studies.
Class/Classes: A metadata field to describe the year level specialization required for the placement.
Competency/Competencies: A part of a course requirement against which the student must record either occurrences or duration spent achieving the competency.
Course/Courses: The overarching enrolment of a student. Examples: Degree, Program, Subject, Academic Level
Coordinator/Coordinators: A supervisor linked to students via subject(s). Examples: Subject Coordinator, Academic, Seminar Instructor
Descriptor/Descriptors: Used to distinguish between sites based on one or more descriptions. Examples: Site/Agency Type
Director/Directors: A supervisor linked to students via course(s). Examples: Course Coordinator, Academic, Program Coordinator/Director
Group/Groups: A collection of Sonia schools. Examples: Faculty
Fee/Fees: A cost to the student associated with their placement site.
Focus/Focuses: The concentrated elements of placements at the site. Examples: Populations, Grade/Grade Levels
Grade/Grades: The overall mark the student achieved for their placement.
Interview/Interviews: A scheduled meeting between any of the various roles within Sonia. Examples: Meetings
Major/Majors: The primary academic focus of students’ enrolment.
Mentor/Mentors: The site-associated contact overseeing the student on their placement. Examples: Site Supervisor, Field Instructor/Supervisor, Clinical/Mentor Teacher, Preceptor
Offer/Offers: The number of students a site can accept between two dates to be used for placement opportunities.
Placement/Placements: A block of time where the student undertakes activities at a site to gain practical skills related to their course. Examples: Practicum, Internship
Placement group/Placement groups: A time-based container in which students, sites and rules are used to form placements. Examples: Cohort, Practicum/Internship Group
Placement officer/Placement officers: The contact for students concerning placement related matters with the education provider. Examples: Field Team/Coordinator, Placement Liaison/Coordinator, Internship/WIL Coordinator
Placement request/Placement requests: Contained within a placement group, this is site specific; indicating key steps in the placement process from requests for places through to students being allocated. Examples: Practicum/Internship Requests
Preceptor/Preceptors: A teacher or supervisory staff member.
Preference/Preferences: A student’s relative indication of where they would like to be placed.
Ranking/Rankings: A sites relative rating of students with a view towards placement.
Region/Regions: A logical geographic boundary encompassing multiple locations. Examples: Northern Healthcare Region, Hills school district
Reviewer/Reviewers: A nominated individual to check and approve an electronic form.
Scholarship/Scholarships: A bursary payment awarded to students based on merit or circumstance.
School/Schools: The individual discipline focused collection of students, sites, and supervisors for placement officers to manage placements within. Examples: College
Sector/Sectors: Used to distinguish between site locations based on one or more areas.
Semester/Semesters: The period of time in which the student’s subject is being undertaken. Examples: Term
Shift/Shifts: A timeframe to distinguish when students should start and end their placement days. Examples: Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Late
Site/Sites: Usually, a physical location provided by placement providers, for students to obtain practical work experience. Examples: Agency, Placement/Practicum Sites, Employers
Site contact/Site contacts: Staff employed at the placement provider organization. Examples: Agency contact
Sub activity/Sub activities: The exercise done by a student/supervisor during that period on placement to further describe an Activity, recorded on their timesheet.
Subject/Subjects: An enrolment of a student which makes up part of their overall course. Examples: Course
Subsite/Subsites: The child site in a hierarchy of sites.
Supervisor/Supervisors: The person providing guidance and supervision to students while on placement, typically employed by the education provider. Examples: University Supervisor, Field/Faculty Liaison/Advisor
Topic/Topics: Academic focuses of a students’ enrolment. Examples: Concentration, Subject Area, Track

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