U of M ESP : Glossary

Hearing words and phrases that are unfamiliar? We can help!

Because there are so many new terms related to the Enterprise effort, a glossary and common acronym list is available to assist you. If you don't see a term you're looking for, or have suggestions for additions to the list, please contact Enterprise Systems Project.

There is also a Java version of this glossary.

Italics indicate alternate or secondary terminology.

Numbers
A B C D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Numbers

2-Tier
The hardware architectural model that utilizes a direct connection between a Database Server and a Client. The 2-Tier model requires a high-end client.

3-Tier
A hardware architectural model that utilizes an Application Server and a Database Server to work with an application. In general, the University of Minnesota community will use the 3-Tier model. The 3-Tier model provides salability and performance gains.

3 C Groups
Communications (contact with student), checklists (tracking groups), and comments (anecdotal comments on students). 3C groups gathers information into specific communication categories, checklist codes, and comment categories. An inquiry or update access can be assigned as appropriate to that group. For example, after creating a communication category for decision letters, only those that have 3C group will be able to recall the information since admissions must keep decision letters confidential.

Academic Career
Level of study. Undergrad, grad, professional school, CEU, high school, noncredit. A grouping of all academic work in a single student record.

Academic Group
College. A college or school within a university (e.g., College of Liberal Arts, Institute of Technology).

Academic Institution
UMC, UMD, UMM, UMTC. A separate university or college that is run independently and coursework is not shared except as external transfer credit. For data-gathering purposes, the TC, UMM, UMD, and UMC are separate academic institutions.

Academic Organization
Academic Department. An academic department/division inside a College or Institute within the University.

Academic Plan
Program. An area of study within an Academic Program (e.g., major, minor, specialization). For example, B.S. in Biological Sciences.

Academic Program
Program. The college in the University in which a student studies.

Academic Rank
Faculty position/title (i.e., Professor, Associate Professor, Instructor, etc.).

Academic Session
A class scheduling/enrollment time period within a term. Classes are offered within a session, and a session belongs to a term for billing and other administrative purposes.

Academic Subject Area
Course Designator. A specific area of instruction within an Academic Group. When a course is identified Math 1101, Math is the subject area.

Academic Subplan
Subcode. An area of specialization within an Academic Plan (e.g., Minor, Honors, Emphasis, Certification).

Academic Term
An administrative time period in which sessions are defined, students are billed, and statistics are accumulated for individual student or the entire school. Note that different careers may follow different Academic Term structures.

Academic Year
Each Term is associated with an Academic Year for purposes of reporting and Financial Aid accumulation. Summer Term work may be applied to either the preceding or subsequent Academic Year.

Account
Student account for financial transactions with the University, such as paying fees.

Account Holder
The name of the bank account holder for whom the transaction is being processed for EFT type transactions.

Accounting Period
Designates the month of activity in CUFS. (MMYY ).

Account/Item Level
A flag indicating that a finance charge is to be applied on previous balances at the account level or individual term level.

Account Number
STARS Account Number. A unique identifier that establishes a charge grouping for a customer. The number is sequential, following the account prefix, unless an account is created by Term.

Account Per Term
A flag that creates a new account record for every term and does not allow charges to be entered for any other term.

Account Status
Account Status. Active, current, or closed.

Account String
An account string is an account number (Fund/Area/Org/Function) with an Object/Sub-Object or a Revenue/Sub-Revenue Source code attached.

Account Type
Classification of an account (e.g., tuition, phone) connected to student records through Tuition Account Type.

Action
Initiates and records the employment events which occur to an employee.

Active Appointment
An appointment for which an employee is currently being paid.

Add
Cancel/Add.

Address Sent
Address to which a refund or bill was sent.

Address Type
A name given to a street address (e.g., mailing, diploma).

Address Usage
A grouping of address types: grade mailing or generic (selection order).

Adjustment Calendar
Refund Calendar. A charge that is based on a date, a number of days beyond a date, and a percentage of refund.

Adjustments (Type 38)
Historical payroll expense transferred from one account to another after the charge has been posted in a financial accounting record.

Administrative Function
Functional area that processes checklists, communication, and comments. The administrative function identifies what key data should be added to a person's checklist or communication record when a specific checklist code, communication category or comment is assigned to the student. This key data traces the checklist, communication, or comment back to a specific processing event in a functional area. The admissions administrative function links a checklist to a specific academic career, student career number, and application number for processing, reporting, and analysis purposes.

Administrative Process Redesign (Projects)
The University's initiatives toward improving or replacing its major administrative information systems for greater functionality and cost effectiveness. See also Enterprise Systems Projects.

Admission
The process of applying to attend a university.

Admit Term
The first term in which an applicant is expected to enroll in an academic program.

Admit Type
Distinguished first-year from transfer applications.

Aggregate Aid
A history of all the student's previous aid.

Aggregate Level
This links the NSLDS Loan Year to specified values.

Allocable
A cost that can be assigned to a project that meets a specific project objective based on relative benefits received. A cost may be allocable to a specific project but paid for by the University, depending on what the sponsor determines is allowable for a particular type of project.

Allowable
A cost that can be charged to a project per sponsor's guidelines. A cost may be allowable per sponsor's guidelines, but if it does not meet any specific project objectives, it is not allocable.

Alumni
Graduate of an institution.

Amount
Amount. Amount of the particular item or transaction.

Annual Appointment
("K" for Professional and Academic appointment types) Date specific for one year or a portion thereof. Renewable at the discretion of the appointing authority.

Application
A computer software program that assists you in a computer task or job. Types of applications include word processor programs such as Microsoft Word, spreadsheet programs such as Microsoft EXCEL, database management systems such as PeopleSoft, etc.

Application Center
A place where admission applications are processed. Typically, the application center codes mirror the academic career codes. An application center provides the capability for academic careers with decentralized application processing to track what office is handling a specific application.

Application Pool
A collection of applications which may be considered for a particular position.

Application Server
Provides a link between a desktop and a database. The Application Server is the "Middleman" between your desktop and the PeopleSoft Database.

Applied Date
Date the transaction was applied and cross-referenced to another item.

Appointment
Another term for Position or "job." Appointments are frequently used when describing multiple jobs held by one employee.

Appointment/Position Types
Reflects the nature/duration of position: permanent/temporary, full-time/part-time, emergency, seasonal, intermittent, etc.

Appointment Type
A code representing the appointment conditions, e.g., P = a tenured appointment.

Approval Chain
A program identifying the routing sequence of a document in FormsNirvana.

Approved Budget
The resource and expenditure budgets approved by the Board of Regents prior to the start of each fiscal year and originally entered into CUFS. These budgets reflect the original detailed financial plans for the coming fiscal year. Approved budget figures remain in CUFS throughout the fiscal year as a record of the original budget plan.

Area Code
Indicates a department or unit within a college or school. It is defined as the highest level of fiscal responsibility below or including the dean or equivalent. Three characters long.

Area Manager
Responsible for the day-to-day fiscal management of an Area (department). They prepare and monitor annual budgets for an Area.

Assignment
The specific work duties of an employee.

Assistant Professor
Entry-level, tenure-track academic position.

Associate Degree
Degree attained in a 2-year program.

Associate Professor
Tenured academic position; next highest rank after Assistant Professor.

Auto-Enroll Component
An option of enrollment in related sections to complete course requirements automatically established within the enrollment procedure.

Auto Refund Days
Number of days between refunds to a customer.

Award
A prize or payment, usually based on merit.

BA23
University of Minnesota internal routing document for sponsored projects. Application for External Research, Training or Public Service Support.

Baccalaureate
Degree attained in a 4-5 year program.

Baccalaureate Plus
Credits gained after Bachelor degree, usually required for K-12 teachers.

Bachelor Degree
See also Baccalaureate.

Balance
This field only appears on account statements and is the total of all charges and credits that have appeared on current or any previous statements.

Balance Sheet Account A four digit code preceded by the fund number used to identify assets, liabilities, and fund balances that are maintained for each Fund. The code identifies the balance sheet account within a Fund (cash, accounts payable, accounts receivable, etc.) that the transaction should be processed against.

Bank Acct Type
Bank Acct Type. Either checking or savings for EFT and ACH purposes.

Bargaining Unit
A legally recognized unit which has authority to represent employees in specific positions (usually job classes) in collective bargaining negotiations; the bargaining unit selects a union to represent it.

Benefits Planner
On-line Employee Benefits Planner assists faculty and staff with determining the impact of various options on their benefit costs and net pay.

Biennium
Budgets on a two year cycle.

Bill Date, Current
Date that the current billing statement was prepared.

Bill Date, Previous
Date that the prior billing statement was prepared.

Billing Address
The Billing Address allows billing statements to be mailed to an address other than the current address.

Billing Career
If a student is active simultaneously in multiple careers/programs, some of these careers may be grouped under one of the groups for billing purposes.

Billing Charge
Cost of billing a transaction.

Billing Cycle
Billing Cycle. Unique group of customers who are billed together and share a common bill and due date.

Bill Suppress
Suppresses Bill Code and Effective Thru Date.

Board of Regents
Governing Body of an institution, usually at the state level for public schools.

Broad Banding
Process of grouping classes of employees (such as students) into one large broad job category. That broad band would then be further categorized into 12 job families, replacing the 240 current job classifications.

Broad Planning
Process of grouping classes of employees (such as students) into one broad job category. The broad category is further categorized into 12 job families, replacing the current 240 separate job classifications.

Buckley Amendments
Federal law protecting the privacy of student record information.

Budget
Detailed financial plans set up in CUFS to manage planned resources and uses of those resources for a fiscal year.

Budget Number (payroll)
Two digit number that is part of the payroll account string. Always ends in a "1".

Budget Period
Interval funding period of an award is usually 12 months. The project period is divided into budget periods for budgetary and funding purposes.

Bursar
Administrative function responsible for student accounts.

Business Unit
Independent units of a University with regard to one or more accounting functions (e.g., bursar, financial aid).

CACHE
Panel templates stored on your computer to improve performance. Clearing the CACHE removes your past images from pre-loaded PeopleSoft panels. This will free up your memory, but may affect performance moving between panels, because these images need to be recreated.

Campus
A separate campus within the same institution. Campuses use the same course catalog and produce a common transcript if a student changes campuses, but not careers. Campuses are usually associated with a separate physical administrative location.

Campus Community
Groups of tables and panels/screens used to manage data which are shared across the entire university (student biographic/demographic data, personnel data, event information, organization data).

Career
See Academic Career.

Carry Forward Funds
Unused funds from one fiscal year approved for spending in another fiscal year.

Casual Employees
Employees hired to work up to a designated hour or dollar maximum, usually for limited duration. These employees typically do not count toward FTE caps.

Catalog Number
Course Number. Course number (e.g., 1051).

Ceiling
Maximum amount of currency allowed for a transaction.

Central Administration
The president of the University and those who report to him.

Chancellor
Director of all academic and fiscal affairs of the institution or system.

Charge Priority
Charge priority is associated with payment and indicates the order of charges to be satisfied.

Chart of Accounts (COA)
A series of systematically classified financial accounts, compatible with an institution's structure, and arranged in agreement with the financial reports to be generated.

Checklist Code
A grouping of related checklist items. Once all items in a checklist are complete, the checklist itself becomes complete. Checklist codes are owned by administrative functions. These codes are also linked to 3C Access Groups to assign data entry or view-only privileges across functions.

Checklist Item
A unit of work completed by a person: an action, a required document, or a phone call. In the admissions process, a checklist item may include supporting documentation for a student's application that needs to be submitted.

Checklist Type
A type of checklist. Checklists are used for a variety of purposes (e.g., requirement lists, communication lists, admission condition lists, and staff assessment lists).

Class
Course Offering. Section detail of classes offered for a specific term.

Class Number
Call Number. A call number.

Class Permission
Magic Number. Student-specific class permissions are like pre-entered overrides.

Class Schedule
A list of classes for a specific academic term or terms. A class is offered at a certain time block, in a certain location, with a certain instructor.

Class Status
Status of the class (e.g., open, closed, tentative, canceled).

Client
Another technical word for your desktop or workstation.

Client/Server
Client/server computer architecture refers to a system of networked computers in which the processing is shared between a central machine (the server) and your desktop computer (the client).

College and University Financial System (CUFS)
Current financial system used by the University of MN.

Comment Category
A grouping of comments that help differentiate between types of comments. These codes are also linked to 3C Access Groups to assign data entry or view-only privileges across functions.

Communication Category
A broad grouping of communication contexts that generally indicate why a communication was sent or received (owned by administrative functions). Codes are also linked to 3C Access Groups to assign data entry or view-only privileges across functions.

Communication Context
A specific instance of communication indicating what communication was sent or received (belongs to a broader communications category).

Communication Direction
An indicator of whether a communication context is incoming, outgoing, or in person.

Communication Key
A single key for entering communication category, context, method, direction, and standard letter code. Communication keys are created for background processes as well as specific operators.

Communication Method|
A method to track the form of communication: e-mail, telephone, fax, letter, or in-person.

Competing Proposal Proposal for funding that is not guaranteed and the application is pooled with other proposals for review.

Component
See Course Component.

Conditions
Qualifications for the data you would like to see. In SQL, conditions are encoded in the WHERE statement and have the effect of restricting the rows returned from the queried table(s).

Configuration
The set of devices or software available to the computer system (such as terminals, printers, disk drives, etc.) and how the various devices are set up, or configured, on your computer.

Configuration Manager
Stores your individual PeopleSoft configuration settings. This includes parameters for start up, display, application servers, common settings, process scheduler, etc. The Configuration Manager contains the "Clear CACHE" option. The configuration Manager can be found in the PeopleSoft HE 7 program.

Consent
Approval. Approval to get into a course or class.

Contact Hour
Number of clock hours a course actually meets.

Continuation Application
An application for continued support on current projects already funded by the sponsor. Continuous Appointment ("G" for Professional and Academic appointment types) Granted for indefinite terms by the senior vice president for academic affairs to professional staff who are on probationary (H) appointment. Continuous appointment may be made at the time of hire. Basis for awarding continuous status is the determination that the achievements of an individual have demonstrated the individual's potential to continue to contribute significantly to the mission of the University and to enhance its programs of teaching, research, and service over the course of the professional staff member's academic career. May be terminated only for just cause, a state of fiscal emergency, or program curtailment.

Contract
Authorized #, Contract #, Purchase Order #. An agreement where the sponsor has some involvement and uses the project to achieve a specific outcome or deliverable.

Contract Number
Unique number assigned by Purchasing Services at the University of MN that identifies vendors with whom the University has negotiated a contract.

Cooperative Agreement
An agreement where the sponsor and the grantee work together to achieve a specific objective. Example: A sponsor requests proposals to devise an electric wheelchair. Before the project begins, the sponsor and the PI discuss what features the wheelchair should have and agree on tests the finished product must pass. The work is conducted by both the sponsor's employees and the PI.

Co-Requisite Course
A course which must be taken at the same time as another course.

Core Team
A group of employees planning, prototyping, and implementing the new HRMS system. This group consists of employees from the Office of Human Resources, Benefits, Payroll, as well as department functional end-users and employees from OIT.

Cost Overrun
Direct costs incurred and charged to a sponsored project in excess of the awarded amount.

Cost Reimbursable
An agreement in which the sponsor funds the project to the extent described in the award notice. The University is reimbursed by the sponsor only for actual costs incurred; any unspent funds revert to the sponsor (see Fixed Price Project Agreement).

Cost Sharing
Type of arrangement in which more than one party supports a project. The University generally refers to cost sharing when looking at labor items (see Matching Funds).

Course
Authorized Course. A course has a standard syllabus and credit level, although these may be modified at the class level. Courses contain multiple components such as lectures, discussions, labs, etc.

Course Catalog
Bulletin Information. A listing of courses offered including the courses and their components, with places, times and dates of classes indicated (per year or per term).

Course Component
Part of a course. A component of a class, such as a lecture, discussion, lab or recitation. Any class may have one or more components. A component may be optional or required. When enrolling, it is necessary to enroll in all required components. Every component is identified by a section number.

Course ID
Unique identifier for course. Not in current system.

Course List
A listing of courses that is used to satisfy an academic requirement.

Course Section
A component of a class, such as a lecture, discussion, lab or recitation, identified by a section number.

Create New Item
If this flag is activated, a new item is always created for a fee, instead of adding the fee to a current item via a new line.

Credential
A certificate, degree, or diploma granted as a result of completing a program of study.

Criteria
A list of requirements needed under a subgroup.

Crystal Reports
Crystal Reports is a versatile report formatting tool from Seagate Software. You can use Crystal Reports to create clear and easy to read reports, mailing labels and forms, using PeopleSoft data.

Current Account Balance
The total of all the charges and credits that are posted to an account, including any that are not yet billed. A credit (overpayment) will have a minus (-) sign after it.

Current Address
The address as it appeared on the original statement. It is shared with other University departments and used for most University mailing purposes.

Current Minimum Payment
The minimum amount that must be paid by the last bill due date to avoid having a hold and late payment fee added. It includes credits that have been posted since the last billing statement was prepared.

Customization
Modifying software when the "vanilla" software package purchased does not meet the needs of a business/institution. Customization is costly and time consuming. See "Vanilla."

Database
A collection of information (data), ususally about a certain subject, formatted for easy manipulation of that information.

Database Instance
A single version of the database. Some examples include testing, training, production, etc.

Database Server
A server that stores the application data.

Data Custodian
The person designated as the owner of the data within a database. The data custodian is responsible for the data dictionary, maintaining data privacy, establishing appropriate data security, validating the data, and providing data training and data help.

Data Dictionary
Information about each database in a data warehouse, including table and column names, and definitions. Data dictionaries for the IDEA Data Warehouse databases are available on the AIS Gopher server and the IDEA Web page.

Data Integrity
Data Integrity. The maintenance of confidential and accurate data by the user and the system.

Data Warehouse
Data Warehouse. A collection of databases which gather data from PeopleSoft and other databases, making reporting data more convenient and accessible. Access is read only. The information is copied from operational systems regularly, and is reformatted to allow information from different systems to be combined. Examples: payroll data, human resource and benefits data. The data warehouse supports ''ad hoc'' queries, not routine reporting.

Date of Business
Date on which the series of transactions are completed.

Days Between Charges
Number of days between late fee assessments.

Debt Limit
The limit of debt on an individual account which can be set for a whole unit (college), for a campus, or on one account by collection staff.

Default Rate
Default Rate. A yearly calculated percentage that is based on the number of former students at an institution who have defaulted on a FFEL (Federal Family Education Loan) and/or Direct Loan Program Loan.

Deficit
More has been committed than has actually been received, or, spending exceeds resources budgeted.

Degree
A degree or certification earned by a student as a result of completing all requirements of Academic Program/Plan that offers a degree. Degrees are usually earned upon program completion, but intermediate degrees or certifications may be earned by the student prior to program completion.

Demographic Form
A form that students and staff complete which lists name, address, telephone number, and department information. Information is used by the Office of Human Resources for tracking purposes, the Student-Staff Directory, and to update the 500 on-line directory.

Department
A budgetary or administrative unit within the institution. Typically, departments are organized according to academic disciplines, such as "Physics" or "Sociology".

Department Number (payroll)
Four digit number that is part of the payroll account string. Never begins with a zero.

Description
The details of a particular code, item, or event.

Detail Panel
A further search display that allows you to enter more information on a person record (such as address and phone).

Development Office
Directs fund raising activities of an institution.

Direct Costs
Costs directly incurred by the project.

Dispute Amount
Transaction amount that is disputed by a student.

Dispute Date
Date the dispute was placed on the particular charge.

Dispute Items
This flag indicates whether to include disputed items in the finance charging scheme.

Distribution
Charges salary to an account, the job class will control the fringe benefit charge.

Division
Divisions are FormsNirvana specific. A segment of a department, combination of different departments, or single department that has unique preparer/approver needs. A division may be, but does not have to be, equal to an area code. Typically Divisions are organized according to historically and/or logically related disciplines, such as "Arts" or "Social Sciences".

Division Administrator
In Financial FormsNirvana, this term identifies the person assigned in a department who is responsible for all activity in the assigned division.

Download
To transmit (or transfer) a file electronically from one computer to another. When conducting a file transer, "download" means to receive the data, and "upload" means to transmit/send the data.

Drop
Cancel. Canceling a registered class.

Due Date
Payment Due Date The date that a transaction is due; aging begins at the due date.

EEO-6 Reporting
Ethnicity reporting of hires performed by higher education institutions.

Effective Date
Activates or (inactivates) a record or value. Effective dates in tables allow for audit trails and allow processing to occur in the past and in the future.

Effort
Work or the proportion of time spent on any activity, expressed as a percentage of total time.

EMPLID
Student or employee ID; in PeopleSoft EMPLID for students is their current file number.

Employee Benefits
A package of benefits received by an employee which may include salary, medical and dental benefits, vacation time, or other forms of compensation.

Employee Profile
A record of information about a particular employee.

Encumbrance
Encumbrances represent outstanding purchase orders and other comitments for materials or services not yet received

Encumbrance Days
Number of days that a particular payment is held before a refund is allowed.

Enrollment
Enrollment, Registration. The process of registering a student in one or more classes during a specific academic term. Enrollment is the same as registration.

Enrollment Request
Registration process that checks approvals, limits, time conflicts, etc.

Enrollment Status
Class availability: open or closed.

Enterprise Systems Project
The umbrella over the U's administrative system and process change efforts, consisting of Human Resources Management System, Student Administration, Grants Management, Web Development, and Technical Infrastructure. Headed by Associate VP Bob Kvavik; managed by OIT's Steve Cawley.

Equipment
Any item purchased at a unit consistent with University policies for capitalization. (The capitalization level is $500 and greater and a useful life of over two years).

Equity Item Limit
The amount of funds set by the institution to be awarded with discretionary or gift funds. The limit could be reduced by amounts equal to EFC, Parent Contribution, etc. Students will be categorized by Equity Item Typed Groups and Related Equity Item Types. This limit can be used to assure that similar student populations are equally organized.

Equity Item Type Group
Selected Equity Item types in a specified order to package up to the Equity limit.

Equity Related Item Type Group
Contains similarly related funds such as scholarship that are used in a specified order to package up to the Related Group limit.

Exit Interview
An interview conducted when an employee leaves University employment.

Expense Transfer (IX)
Used to transfer expenditures between account numbers.

External Sales
An exchange of tangible or intangible property or services between the University and external customers for monetary consideration.

External Study
Study abroad or other outside study plans.

FA Item Types
Aid I.D. Different types of Financial Aid awards.

Faculty Appointment
A Graduate School appointment allowing faculty to advise and serve on graduate student exam committees. These appointments are granted by the Graduate School Executive Committee after nomination by the Graduate Department.

Faculty Senate
Governing body of the institution, consisting of the institution's faculty, that sets academic and administrative policies and procedures.

Fee Amount
Fee that is associated with a flat amount, instead of a rate or formula.

Fee Code
Individual fee linked to an item on a customer's account.

Fee Location
Provides the general area in which fees are charged (e.g., term level, course level, program level, and external sources).

Fees
Charges to students that may be required or optional as a part of attending the University, such as tuition, or yearbook fees.

Fee Trigger
Allows a fee to be date specific.

Fee Waiver
Tuition or Fee Waiver. Waives a required fee under approved guidelines.

Fetch
The button on PeopleSoft's Global Search that initiates the most restrictive search possible (e.g., locates a record based on a partial last name or SS#).

FICA status
Denotes whether the employee must contribute the full 7.65% toward FICA, just the Medicare portion, or is exempt from FICA withholding. (Generally, the only exempt public sector employees are in law enforcement.) In the public sector, this status is assigned at the position/appointment level, not the employee level.

FICE Code
FICE Code. Unique four digit codes assigned by the federal government for every institution in the USA, used in the HEP directory.

Field
Field. Columns on a spreadsheet containing associate values. The unit of a database that like information is put into. An example would be first_name, city, etc.; first_name would be a field that holds first names, city would hold cities, etc.

Field Name
Name of a field on a record that is used within a criterion.

File #
Student File Number. The six- or seven-digit student identification number that remains the same on all campuses.

Finance Charge
Billing Change, Installment Fee, Late Payment Fee. The foreign key into how accounts will be charged as those accounts age. Accounts may be assessed late charges based on the total balance due or on a percentage of overdue balance.

Financial Aid Career
If a student is active simultaneously in multiple careers that are eligible for Federal and State financial aid, these careers must be grouped under one career for financial aid purposes. This one career is referred to as the "financial aid career."

Financial Type
A foreign key relating back to the financial aid system.

Fiscal Year (FY)
Any 12-month period for which the institution monitors its annual accountability. At the University, this period is July 1 - June 30.

Fixed Price
An agreement in which the sponsor will provide a set amount to accomplish the project's objectives, even if actual costs for the project are above or below that amount (see Cost Reimbursable Project Agreement).

Fixed-Term Appointment
("J" for Professional and Academic appointment types) Date specific and made for a stipulated period of more than one year. Shall not exceed five years. Renewable at the discretion of the responsible appointing authority and, if renewed, need not be renewed for the same period of years.

Flexible Hourly
See non-positive pay.

Floor
Minimum amount of currency required for a transaction.

Formula No.
Points to a calculations which determine an amount. Used for situations that rate tables cannot handle.

Freight on Board (FOB) A shipping term used to indicate where ownership (title) of a product transfers from the vendor to the buyer. The choice is either "destination" or "origin".

FTE
FTE. A full-time position (specific definition varies among organizations; see definition of work period). FTE does NOT usually reflect actual employee headcount, nor does it represent a standard amount of work performed in a defined period (i.e., 2080 hours in a year).

FTE cap/max
(See definition of FTE above.) Public sector organizations may be limited in the number of FTE or full-time employees. FTE cap/max often is a component of their budget request (see position-level funding).

Full-Time
A student must be enrolled for the minimum number of courses or units to qualify as full-time.

Functional Experts
Staff familiar with the content and processes of a particular college, department, or unit, who join ESP teams temporarily to facilitate work in a particular area (e.g., admitting and registering international students).

Functional Module
A module or grouping of software component: Human Resources, Student Financials (Bursar), Admissions, Student Records (Registrar), Financial Aid (OSFA), and Campus Community.

Function Code
Indicates the purpose of a project or program (and therefore, the purpose of the Org). For example, a project may be established for the purpose of instruction or it may be established for the purpose of research; instruction and research are different functions, therefore, departments would need a separate account number for each. Function codes answer the question, "What are we spending our money on?" Function codes are four characters long.

Fund Code
Indicates the individual or cumulative sources of funds as well as the campus location controlling them. Funds may be restricted or unrestricted. Fund codes answer the question, "Who are the funds coming from?" Fund codes are four characters long.

Fund Number (payroll)
Four digit number that is part of the payroll account string. Always begins with a zero.

Fund Sufficiency
Comparison of available (appropriated, unencumbered funds) money to pay for a new position, a new hire, or a salary adjustment. The calculation of required funds is driven by the position-level budget in the HRMS; the determination of fund sufficiency is performed in the general ledger.

Funnel Search Button
Initiates a broad search from all the information entered.

Gap
An artificial figure that sets aside an amount of Unmet Need that will not be funded with Title IV funds. A Gap can be used to prevent fully funding any student to conserve funds or to allow room to award institutional funds.

Gap/Fit Analysis
A process of identifying components in PeopleSoft which do not match the business needs of the University. When this occurs, the team looks at business practices to make sure they still make sense. Rather than apply new technology to old ways of doing business, the team is considering business practices that are more efficient in PeopleSoft. Another option is to use other technology, such as the Web to meet the certain business needs.

Gift
Money or property transferred to the University via a recognized University foundation that is not intended to result in direct economic benefit, goods, or services to the donor.

GL Account
Series of chart fields that receive summarized or totaled transactions (Host GL system account number).

GL Entry Template
Template for how a particular item is sent to the GL. An item type maps to GL. The GL template can be multiple GL accounts. The entry to the GL is further controlled by high level flags which control the summarization and type of accounting used, accrual or cash.

Global Search
The main search function for locating records within Campus Community.

Go
A list of main menu selections in PeopleSoft. Go is the starting point for navigating through panels.

Goal unit
A subdivision of positions or job classes within the organization, usually within the department/agency, created to define affirmative action goals for that group. Goal Unit reflects a particular geographic region or professional/technical specialty that justifies different affirmative action goals applicable for the department or the organization as a whole.

Gopher
A commuications retrieval protocol used to access certain internet sites (servers) that only serve text-based documents for read-only purposes.

Grace Days
Grace Period. Number of days beyond the due date that a finance charge is not assessed.

Grade Point Average (GPA)
The average value of a student's grades. A grade point average is calculated according to a scale, such as a "4 point scale", in which a numeric value is assigned to each letter grade. The average is computed from the numeric values.

Grade Point Average Scenario
An estimate of the expected grade point average of a student. The scenario is based on estimates of grades which are provided by the student to calculate the scenario.

Grader
The person who grades assignments and tests for a course.

Grant
A pledge of support where the sponsor has little involvement and the PI devises the project.

Grant Administrator
University employee who helps manage the sponsored project.

Grant/Contract Officer
Sponsor's employee who is officially responsible for the project's business management.

Grant Year Encumbering
Funds are encumbered through the end of your grant period. To use grant year encumbering on your payroll distribution document, indicate the last date of your grant year in the "To" field under distributions.

Grants Management Project
In July 1995, the Grants Management Project was established to improve the management of grants and contracts sponsored by external organizations. Objectives are to enhance the research climate, assure ethical standards, and improve the infrastructure to support research.

Hardware
The physical, electronic and mechanical components of a computer system. This includes a monitor, disk drive, printer, mouse, processor, etc.

Help
Access to several online tutorials.

HEP Directory
Directory profiling higher education institutions and administrative officers.

HETTRN
The PeopleSoft training database.

Hold
A restriction on the ability to perform certain functions, such as a financial hold restricting enrollment until a past due debt is paid.

HRMS
Human Resource Management System, one of the Enterprise Systems Projects. The goal is to simplify and redesign human resource processes. Shares integrated database with the Student 2000 Project.

HTTP
Stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol; used for sending and receiving information between World Wide Web clients and servers.

IBM Partnership
The contract between the U and IBM to develop the U's self-service Web into an IBM product and to develop a Web-based "front end" to access databases across the campus, including PeopleSoft, the bookstore, libraries, etc. The resulting Web-based interface to campus data will be a model for other campus systems.

Icon
A small picture that represents a function, file, or program.

IDEA User ID
The ID used to access any data warehouse database. For more information, contact Central Computing Operations Customer Assistance Center at (612) 624-0555.

Implementation
Once a new system or database has been designed, reviewed, and agreed upon, the implementation phase begins. This phase is the most complex and detailed part of system development, involving hundreds of decisions about data conversion, interfaces, and reporting needs; building an actual prototype; relentlessly testing it; and, finally, working with departments to "turn it on."

Indirect Cost Rate
A composite rate applied to sponsored projects as a percentage of the sponsored project's direct costs in order to charge the project for its share of the Unversity's indirect costs.

Indirect Costs
Those costs that are incurred from common or joint objectives and therefore cannot be readily and specifically identified with a particular sponsored project. (Also referred to as F & A costs).

Inquire
Viewing data through pre-defined summaries.

Inquiry Access
Security access that permits the user to edit and update data.

Inquiry Group
See 3C Groups.

Installment Payment Fee
The foreign key into how accounts will be charged as those accounts age. Accounts may be assessed late charges based on the total balance due or on a percentage of overdue balance.

Institution
See Academic Institution.

Institutional Location Code (ILOC)
An Institutional Location Code is comprised of a bill to, ship to and internal destination. The code identifies for the vendor where to send the goods and the invoice.

Institutional Research
Data collection and analysis on the functioning of an institution itself.

Instructor
The person who teaches a class component, such as a lecture.

Integrated Database
One database, shared enterprise-wide, containing staff and student data.

Interactive Voice Response
IVR. IVR offers callers menus and instructions to obtain information by telephone (e.g., final grades, accounting information on the Twin Cities campus, employment verification).

Interface
Interface. A means of sharing information among two or more different computer systems via a special computer program (e.g., tape loads for Admissions).

Intermediate Grades
All grades related to a course, except for the final course grade. This may include mid terms, projects, and final exams.

Internal Service Organization (ISO)
A unit at the University that provides goods or services at approved rates, on a regular and continuing basis, to University departments and colleges rather than individuals.

International Student
Any person holding a non-immigrant visa is referred to as "international." Any person classified as permanent resident, refugee, or who has been granted asylum, shall not be referred to as "international." Any international person who has been invited by a department to come to the U to teach, research, or observe (who has been admitted to the US on a non-immigrant, non-student visa) shall be referred to as "scholar," "staff," or "faculty," regardless of part-time or full-time student enrollment.

Internet
An international network of communications lines and servers that allow electronic communications around the world. Machines connected to the internet use the base communications protocol TCP/IP. Computer users can search for information, send and receive electronic mail, communicate with other users, shop, bank, publish articles, etc. using the Internet. To access the Internet, users must subscribe to an on-line Internet service.

Intra-Institutional Voucher (IV)
Used to record sales generated by Internal Service Organizations (ISO) and auxillaries.

IPX
Stands for Internet Packet Exchange. IPX is used by Novell to provide internetworking support.

Issues Database
During the PeopleSoft implementation, this database captures assumptions, policies, issues, and potential customizations, as well as key tables and prototype results.

Item
Part of the account string, can be per individual, account, or department.

Item Effective Date
Effective Date. Effective date (or accounting date) of an item poses to a customer's account.

Item Line
Transaction. A line item is a transaction on the account summarizing the item level and account level. The lowest level identifier on an account.

Item Minimum
Billing Charge Minimum Amount. Items below this minimum amount are excluded from finance charges.

Item Number
A high level key in account processing. A transaction grouping that contains the same term and same item type (e.g., tuition and fees) are calculated at the item level and payments are applied at the item level.

Item Number Xref
Each financial aid payment is cross-referenced to a charge transaction so that customers and administrators can track what money is paid for which charge. Payments and financial aid can be directed towards a particular charge if a customer desires.

Item type
STARS subcode. Identifier that classifies an item on a customer's account (e.g., Aid ID). Item types allow schools to uniquely categorize a customer's bill. The determining factor for creating an item type or using an existing item type is the mapping to the GL and how a breakdown occurs on a customer's bill.

Job
See definition of appointment.

Job Class
Group of positions that share like job characteristics and requirements, and salary scale. Most positions in job class will share the same salary grade with different steps. Job Classes may be unique to a department/agency, span multiple departments, and/or represented by a bargaining unit.

Job Class Code
Four digit number that corresponds to a title of an employment position at the University.

Job Posting
A portion of the information contained in the job requisition that is viewed by job applicants.

Job Requisition
The form that lists the job, the department, the budget, and other standard information in order to post a job opening for a new or replacement employee.

Join
To link tables in a database together by common fields.

JOLT
An optional sub-product that co-exists with Tuxedo. It listens for requests from a web client, and then sends those requests to Tuxedo.

Journal Voucher (JV)
Used to complete transactions not covered by other CUFS forms (e.g. balance sheet transactions).

Laboratory, Lab
A course component that takes place in a laboratory, rather than a classroom and involves "hands-on" instruction.

Large Release Contract
Contract or agreement with a vendor establishing prices, discounts, or other terms for a specified period, which has been established by Purchasing Services by a competive process or through negotiation. Large Release Contracts allow a department to order directly from a vendor if the purchase price is under $100,000.

Last Bill Due Date
The due date on the most recent billing statement.

Last Bill Minimum Payment
The amount of the minimum payment that was printed on the most recent billing statement.

Late Charge
A charge for items or services that are received after the project end date.

Late fee amount
Late Fee Billing Charge. A charge based on the number of days past due.

Leave Bank
(See definition of Leave Pool.) This is similar to a leave pool, but leave donations are specified to a particular recipient and tracked to the original donor. Unused leave in the leave bank is usually returned to the donor after a specified period.

Leave Buyback
Mechanisms where the organization will "purchase" from the employee certain amounts of leave earned but not taken, usually to limit the organization's financial liability if/when the employee should separate. Leave Buybacks are also incentives for employees to work rather than take time off. Leave Buyback is often reflected as an employer credit in benefits processing.

Leave of Absence
Approved absence from with with or without pay.

Leave Planner
On-line Leave Planner allows faculty and staff to view their leave time (current and future) for planning leaves.

Leave Pool
A mechanism whereby employees donate a specified amount of leave to a pool. The leave pool is used by approved employees in hardship situations when their own paid leave has been exhausted. Unused leave in the pool is not tracked by, or returned to, the original donors.

Lecturer
Used in Professional and Academic appointment types when an individual is expected to hold the academic credentials required of faculty staffing in the department of instruction or to have achieved substantial professional recognition in the field.

Longevity
(See definition of seniority.) Hire date; rehire date; company seniority date; service date; position/entry date; department/entry date; job code/entry date.

Main Area
The Area responsible for processing personnel documents for an employee.

Mainframe
A very large computer typically used to house an institution's operational systems and to run processing-intensive applications.

Mass Change
A process which updates volumes of data at once, based on selection criteria input by the end user. Mass Change is used to set flags (e.g., to identify students who need a certain kind of information or letter).

Matching Funds
Type of arrangement in which more than one party supports a project. The University generally refers to matching when looking at nonlabor items (see Cost Sharing).

Material Transfer Agreements
A legal contract that states the conditions under which proprietary research material can be transferred from one institution or company to another.

Maximum Amount
In charge priority situations, indicates the maximum amount that can be used in satisfying the charge. In refund situations, the maximum amount that can be provided for a particular refund type.

Media Key
A type of payment that is received.

Menu
A list of panels/"screens" that a user can choose from to perform a common set of business functions (e.g., enrolling a student, admitting a student).

Milestones
A non-course related requirement to be completed before a student may graduate (e.g., number of units/credits completed). Milestones are linked to Academic Program in PeopleSoft and may be printed on the transcript if desired.

Minimum Payment
The minimum amount that must be paid by the Payment Due Date to avoid a hold and a late payment fee. An installment fee is charged if any amount between the Minimum Payment and New Balance is paid.

Modified Total Direct Costs
Total direct costs less certain budget categories. Budget categories to be subtracted from total direct cost for the federally negotiated IDC rate are as follows: Equipment, capital expenditures, charges for patient care and tuition remission, rental costs, scholarships, and fellowships as well as subgrants/subcontracts shall be excluded from the modified total direct costs (from OMB Circular A-21).

Module
A module or grouping of software component.: Human Resources, Student Financials (Bursar), Admissions, Student Records (Registrar), Financial Aid (OSFA), and Campus Community.

Monitor
To examine, on a regular basis, information from reports and/or online tables and compare actual spending and income to the amount budgeted. The goal is to determine the variance between actual performance and budget, and to identify if the variance is a problem.

N/A
Not/applicable or not/available.

Name Type
A label assigned to an individual's name. Degree name type (indicating the name that a graduate wants printed on the diploma) and maiden name type are two examples.

Next Item Number
Field at the business unit level that is used to generate unique next item numbers.

Non-Positive Pay
Requires department to submit hours or pay rate on a biweekly basis.

Nonsponsored Funds
Funds which either 1) the University can decide how to use since there are no external restrictions, or 2) may be used only in accordance with the purpose established by the funding source, but which are not administered by the Office of Research and Technology Transfer Administration (ORTTA).

Notice of Award
The legally binding document that notifies an awardee that a project will be funded; contains terms of the award and the obligation of funds.

Notification Plan
A special admission decision plan offered to applicants (e.g., early action or early decision plans).

NSF Counter
The number of NSF (Non-Sufficient Funds) checks that a person has written to the U.

Object Code
A four digit code that catagorizes an expenditure. Budgeting is done at the Object level within an Organization. Refer to the current fiscal year COA manual for definitions of codes or http://training.finop.umn.edu

Office of Research and Technology Transfer Administration (ORTTA)
The administrative office responsible for helping Universtiy of Minnesota employees acquire and manage sponsored funding for research, training and public services projects. ORTTA also seeks proprietary protection for University inventions and negotiates their transfer to the private sector.

Official Transcript
An official record of a students grades.

OMB A-21
Cost Principles for Educational Institutions, published by the federal Office of Management and Budget. This document established the guidelines and principles that determine the costs applicable to a sponsored project.

Opening Date
Create Date. Date that the account was opened for the customer.

Operational System
Application systems that operate some portion of a business. These systems process updates, changes and deletes, usually at high volumes of transactions, each affecting small segments of data.

Operator
PeopleSoft user login ID.

Optional Services
Are services that are not required for enrollment but that a student may choose to purchase, such as the yearbook. Kinds of optional services may vary depending on the program of study.

Oracle
A database management software product that allows multiple users and applications to use the same data at the same time.

Order By
A command to order, or sort, the rows of data in ascending or descending order.

Organization Code
Indicates a specific project or program within an Area. Each program has the authority to use money for an approved purpose and requires a budget. Organization codes answer the question, "What project/program are these resources being used for?" Org codes are four characters long.

Organization Reporting Code
A code assigned to an Org for reporting purposes and tracking project/program costs; it is not entered on individual documents nor transactions. Org reporting codes are five characters long, the first three characters of which are the Area code.

ORTTA
The administrative office responsible for helping University of Minnesota employees acquire and manage sponsored funding for research, training, and public service projects. ORTTA also seeks proprietary protection for University inventions and negotiates their transfer to the private sector. Offices within ORTTA include: Sponsored Projects Administration, Patents and Technology Marketing, Information Services, Effort Certification/Indirect Cost, Coordinate Campuses.

Other Support
All financial resources, current and pending, available in direct support of an individual's research endeavors.

Override Group
The correct tuition group for the customer deemed by the bursar.

Override Residency
Overrides any residency status calculated for a customer for billing purposes.

Panel
Screen. A "Panel" in PeopleSoft is similar to a "Window" in the Windows environment. It will cover your screen, and display a group of related data and information, in which you can access, read, edit, or delete according to your panel rights defined by your role in PeopleSoft.

Panel Group
A group of linked panels/screens which are selected from a screen without having to return to the menu.

Panel Tabs
Arranged like file folders, panel tabs display the name of a panel and grouping. Clicking on the Panel Tab directly accesses the panel.

Part-Time
A student who is registered for the minimum number of courses or units to qualify as part-time.

Paths
Routes to move around in PeopleSoft.

PAYACCT
An acronym for a payroll and fringe benefits database designed to provide easy access to expense, encumbrance, and adjustment information related to payroll and fringe benefits.

Pay Across Terms
An option indicating if financial aid is eligible to satisfy charges from prior or future terms.

Pay Calculator
An on-line calculator that allows faculty and staff to perform "what-if" scenarios for adjustments to deductions and W-4 exemption changes.

Payment Due Date
The date when the Minimum Payment must be received to avoid a hold and a late payment fee or when the New Balance must be paid to avoid an installment fee.

Payment Key
The type of payment that is being processed.

Payment Priority
A specific payment that satisfies a specific charge. The priority list is used to determine a refund to a particular payment item type is a charge is adjusted downward.

Payment Terms
Installment Plan. The dollar reduction a vendor allows a customer to take from an invoice as an incentive for prompt payment. A vendor may offer a standard set of terms to the University or different terms may be offered on each vendor invoice. The University's standard payment terms are "net 30 days".

Payment Voucher (PV)
Commonly called the "green label". A document used to process payment of vendor invoices. POT encumbrances can be released using this document.

Pay Period
A biweekly set of dates, starting on a Monday and ending on a Sunday.

Payroll
University of Minnesota department that administers payroll and tax reporting and oversees biweekly payroll distribution for University employees.

Payroll Account String
Used in the payroll system. Consists of five codes: item, fund, department, budget, and job class code.

Payroll Type
The payroll system from which an employee is paid. The two types of payroll systems are biweekly and semimonthly.

Paytype
A description of type of pay; the reason payment was made. See paytype web page at http://data.ohr.umn.edu/webfm/paytype/paytype.html for a definition of each paytype code.

PeopleBooks

PeopleCode
A way of coding PeopleSoft panels. PeopleCode is a proprietary scripting language that allows you to do such things as set default values on a panel upon panel entry, execute SQL statements to update the database, or conditionally change a panel based upon your own criteria. PeopleCode is stored on the Data Designer and are associated with a specific field.

PeopleSoft
Software vendor for the Enterprise Systems Project at the University of Minnesota and many other major universities and corporations.

PeopleSoft Cache
Panel templates stored on PC to improve performance. If you have workstation problems, a common solution is to log out, delete the cache, and then log back in.

PeopleSoft Query
Data lookup routine built into PeopleSoft and used by "power users."

PeopleTools Server
In both 2-Tier or 3-Tier mode, a PeopleTools server provides the necessary software needed by a client (i.e. your desktop computer) to run a PeopleSoft Session. To initially obtain the PeopleTools needed to work with the PeopleSoft system, you need to have the PeopleSoft client installed on your desktop. After the install, when you start up your computer you will automatically make a connection with the PeopleTools server.

PEP Team
Pre-Employment Project Team: Fourteen technical and functional staff coordinating the design, construction, and implementation of the Web-based job center for non-academic staffing. Members of the PEP team are drawn from Human Resources and OIT.

Percent
A number indicating a percentage that is used in many of the item line tables for supporting GL entry or refund terms.

Plan
See Academic Plan.

Plus Option
If PLUS funds were awarded, the Plus Option displays the options the parent selected for disbursement of the credit balance. This field is updated by staff from information on a letter returned to the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid by the parent borrower.

Policies
Decisions which underlie our work processes and procedures. Many University work processes are support policies which are outmoded, overly complex, or inconsistent with policies developed by another group.

Pool Positions
When an employer has a lump sum of funding available to support an undefined/"uncapped" number of positions, these positions may be referred to as pool positions. These positions are often homogenous and short-term such as summer employees. The agency can create as many positions needed up to the lump sum available to pay the salaries.

Position-level Funding
An institution's/agency's yearly budgetary appropriations are based on salary and benefits budgets for individual positions (NOT employees). Position-level budgets are assigned funding sources (account numbers) from the general ledger, which drive encumbrances for salary amounts. Funding sources may also serve as the default distribution for actual time and labor worked.

Position Type
Identifies the type of position an employee holds, e.g., continuous, temporary, etc.

Positive Pay
Pay the same number of hours or fixed pay roate for a set of dates, indicated by a "P" in the positive pay box at the end of the distribution line of the Distribution Document; payroll will replace the "P" with the term code when appropriate.

Post Date
Transaction Date. Date the transaction was posted to customer's account.

Pre-Requisite Course
A course which must be completed before another course can be taken.

Primary Academic Program
Main program (college or unit that grants degree) that is used to set tuition, financial aid awarding, GPA calculation rates, etc.

Primary Name Type
Used to link the name that is stored at the highest level within the system to the set of names (at a lower level) that the individual has provided.

Principal Investigator
The individual responsible for the proposal and sponsored project.

Priority Type
Priority type is either a charge priority or a payment priority used in deciding how to cross-reference charges, payments, and financial aid.

Probationary Appointment
("H" for Professional and Academic appointment types) Appointments that lead to review and decision concerning a continuous appointment. Probationary period requires a decision to grant continuous appointment or give notice of terminal appointment in the sixth year of full time service or ninth year of part time service.

Process
A list of actions that will make changes or works data.

Process Definition
A panel/screen that controls scheduling of a process.

Professor
Highest faculty rank.

Program
See Academic Program.

Program Action
Program Action indicates whether program is active, on hold, or discontinued.

Program Income
Any income earned that is directly generated by a sponsored activity or earned as a result of the award.

Project Period
The total time for which support of a project has been programmatically approved. A project period may consist of one or more budget periods.

Project Sponsor
Senior level central administrator who acts as a guide and advocate for each enterprise project.

Project Teams
Groups composed of functional and technical staff to address specific functional areas, issues, or tasks. Teams are formed within projects and across projects.

Proposal
A complete document that contains all the information necessary to describe proposed project plans, staff capabilities, and requested funds.

Prototype
The process of comparing the components of the PeopleSoft software and the University's business practices by loading the system with U data and business processes.

Provost
Directs the academic programs of the institution and is the chief financial officer.

PS Department
Code assigned to the unit which has HR responsibility for the hire.

PS/nVision
A tool used for creating reports in Microsoft EXCEL. Working within Microsoft EXCEL, you can create a report layout that defines the PeopleSoft data to retrieve and the format of the report. An advanced feature includes the ability to interactively "drill down" to the supporting details from a summarized report.

Purchase Order with Text (POT)
Form which can be used by departments for purchases up to $2,000 (required for sponsored Funds $500 and over) or purchases against Large Release Contracts (up to $100,000). This form encumbers Funds in the financial system.

Query
A request for data from a relational database system such as CUFSRDB or PAYACCT.

Rate ID Table
A fee can point to a specific rate table intended to contain 90% of the logic for fee assessment.

Rate Percentage
Billing Percentage. Pecentage of past due balance that is charged on overdue accounts for finance charge assessment.

Rate Type
Billing Charge. Indicates the finance charging scheme.

Rebudgeting
Reallocation of budget between sponsor categories or between object codes.

Receipt Line No.
A set of payment and media key pairs within a receipt.

Receipt No.
Receipt No. A unique number that identifies a series of payment and media keys.

Recitation
A type of class component. A recitation is a lecture that supplements lectures and labs. A recitation can also be called a tutorial.

Rec Name
Name of a record that is used to determine the associated field to match to a value or set of values.

Record
A group of commonly grouped fields (e.g., address-related data).

Recruiting Center
A place where recruiting is administered. Normally, the recruiting center codes mirror the application center codes. A recruiting center provides the capability for academic careers with decentralized and/or regional recruiting to track what office is handling a specific prospective student.

Reference Number
Transaction reference number. Registration reference transaction number is the fee statement number. Bursar transaction reference number is the register receipt number. Extension reference number is the unique transaction number assigned by the Extension Registration system. Numbers can be alphanumeric and contain spaces and other characters.

Refund Debit Balances
A flag that prohibits refunds on an account with debit balances. Refund Debit Balances can be overridden, but a refund is not automatically generated.

Refund Interface
CUFS. The system that actually creates the check, ACH transaction, or cash needed for the refund.

Refund Number
Check Number, PVA Number. A unique number that identifies a refund.

Refund Terms Code
Refund Terms Code categorizes a particular refund scheme and describes the date to trigger refunds from, and then the number of days beyond the particular date, to refund a percentage of the charge (e.g., class withdrawals).

Refund Terms Date
The date that triggers the refund calculation; the first day of the term or the date that the transaction was entered.

Refund Type
Subcode. Classification of a refund (e.g., Pell, A/R).

Register Number
Register Number. A unique identifier for a cash register.

Registrar
Administrative function in charge of student registration, scheduling of classrooms and related matters.

Registration
The overall business of enrolling students in classes. This word is not used in PeopleSoft because it means different things to different schools. More precise terms are used to describe specific functions (e.g., class enrollment, payment of fees).

Relational Database
A database system that represents the data to users as the contents of one or more tables. These tables are made up of columns and rows; tables are related through one or more columns.

Report
A list of pre-made templates for data.

Reporting Category
An eight character code in the account string which can be used to gather information on specific expenditures from many accounts and summarize them on one report. The first three characters are the owner's Area code, the next five are assigned by the Area Manager.

Requirement Group
Like "computer checks", Requirement Group indicates courses and conditions.

Requisite
Something that is required, such as a course or a component of a course.

Research Specialist
Used in Professional and Academic appointment types to provide short-term appointments in support of research for very narrow purposes. May be used for a) visitors who lack faculty credentials and are here for additional training, b) completion of terms of appointment for research assistants upon completion of the degree, and c) individuals hired as research assistants pending completion of Graduate School admission. Visitors may hold the appointment for a period not to exceed three years. In other instances, the title should not be used for appointments beyond one year's duration.

Reserve Capacity
Holding part of a class for a specific type of student (e.g., graduate students enrolled in a program).

Restricted Aid
Non-federal funds that are not subject to Federal rules and regulations, awarded per institutional criteria.

Revenue Source Code
A four digit code that describes income. Budgeting is done at the Revenue Source code level within an Organization.

Reversal Indicator
An indicator that shows if a particular payment has been reversed, usually due to NSF purposes.

RFA (Request for Application)
Announcements that indicate the availability of funds for a topic of interest to a sponsor. Proposals submitted in response to RFAs generally result in the award of a grant.RFP (Request For Proposal) Announcements that specify a research topic, methods to be used, product to be delivered, and appropriate applicants sought. Proposal submitted in response to RFPs generally result in the award of a contract.

Roll Up Codes
COA codes used to pull together financial information for reporting purposes. The COA roll up codes in CUFS are category, class, group, and type. The meaning of these codes varies by the COA code it is "rolling up".

Sabbatical
An academic leave for a period of time to pursue professional interests. Leave granted to a faculty member for special studies, investigations, or research which would thereby increase the individual's scholarship and capacity for service to students and the University. The leave is available to tenured faculty who have served the University for at least six years. This type of leave is common within higher education and is granted both with and without pay.

Salary Plan
Set of salary grades and steps that is defined as part of a collective bargaining agreement. Employer is likely to have multiple salary plans. Salaries of positions not covered by collective bargaining agreements may also be tied to salary plans.

SAM
The former database system controlling student financial aid processing.

Sanity Check
The sanity check validates that required fields are completed on a document and the information entered in the required fields is valid for the field and in CUFS. This term is specific to FormsNirvana.

School
A part of the academic organizational structure of the University that, on an organizational chart is between the Institution level and the Division level.

Scroll bar
PeopleSoft window feature used to view a record or field by means of a sidebar that allows one to "scroll" down the screen.

Search Keys
Search boxes. The primary and alternate blanks for entering information on which to search for a record.

Search Order Number
A grouping of items defined in the various search fields (e.g. a grouping that includes only Last Name, First Name, and SSN).

Section
A subdivision within a course. See course section, class.

Security Group
The group that controls the entry of a particular item, such as a node on a tree which translates to a group of operator IDs. In Student Financials security can be at the item type level.

Select Distinct
A command in SQL that eliminates duplicate information from being returned.

Selector Group Code
A code that differentiates selection groups. Selection groups are used to partition the customer population into identifiable selections.

Self-service
Independently using, accessing, and changing data via a web interface with the database (e.g., update address, register for classes, change benefits).

Seller Description
In Financial FormsNirvana, an optional description field on the IV. This can be used to represent identifying information of the seller but the information does not print on an IV form or post to CUFS.

Semester Conversion
The University will change from quarters to semesters in Fall 1999. This also requires changes in our current information systems. GPAs are calculated differently and course credits change. Fixing existing systems to accommodate semester conversion and Year 2000 digit problems provided the impetus to begin improving the U's overall student systems.

Seminar
A component of a course that is a study group or session often featuring discussion.

Seniority
The amount of time an employee has been in the employ of an organization, often computed for service with the agency or with the bargaining unit. Seniority drives leave accruals, various types of compensation, rank in consideration for promotions, and rank in consideration of layoff.

Service Credit
(See definition of seniority.) Hire date; rehire date; company seniority date; service date; position/entry date; department/entry date; job code/entry date.

Service Indicator
Positive indicators are similar to "tracking flags"; negatives indicators are similar to "holds."

Session
See Academic Session.

SetID
Collection of tables used to group general processing type tables.

Shared leave
(See definition of leave pool.)

Sick Leave
Absent with pay because of illness, injury or disability. Refer to rules governing employee's job class for further discussion.

Small items
Billing Charge Minimum Amount. Flag that indicates whether to exclude items below a certain threshold from finance charges.

SME Forum
Monthly information exchange meeting of HRMS Subject Matter Experts, Project Managers and HRMS team members.

Software
The computer program that instructs the computer hardware what functions to perform. The three most common classes of software include the operation systems (such as Windows 95), applications, and utilities (such as monitor settings).

Sort By
A command to sort, or order, the rows of data in ascending or descending order.

SNT
Simplified Needs Test.

Source Key
A process that ties a particular transaction back to the source of the charge or financial aid. On selected panels, drill-down techniques into particular charges can be used.

Split Code
Split codes determine how funds are awarded throughout the award year.

Split Distribution
A method to charge more than one account for a purchase on a POT.

Sponsor
Individual or organization that provides funds to a project.

Sponsored Account
Funds provided by a grant or contract and administered by ORTTA. Identified by an Organization number of 6000 or greater.

Sponsored Funds
Funds which come from outside the University and are governed by specific terms and conditions set by the sponsor. These typically require financial or technical reporting to the sponsor and are administered through the Office of Research and Technology Transfer Administration (ORTTA).

Sponsored Project
An externally funded activity that is governed by specific terms and conditions.

Spreadsheet
A software application used to analyse and report on data. Common spreadsheets are Lotus 1-2-3 and Microsoft Excel.

SQL
An acronym for Structured Query Language. This is a standard language used to request data from relational databases. For data warehouse queries, the SQL statement used is the SELECT statement.

SQR
Structured Query ReportWriter is usually the reporting tool of choice for high-volume, batch reports such as Payroll Registers, Trial Balances, or Deduction Registers.

Staffing Redesign
A component of HRMS, Staffing Redesign will make the process of hiring at the U more user-friendly, efficient, and convenient.

Standard Hours
The number of hours assigned to an appointment percentage (e.g., 100% = 40 standard hours).

Standard Letter Code
A code used to define the MS Word letter templates used for mail merge functions. Every letter that is sent should have a standard letter code as identification.

STARS
The former student accounts receivable database.

Status
The status of an account; active or inactive. This can be changed using a paper form or an online document.

Status of Requests
Main menu item in FormsNirvana where a preparer can see, review or make changes to all of their documents. Only the preparer can access this menu and only their documents can be accessed.

Stipend
A payment made in accordance with preestablished levels, to an individual to provide for their living expenses during the training period of a fellowship or training project.

Student
A person who is enrolled in an educational institution.

Student 2000 Project
A part of the Enterprise Systems Project, Student 2000 Project's mission is to vastly improve the quality of student service by providing high quality seamless service to students anytime, anywhere.

Student Administration System
The PeopleSoft packaged application product for the higher education market. Modules include admissions, student financials (bursar), student records (registrar), and financial aid.

Student Employees
Student employees are usually part-time workers under work-study or tuition reduction-related programs. These student employees must be paid but are not counted toward any FTE caps and are not the subject of much, if any, management reporting. Because of high volume and turnover, institutions frequently house all student employees in one or a few position numbers.

Student File Number
The six- or seven-digit student identification number that remains the same on all campuses. In PeopleSoft, student file number is EMPLID.

Student Group
Student groups, which replace many tracking flags from the legacy system, will be used to track student membership in various groups for reporting, fee calculation, or degree progress assessment. Such groups include athletes, veterans, and Med Fellow Specialists. Students can be tracked within academic institution, so students of any program or career may be associated with the same group.

Student Life
Student activities outside of the academic program.

Subcontract
A document that transfers a portion of the research or substantive effort of the prime award to another institution or organization.

Subject
A specific area of instruction which designates courses, such as "Chemistry" or "Finance".

Subject Area
See Academic Subject Area.

Sub-Organization Code
Used with the Org code for a more detailed way of tracking revenues and expenses. The Sub-Org code is two characters long.

Sub-Object Code
A two digit code that is used in conjunction with each Object to permit more detailed tracking of costs. Budgeting is not done at this level.

Sub-Revenue Source Code
A two digit code that is used in conjunction with each Revenue Source code to identify a more detailed kind of income. Budgeting is not done at this level.

Supplemental Proposal
A proposal requesting additional funds to complete an already approved project.

System Administrator
In FormsNirvana, this term identifies the unit/person assigned centrally that is reponsible for all activity in a FormsNirvana module. For the financial module, the system administrator is Financial Systems Support.

Tax treaty status/1042 Processing
Tax Treaty Status/1042 Processing. Tax Treaty Status is most often found at higher education institutions for foreign students who are subject to various treaties (based on their citizenship) which permit earning up to a certain amount without paying federal withholding taxes. At year-end, 1042 Forms must be produced for these student employees, similar to W-2's for U.S. employees.

TCP/IP
An acronym for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. A set of communications protocol developed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to network dissimilar computer systems. TCP/IP has become the standard communications protocol for use on the internet.

T Drive
A designated network drive on your workstation which is used for the connection to the PeopleTools server.

Teaching Assistant
The person who assists the instructor in teaching a class.

Teaching Specialist
Used in Professional and Academic appointment types when the individual does not have the requisite academic credentials but does have, minimally, a baccalaureate degree and the competence to cover course material.

Team Leads
Facilitate and manage the work of specific teams.

Template
A partially completed document saved in the user's directory, similar to stationery or letterhead.

Temporary No Post
A category of employment that does not require a job requisition.

Tender Code
Tender for which the refund was transacted.

Tenure
Faculty status to ensure freedom of teaching and generation of ideas without fear of job termination.

Term
Term, Term/Year. Semester, summer session, special session, plus year.

Term Activation
Sets term information and allows registration.

A two digit code which identifies; the length (or term) of an appointment (e.g., 12 month, 9 month, etc.) in the first digit, and the type of appointment (e.g., staff, probationary, etc.) in the second digit.

Title Bar
Title Bar displays the navigational information for the current panel.

Title IV OE Codes
Lender codes.

Title IV WAN
STARS. Federal Department of Education application software.

Toolbar
Toolbars contains toolbar buttons that perform common navigational and data entry commands.

Tool Server
(See PeopleTools Server.)

Total Direct Costs
All of the project's direct costs.

Total Project Costs
The total allowable direct and indirect costs of a project.

Transfer
The acceptance of something such as "transfer student" or "transfer credit".

Transfers
Mandatory: A transfer that is required by the terms of a legal agreement. Non-mandatory: A discretionary transfer that is not required.

Translate Table Value
A special edit table in PeopleSoft used for values that seldom change (e.g., ethnic background codes).

Tuition
A charge to the student for the cost of attending academic courses.

Tutorial
See recitation.

Tuxedo
The main engine that processes requests from Windows and web clients. Tuxedo listens for these requests, and schedules servers to process transactions.

Type 38
Financial document used to transfer pay expenses for past periods, or accrued vacation from one account to another.

Unallowable
A cost that cannot be charged to a project per sponsor's guidelines.

Unapplied Amount
An amount that has not yet been matched to a payment or charge.

Union
A recognized bargaining agent for a defined group of employees as defined by the Bureau of Mediation Services under Minnesota law.

Unit
A generic term referring to a portion of a college, department, or division. A unit may or may not be equal to an Area.

Unit Administrator
An employee responsible for providing administrative support for one or more sponsored projects.

Units
Credits. Credit value of course (e.g., semester, CEU, hours).

University
The part of the academic organizational structure that, on an organizational chart, is the top level. An accredited academic institution. Historically, a group of colleges and schools offering many disciplines under one governance.

University Personal Authorization Code (UPAC)
An authorized number to use for long distance phone and fax charges. The number is issued by the Office of Networking and Telecommunications.

Unpaid Previous Balance
The previous term balance as well as the current Bursar payments and other unrestricted payments or credits posted since that time.

Unrestricted Funds
Funds having no requirements or restrictions as to use. Grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements are considered to be restricted funds.

Unsolicited Proposal
Proposals submitted to a sponsor that are not in response to a RFP, RFA, or program announcement.

Update
The Student 2000 Project's and HRMS Project's individual biweekly news reports on project progress. To subscribe to the HRMS update, go to http://www.umn.edu/ohr/hrms/ and select Subscribe to HRMS Listserv for instructions. To subscribe to the Student 2000 update, go to http://www.umn.edu/s2000/.

Update Access
A security access allowing update of the student or employee records.

URL
An acronym for Uniform Resource Locator. This is an internet naming scheme that identifies the location, file name and retrieval protocol of the resource to be served to the client.

Use
A list of available panels for entering data.

Utility
A computer program used to "personalize" your computer settings according to your preferences. An example of a utility includes control panel settings such as screen savers, monitor colors, etc.

Vacation
Authorized leave with pay. Refer to rules governing employees job class for further definition.

Valid Values
A list of pre-set categories often used in drop-down windows (e.g., a list of state abbreviations).

Value
In priority assessment situations, individual values of item types may be selected.

Vanilla
Term used to describe basic "off the shelf" software package with no customizations. Using "vanilla" software saves money both during software implementation and over time as software is upgraded.

Variance
The dollar amount of the difference between budget and actual.

Vendor Number
Unique number used to identify a vendor and a specific address in the financial system. It is assigned by Disbursement Services in the Controller's Office.

Verification
The process of verifying financial aid application information against actual documents, such as tax returns. If differences between reported and actual values do not meet the tolerance levels set up by the institution, a new EFC must be calculated.

View
View lists navigational options and commonly-used menus.

View Access
Security access allowing viewing of information but no update.

View Only
A main menu item in FormsNirvana that any user can access. It allows users to view all documents in FormsNirvana. No changes to a document can be made from this menu.

Waiver Location
The level at which the waiver was applied. Waiver Location mirrors the fee locations.

Waiver Trigger
The criteria for determining if a waiver should apply.

WAN
Stands for Wide Area Network. A communications medium between two computers. An example would be the communications between computers on coordinate campuses.

Web Browser
A software that allows users to view information on the Internet.

Windows
A computer display format that uses pop-up windows to organize information screens.

Window Sizing Buttons
Minimize button. Maximize button. Close button.. Reduces, enlarges, or exists an entire screen.

Withdrawal
An official cancellation of a course after the first day of class, noted on the student transcript.

Workflow
Computer-automated tasks and communications for organizing work. When implemented, workflow will expedite processing and automate many manual steps. For example, when a person is hired at the U, workflow will notify the appropriate HR staff and send the new employee information on orientation and benefits.

Work out of Title/out of Class
A temporary assignment whereby an employee "fills in" in another position which is assigned to a different job class than the employee's original position. This usually entitles the employee to be paid at class rate of the temporarily position without official reassignment. The employee is also entitled to any pay increases that occurred in the original position upon return. "Job Code description"/"Job Code."

Work Station Requirements
Technical requirements for desktop computers necessary in order to be able to take advantage of the full benefits that PeopleSoft software provides.

Work Study
A category of employment at the U which is available only for students. These Title IV funds are awarded according to Federal rules and regulations and must be earned through a Work Study job.

World Wide Web (WWW)
A subset of the internet that serves documents in a variety of media. WWW servers use HTTP as their retrieval protocol.

X.500 User ID
Unique user name assigned to students, faculty and staff at the Universtiy to use in accessing their centrally provided e-mail accounts and other electronic resources.

Year 2000 Problem
The Year 2000 problems refers to the widespread computer glitch with the last digits of the 2000; computer systems will recognize "00" as the year 1900. Unless corrected, when the year 2000 arrives, all databases will revert to the year 1900 and all information - whether purchase orders, transcripts, invoices, or GPAs - will be calculated from that year.

© 2000 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.

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Send questions or comments to: Enterprise Systems Project.