This A to Z glossary contains common research administration terminology, including terms and phrases specific to CU Boulder and the University of Colorado system.

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Terms Definitions
1/6th Rule Board of Regents Policy that permits faculty consulting work outside the University as long as it does not interfere with teaching and other University commitments, normally not more than 1/6 their time during any academic period
1800 Grant Street Location in downtown Denver where University offices are located, ie, President's Office, Payroll and Employee Services, Office of University Controller, Office of Policy and Efficiency, Board of Regents, Internal Audit, University Systems Office, etc.
A-21 Office of Management & Budget (OMB) Circular A-21 -- Cost Principles for Educational Institutions  (superseded by CFR Title 2, Part 200)
A-110 Office of Management & Budget (OMB) Circular A-110 -- Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Agreements With Institutions of Higher Education, Hospitals, and Other Non-Profit Organizations  (superseded by CFR Title 2, Part 200)
A-122 A-122 OMB Circular A-122 -- Cost Principles for Nonprofit Organizations
A-133 Office of Management & Budget (OMB) Circular A-133 -- Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations (superseded by CFR Title 2, Part 200)
AAALAC American Association of Animal Laboratory Accreditation Council
AAAS American Association for the Advancement of Science
AAMC Association of American Medical Colleges
AAU Association of American Universities
ABRF Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities
ACO Administrative Contracting Officer
Account Code a/c.  A ChartField used to identify the nature and financial type of a financial transaction
ADA Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
AFAA Air Force Audit Agency
AFARS Army Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement 
AFOSR Air Force Office of Scientific Research
AFRL Air Force Research Laboratory
AHRQ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Allocable A cost that benefits both a sponsored agreement and other work of the institution, in proportions that can be approximated through use of reasonable methods
Allowable A cost that is reasonable and allocable to sponsored agreements under the principles and methods provided for sponsored projects
AMC Anschutz Medical Campus
Amendment Same as modification
ANPRM Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
AOR Authorized Official Representative
AP Accounts Payable
APPE Association of Practical & Professional Ethics
APS Administrative Policy Statement -- policy statements issued by the System Office and are applicable to all University campuses
ARL Army Research Lab
ARO Army Research Office
ARDA Advanced Research & Development Activity
ARPA Advanced Research Projects Agency
ASAP Department of Treasury's Automated Standard Application for Payment system which allows web based funds withdrawal from grant accounts
ATP Advanced Technology Program
Audit An inspection of accounting records and procedures by a trained accountant for the purpose of verifying the accuracy and completeness of the records, and may also include examination of compliance with applicable terms, laws, and regulations
Award Funds that have been obligated by a funding agency for a particular project; an award may have multiple project numbers
AWOF or AWF Agreement Without Funds -- a non-monetary service or research contract, under the authority of the Office of Contracts and Grants, between CU and another external entity or entities
AY Academic Year
B2B Business to Business
BA Business Analyst
BAA Broad Agency Announcement
BPN Business Partner Network
Budget A detailed statement outlining estimated project costs to support work under a grant or contract
Budget Deviation Significant change from the sponsor-approved budget which may or may not require OCG or CCO approval (contact your Grant Officer or Area Accountant)
Capital Expenditure Expenditure on an asset costing $5,000 or more that has a life of more than one year, used interchangeably with fixed asset or equipment. Individual sponsors may have different dollar limitations defining "capital equipment"
Carry Forward /
Carry Over
The process by which unobligated funds remaining at the end of a budget period may be carried forward (carried over) to the next budget period.
CAS  Federally mandated Cost Accounting Standards intended to ensure uniformity in budgeting and spending funds
CAS 501 Cost Accounting Standards 501 -- Consistency in estimating, accumulating and reporting costs by educational institutions 
CAS 502 Cost Accounting Standards 502 -- Consistency in allocating costs incurred for the same purpose by educational institutions 
CAS 505 Cost Accounting Standards 505 -- Unallowable costs must be identified and excluded from all claims for reimbursement
CAS 506 Cost Accounting Standards 506 -- Institutions must consistently use the same cost accounting period for estimating, accumulating, and reporting costs
CAS Exceptions (3 criteria) Contracts & Subcontracts exempt from all CAS requirements are those whose work will be executed and performed entirely outside the United States, its territories, and its possessions
CASB Cost Accounting Standards Board
CBD Commerce Business Daily
CBO Congressional Budget Office
CCH Commerce Clearing House
CCO Campus Controller's Office
CCR Central Contractor Registration
CFDA# Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance -- a unique number assigned to federal agency programs
CFO Chief Financial Officer
CFR Code of Federal Regulations -- the codification of the general and permanent rules and regulations (sometimes called administrative law) published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the federal government of the United States
CFR Title 2, Part 200 Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards -- supersedes OMB Circulars A-21, A-110 and A-133 and becomes effective for universities on 12/26/14
CFS Committee on Fundamental Science
Chart of Accounts COA -- a list of accounts in the general ledger that are systematically classified by title & number
CICA Competition in Contracting Act
CIW Central Information Warehouse, Data tables from PeopleSoft Finance and HR modules maintained on-line and available for writing BrioQuery or Access reports. 
Classified Salary Salaries of administrative and clerical staff that should normally be treated as F&A costs. Direct charging of these costs may be appropriate where a major project or activity explicitly budgets for administrative or clerical services, and individuals involved can be specifically identified with the project or activity. "Major project" is defined as a project requiring an extensive amount of administrative or clerical support, which is significantly greater than the routine level of such services provided by academic departments.
CLIN Contract Line Item Number
Close Out Procedures used after project termination to ensure all required paperwork, reports, and financial clean up has occurred to submit required paperbook to sponsors and retire the project in PeopleSoft.
CMIA Cash Management Improvement Act
CMP Conflict Management Plan
CNO Chief Naval Operations
CO Contracting Officer
COGNOS Reporting Tool Systems tool used to generate m-fin financial reports from PeopleSoft
COGR Council on Government Relations
COI Conflict of Interest
Concur System operated and maintained by PSC that supports University travel (Concur Travel) and is the mechanism by which PCard transactions, employee reimbursements, and travel card expenditures are allocated to the appropriate speedtype (Concur Expense)
Consistency The principle of applying same methodology to similar transactions, events, or circumstances
Contract A mechanism for procurement of a product or service with specific obligations for both sponsor and recipient. Typically, a research topic and the methods for conducting the research are specified in detail by the sponsor.
Cooperative Agreement An award similar to a grant, but in which the sponsor's staff may be actively involved in proposal preparation and anticipate having substantial involvement in research activities once the award has been made
Corporate Travel Card VISA card used by employees for University-related travel expenses; it provides State travelers with insurance coverage, and is required for expenses related to the use and fueling of rental vehicles, lodging, airline tickets and other common carrier tickets (if not purchased through an approved travel agency), and international travel expenses.
COS Committee on Science of the National Science and Technology Council
COSEPUP Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy
Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) Federally mandated accounting standards intended to ensure uniformity in budgeting and spending funds
Cost Share Cost Share is that portion of the costs of research, training, public service or equipment projects that the University or a third party pays for or documents as its portion of a project's costs
Cost Share: Statutory/Mandatory Cost share commitments that are required by the agency for the award
Cost Share: Voluntary Committed Cost share commitments that are not required for the award but are voluntarily committed in the budget and/or in the project proposal
Cost Share: Voluntary Uncommitted Cost share commitments that are neither required for the award nor obligated in the project budget or proposal, but represent University commitment actually spent on the project. This type of cost share doesn't need to be tracked, reported, or included in the F&A base.
Cost Share: In Kind Contributions or assistance in a form other than money-equipment, materials, or services of recognized value that are offered in lieu of cash. 
Cost Transfer A cost transfer involves the recording of an expense in a sponsored project speedtype that had previously been charged elsewhere. Cost transfers should be considered “the exception, rather than the rule,” and must be kept to a minimum. They must be allowable, timely, reasonable, consistent, of benefit to the sponsored project that is the recipient of the cost, and adequately documented.  
COTR Contract Officer Technical Representative
CPSR Contractor Procurement/Property System Review
CRADA Cooperative Research and Development Agreement
CRS Congressional Research Service
CSR Center for Scientific Review
CTSA Clinical & Translational Science Award
DA Departmental Administrator -- the person in a department (center, institute, etc.) that is responsible for the day-to-day transaction processing of departmental financial events
DA Department Administration Costs
DA Department of the Army
DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
DCE Direct Cost Equivalent
DCAA Defense Contract Audit Agency
DCASRs Defense Contract Administration Services Regions
DEAR Department of Energy Acquisition Regulations
Deliverable Specific end product as a result of work performed on a sponsored project. Examples include a final technical report, an evaluation report, technical assistance, training, compiled database, etc., usually with specific deadlines.
DEPA Disclosure of External Professional Activities -- the annual disclosure of information relevant to potential conflicts of interest and/or commitment
Depreciation Allocating the acquisition cost of a fixed asset over its estimated useful life rather than charging its full cost in the year it was acquired
DFAR Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation
DFARS Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement
DHEW Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
DHHS Department of Health and Human Services
DIA Defense Intelligence Agency
DIALOG A computer-based search system using key words 
DIPEC Defense Industrial Plant Equipment Council
Direct Cost (DC) Costs identified with the sponsored work that can be identified relatively easily with a high degree of accuracy. General categories of direct costs include but are not limited to salaries and wages, fringe benefits, research supplies, contractual services, travel and communication, equipment, and computer use. 
DIS Defense Investigative Service
DNA Defense Nuclear Agency
DOC Department of Commerce
DOD  Department of Defense
DoD GAR Department of Defense Grant and Agreement Regulations -- these regulations provide uniform policies and procedures for the award and administration of DoD Grants and Cooperative Agreements (see FAR for contract regulations)
DOE Department of Energy 
DoED Department of Education
DOL Department of Labor
DOT Department of Transportation
DS-2 The Boulder Campus Disclosure Statement filed with and approved by our federal cognizant agency (Department of Health and Human Services). The DS-2 formally states our policy for direct charging expenses to sponsored projects.
DSMB Data Safety Monitoring Board
DSMP Data Safety Monitoring Plan
EAR Export Administration Regulations
EARS Electronic Approval and Routing Systems
ebXML Electronic Business Extensible Markup Language
EC Electronic Commerce
EDA Economic Development Administration 
EDGAR Education Department General Administration Regulations
EDI Electronic Data Interchange
EEOC Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
EFT Electronic Funds Transfer
EHS Employee Health Services
EH&S Environmental Health & Safety
EMTALA Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act
Encumbrance Costs obligated for expenditure but not yet realized. May be created by PO, SPO, tuition or payroll subsystems.
EO Executive Order
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
ePERs Electronic Personnel Effort Reporting System -- paperless effort reporting forms completed & filed electronically
Equipment (Also called capital equipment or fixed assets) Tangible personal property with a life of more than one year and a cost of $5,000 or more.
ERA Economic Regulatory Administration 
ERA Electronic Research Administration.
ESCRO Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight
ESSCB Empire State Stem Cell Board
ETA Employment and Training Administration 
EVS Equipment Visibility System
Exchange-like Transaction Transaction in which there is an identifiable exchange between the University and a sponsoring agent but the exchange may not be quite equal, or the direct benefits of the exchange may not be exclusively for the parties
Expanded Authority The authority granted to CU that waives the prior approval requirements by a sponsoring agency.   Expanded authority is used only for changes that are necessary for the completion of the project within its original scope and original total budget.
F&A Facilities & Administrative Costs (aka Indirect Costs) -- Indirect (F&A) Costs: 2 CFR 200 Uniform Guidance defines indirect (F&A) costs as “those costs incurred for a common or joint purpose benefitting more than one cost objective, and not readily assignable to the cost objectives specifically benefitted, without effort disproportionate to the results achieved.” Indirect costs (also known as IDC, overhead, facilities and administrative costs, or F&A) are real costs to CU Boulder that are not readily or easily assignable to a specific funded project. Indirect costs help promote organized research at CU Boulder by providing funds for research-related expenses such as heat, light, water, electricity and custodial services in offices and laboratory spaces; occupational safety and hazardous waste removal; telecommunications; computers and internet access; and many other support services.
FAA Federal Aviation Administration
FAR Federal Acquisition Regulations -- the primary regulation for use by all Federal Executive agencies in their acquisition of supplies and services with appropriated funds (contracts are subject to the FAR) 
FARS Financial Accounting and Reporting System
FASA Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act 
FASAB Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board
FASEB Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology 
FastLane FastLane is an interactive real-time system used to conduct NSF business over the Internet.  Much of the system functionality has been transferred into Research.gov.
FBO Federal Business Opportunities 
FCC Federal Communications Commission 
FCST Federal Council for Science and Technology
FDA Food and Drug Administration
FDP I  Florida Demonstration Project
FDP II Federal Demonstration Project
FDP III & IV Federal Demonstration Partnership
FEA Federal Enterprise Architectures
FECAI Federal Electronic Commerce Acquisition Instructions
Federal Cognizant Agency The federal agency to which we are assigned for purposes of certain administration functions such as F&A rate negotiation and audit resolution
Federal Flowthrough A non-Federal entity that provides a Federal award to a subrecipient or subaward to carry out a Federal program
FEDIX An online federal data base serving most federal agencies for online searches
Fellowship Term applies to a broad range of awarded financial support. Sponsors often use this term loosely to mean any form of support, whether for schooling, academic training, or for research support of any type. Do NOT confuse this term with method of payment, see Stipend for that topic.
FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency
FERPA Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
FFATA Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 or "Transparency Act" -- The FFATA Subaward Reporting System tool is used by Federal prime awardees (i.e. prime contractors and prime grants recipients) to capture and report subaward and executive compensation data regarding their first-tier subawards 
FFMIA Federal Financial Management Improvement Act
FHWA Federal Highway Administration 
FICC Federal Interagency Coordinating Council
FileMaker OCG database that supplies proposal and award information on proposals and awards.  This system is no longer used and has been replaced by InfoEd.
FIMA Fiancial Management System
FIPSE Fund for Improvement of Post Secondary Education
FISAP Fiscal Operations Report & Application to Participate
Fiscal Manager (Formerly known as Key Contact) Departmental Administrator who receives monthly project financial reports and is responsible for managing its financials
Fixed Asset Expenditure on an asset costing $5,000 or more that has a life of more than one year, used interchangeably with capital equipment or equipment
FP or Fixed Price A funded agreement in which payment will be made upon a set dollar amount, regardless of how much is expended to complete the agreed upon performance
Fly America Act This requires Federal employees and their dependents, consultants, contractors, grantees, and others performing United States Government financed foreign air travel to travel by U.S. flag air carriers
FMC Federal Management Circular
FN Foreign National
FOB Free On Board
FOIA Freedom of Information Act
FPS Financial Procedure Statement, which provides procedural guidance for University financial activity
FR Federal Register
Fringe Benefits Employee benefits paid by the employer (e.g., FICA, Worker's Compensation, Withholding Tax, Insurance, etc.)
FS&T Federal Science and Technology Budget
FTC Federal Telecommunications System
FTE Full Time Equivalent
Funding Financial resources provided to sponsored projects.
Funding: Incremental A method of funding contracts that provides specific spending limits below the total estimated funding. These limits may be exceeded only at the contractor's own risk. Each increment is, in essence, a funding action.
Funding: Modular Specific to NIH R01, R03, R15, & R21 awards that have direct cost budgets of $250K or less that require no budget detail with the proposal submission. Payments are made in $25K increments.  
Funding: Advance Funding paid to the University by the sponsor at the beginning of the project. The terms of this type of payment usually require returning any unused funds to the sponsor at the completion of the project.
Funding: Fixed price A contract/grant for which one party pays the other party a predetermined price, regardless of actual costs, for services rendered. Quite often this is a fee-for-service agreement.
Funding: Cost reimbursable A contract/grant for which the sponsor pays for costs incurred in the conduct of the work up to an agreed-upon amount
FWA Federal Wide Assurance
FY Fiscal Year
GA General Administration (Costs)
GAAP Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
GAIR General Administrative and Infrastructure Recharge is a combination of the General Administrative Recharge (GAR) and the General Infrastructure Recharge (GIR). The two have their own rates and are calculated separately in the Finance System, but are often referred to together as GAIR.
GAO General Accounting Office
GAR General Administrative Recharge -- a percentage rate charged to auxiliary and self-funded funds (20, 26, 28, 29) and their renewal and replacement plant fund (78) and to agency funds (80) calculated monthly on expenditures.
GASB Governmental Accounting Standards Board
GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
General Purpose Equipment Equipment which is not limited to research, medical, scientific or other technical activities. Examples include office equipment and furnishings, modular offices, telephone networks, information technology equipment and systems, air conditioning equipment.
GIR General Infrastructure Recharge -- a percentage rate charged to auxiliary and self-funded funds (20, 26, 28, 29) and their renewal and replacement plant fund (78) calculated monthly on expenditures.
GL General Ledger -- that part of PeopleSoft Finance that contains the accounting records of all financial data for the University that are used to generate the official financial reports of the university.
GMO Grants Management Office
GMRA Government Management Reform Act
GPG Grant Proposal Guide (NSF)
GPO Government Printing Office
GPRA Government Performance and Results Act 
GRA Graduate Research Assistant
GSA General Services Administration
Grant A grant is a legal instrument of financial assistance used to transfer money, property, or anything of value to a recipient in order to accomplish a particular purpose, without substantial involvement from the sponsor, in the direction of the project.  
Grant/Contract Officer (OCG) OCG staff member responsible for reviewing and negotiating contract terms, administering the award, and liaising with sponsor representatives during a project's period of performance.
Grant/Contract Officer (Sponsor) A sponsor's designated individual who is officially responsible for the business management aspects of a particular grant, cooperative agreement, or contract. Serving as the counterpart to the business officer of the grantee/contractor organization, the grant/contract officer is responsible for all business management matters associated with the review, negotiation, award, and administration of a grant or contract and interprets the associated administration policies regulations, and provisions.
Grants.gov Portal used to submit all proposals for federal awards, which are then distributed to each appropriate agency. Electronic proposal submission to be required from Feb 1, 2007 onwards.
GUIRR Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable
HBCU Historically Black College and University
HCFA Health Care Financing Administration 
HCM Human Capital Management -- this is the PeopleSoft human resources module that stores all personnel data and handles payroll and personnel actions.
HEGIS Higher Education General Information Survey
HHS Department of Health and Human Services
HIPAA Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act
HRSA Health Resources and Services Administration 
HSARPA Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency
HSC CU Denver's Health Sciences Center
HUD Department of Housing and Urban Development 
IACUC Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
IAEGC Interagency Electronic Grants Committee 
IBC Institutional Biosafety Committee
ICC Interstate Commerce Commission 
ICR Indirect Cost Recovery (or Revenue) -- F&A expenses charged to projects generate F&A revenue (recovery) that's booked to the general fund. This helps offset project expenses so a portion of ICR is then reallocated back to departments that generated this revenue and is transferred to a departmental ICR speedtype.
IDC Indirect Costs, also known as overhead or F&A  -- Indirect (F&A) Costs: 2 CFR 200 Uniform Guidance defines indirect (F&A) costs as “those costs incurred for a common or joint purpose benefitting more than one cost objective, and not readily assignable to the cost objectives specifically benefitted, without effort disproportionate to the results achieved.” Indirect costs (also known as IDC, overhead, facilities and administrative costs, or F&A) are real costs to CU Boulder that are not readily or easily assignable to a specific funded project. Indirect costs help promote organized research at CU Boulder by providing funds for research-related expenses such as heat, light, water, electricity and custodial services in offices and laboratory spaces; occupational safety and hazardous waste removal; telecommunications; computers and internet access; and many other support services.
IDIQ Indefinite duration indefinite quantity
IFB Invitation for Bid -- a solicitation issued to prospective bidders. An IFB describes what is required and how the bidders will be evaluated. Award is based on the lowest bid. Negotiations are not conducted.
IG Inspector General
IN Interdepartmental Invoice -- issued when one service department performs work or provides supplies for another University department
Indirect Cost Costs that are incurred for common or joint objectives and therefore cannot be identified readily and specifically with a particular sponsored project
IP Intellectual Property 
IPA Interagency Personnel Agreement 
IPASS Interagency Panel on Advanced Science & Security
IPR Intellectual Property Rights
IRB Institutional Review Board (for human subjects research)
IRIS An online search system for research opportunities developed by the University of Illinois
ISC Internal Services Center  is a University center that provides goods and services to other University units, resulting in these units being charged an expense within their speedtype
ITAR International Traffic in Arms Regulations
ITMRA Information Technology Management Reform Act
JAG Judge Advocate General
JE Journal Entry (aka Cost Transfer)
JCS Joint Chiefs of Staff
Key Contact Now known as Fiscal Manager.
LoB Line of Business
LOC For SPA, LOC refers to Letter of Credit (see Payment LOC), but means Limitation of Cost for OCG. Limitation of Cost is a mandatory clause for cost-reimbursement type contracts. Under the clause, the sponsor is not obligated to reimburse the contractor for costs in excess of the stated amount. The contractor, however, is not obligated to continue performance once expenses reach the stated amount.
LSA Labor Surplus Area
M&O Maintenance and Operations or Management and Operations Contractors
m-fin reports On-demand reports delivered via the Cognos Reporting System
Marketplace CU Marketplace is the University's electronic procurement system that creates and approves purchase requisitions, places purchase orders, receives goods and services, and processes invoices through the internet. This system is maintained by an outside vendor.
Matching Requirements A grant that requires a specified portion of the cost of a supported item of equipment or project be obtained from other sources. The required match may be more or less than the amount of the grant. Some matching grants require that the additional funds be obtained from sources outside the recipient organization. Many matching grants are paid in installments, the payments coinciding with the attainment of pre-specified levels of additional funding. Matching grants are very common in the sciences, especially for equipment. They are standard practice in some government agencies.
MBDA Minority Business Development Agency
MBE Minority Business Enterprise
MECA Midwest Conference on College Cost Accounting
Modification An award document that modifies any aspect of an existing award
MOU Memorandum of Understanding
MSKCC Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
MTA Material Transfer Agreement 
MTC Modified Total Costs
MTDC Modified Total Direct Costs -- F&A classification that exempts certain cost categories from F&A expense, such as tuition remission, fixed assets, student aid, and subcontract fees greater than 25,000
NACCA National Conference on College Cost Accounting
NACUBO National Association of College & University Business Officers
NAS National Academy of Sciences
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASULGC National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges
NCC National Coordinating Committee
NCE No-Cost Extension -- a modification to an award that extends the end date without additional funding to allow for more time to complete the programmatic scope of work.
NCI National Cancer Institute
NCRR National Center for Research Resources 
NCST National Council of Science and Technology
NCURA National Council of Univcersity Research Administrators
NDA

Allows one party to share confidential information with the other party specifying how the receiving party/parties will protect and use the confidential information. NDAs are sometimes referred to as nondisclosure, proprietary information, or secrecy agreements, emphasizing the recipient's handling of the confidential information.

NECA Northeast Conference on College Cost Accounting
NEH National Endowment for the Humanities 
NGA Notice of Grant Award
NIAID National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases
NIE National Institute of Education 
NIEHS National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
NIH National Institutes of Health
NIJ National Institute of Justice
NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology
NLRB National Labor Relations Board
NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Nonexchange Transaction Transaction in which a sponsoring agent gives value to the University without directly receiving a benefit in exchange
NPR National Performance Review
NPRM Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
NPS National Park Service
NRC National Research Council
NRC Nuclear Regulartory Commission
NRL Naval Research Laboratory
NSA National Security Agency
NSABB National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity
NSB National Science Board
NSC National Security Council
NSDD National Security Decision Directive 189 (issued 1985)
NSF National Science Foundation 
NSF/STIS An online search system of the National Science Foundation
NSP Not Separately Priced
NSTC National Science Technology Council
NTIS National Technical Information Service 
NTSB National Transportation Safety Board
NYSCF New York Stem Cell Foundation
NYSTEM New York State Stem Cell Science 
OBBR Office of Biorepositories and Biospecimen Research (NCI)
OCG Office of Contracts & Grants
OCR Office of Civil Rights
OCR Office of Clinical Research (at MSKCC)
OES Office of Employment Security 
OET Office of Employment Training
OFAC Office of Foreign Assets Control
OFCC Office of Federal Contract Compliance 
OFFM Office of Federal Financial Management
OFM Office of Financial Management 
OFR Office of Federal Register
OHRP Office of Human Research Protection
OIA Office of Industrial Affairs
OIG Office of Inspector General
OIRA Office of Information & Regulatory Affairs (OMB)
OLAW Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare
O&M Operations and Maintenance Costs
OMB Office of Management & Budget -- the federal office that establishes the principles for determining costs applicable to grants, contracts, and other government agreements
ONR Office of Naval Research 
OPAS Organizational Prior Approval System -- OPAS is designed to be a PRIOR approval system for budget deviations and other project changes that require OCG approval
OPM Office of Personnel Management
OPERA Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration
OPRR Office of Protection from Research Risks
ORA Office of Research Administration 
ORI Office of Research Integrity 
OSEP Office of Special Education Programs
OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration
OSP Office of Sponsored Projects
OSTP Office of Science and Technology Policy
OT Office of Transportation
OTT Office of Technology Transfer (NIH)
Payment Remuneration per the terms of the award
Payment: LOC Cash requests are made through a Letter of Credit draw process for Federal awards
Payment: Invoice Invoices are mailed according to the requirements of the sponsor, or draws are made via agency web sites
Payment: Auto Pay Agency sends check or makes electronic funds transfer (EFT) to cover the award amount; agency may or may not require an invoice or a final report of expenditures
PCARD CU Purchasing Card -- a VISA, issued to a specific individual through US Bank, used by authorized University staff, faculty, and students, and by designated affiliate fiscal staff to purchase small-dollar items (maximum of $5,000) for university use (previously known as the Acard)
PCAST President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology
PCC Policy Coordination Council
PCO Procuring Contracting Officer
PDF Portable Document Format
Pending This term has a number of meanings & uses in OCG
PeopleSoft PS -- CU Financial System
PET Payroll Expense Transfer -- transaction in PeopleSoft to move payroll charges to another speedtype; the PET process automatically moves the benefits associated with the earnings that are being moved
PET: PETC Correction Payroll Expense Transfer -- this is used to correct a single pay period using Employee ID and Pay Period/Pay Check. A PETC is used to correct a time entry override speedtype/account code error
PET: PETP ePER Payroll Expense Transfer -- a PET automatically generated by the PeopleSoft financial system when a variance has been created by a certified, submitted ePER
PET: PETR Retroactive Funding Change -- this can correct multiple pay periods using specific Begin/End Date by position number. It can also extend into the future.  A PETR is used to modify a normal Time Collection transaction.
PETA People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
PHI Protected Health Information 
PHS Public Health Service
PI Principal Investigator, now known as Principal or Fiscal Principal
PIE Pooled Investment Earnings -- used when interest is to be earned on advance payments. This is usually for federal awards, but can also apply to select non-federal awards and to all University speedtype in funds 2x, 7x and 80.
PIGABS Principal Investigator Grant Administration Burden Survey (done by FDP)
PII Personally Identifiable Information
PKI Public Key Infrastructure
PMS/DPM Payment Management System/Division of Payment Management -- HHS web based payment system, aka SmartLink, Electronic 272
PO Purchase Order (see Procurement web site for directions on requesting an PO via Marketplace)
POA Physician Office Assistant
POP Period of Performance, also known as PP or Project Period
Post-Award That part of OCG that processes, negotiates, and manages grants & contracts
PPS Procurement Service Center Procedural Statements -- guidelines for utilizing PSC tools and for navigating through PSC procedures
PRD Presidential Review Directive 
Pre-Award  That part of OCG that processes proposals
Pre-award Authorization When expenditures can be incurred on a project during the period of 90 days prior to the effective date (start date) of the award

Pre-award Spending Account

Establishes sponsored project account for contracts and grants without expanded authority so that work can begin or continue prior to receipt of official award documents. Department must sign a departmental guarantee form and the project must cover work within the anticipated period of performance.
PRIM&R Public Responsibility in Medicine & Research
Prime Award The funding source of subawards or subcontracts to which UCB is subject
Prime Awardee The organization to which an award or contract is issued by a sponsor.
Principal Also known as Fiscal Principal, formerly called PI or Principal Investigator
PROG Peer Review Oversight Group
Program Identifies a specific activity within an organization in the Finance System. Programs are used in funds 10, 11, 20, 28, 29, 34, 72, 73, 74, 78, 80, 99. Budget, revenue, expenses and transfers are tracked for a fiscal year.
Program Income Revenue that is derived directly from the program itself and helps to reduce the net cost of the funding from general revenues. Treatment of program income generated by federally sponsored awards is addressed in OMB A-110.   
Program/Project Officer A sponsor's designated individual officially responsible for the technical, scientific, or programmatic aspects of a particular grant, cooperative agreement, or contract. Serving as the counterpart to the principal investigator/project director of the grantee/contractor organization, the program/project officer deals with the grantee/contractor organization staff to assure programmatic progress.
Project Same as "Sponsored Project"
Property Tangible personal property which is not permanently fastened to a building and does not lose its identity; the terms "equipment" and "property" are used interchangeably
Proposal An application for funding that contains all information necessary to describe project plans, staff capabilities, and funds requested. Formal proposals are officially approved and submitted by an organization in the name of a principal investigator.
Proposal: New Proposals that are submitted for the first time or ongoing projects that must recompete for funding prior to expiration of the original award
Proposal: Continuation Applicable to grants and cooperative agreements only. This is for projects approved for multiple-year funding, although funds are typically committed only one year at a time. At the end of the initial budget period, progress on the project is assessed. If satisfactory, an award is made for the next budget period, subject to the availability of funds. Continuation projects do not compete with new project proposals and are not subjected to peer review beyond the initial project approval.
Proposal: Renewal Applicable to grants and cooperative agreements only. A competitively reviewed proposal requesting additional funds extending the scope of work beyond the current project period.
Proposal: Supplement Request to the sponsor for additional funds for an ongoing project during the previously approved performance period. Supplemental proposals may result from increased costs, modifications in design, or a desire to add closely related components to the ongoing project. 
PRP Peer Resource Professional -- current team member assigned to assist a new employee when they have general questions and/or to help familiarize them with office logistics and procedures
PSC Procurement Services Center -- the office responsible for travel, general purchases, PCards and travel cards, and accounts payable
PSLite PeopleSoft Lite -- system generating CIW reports and queries geared towards Sponsored Projects
PTE Pass Through Entity
PTO Patent and Trademark Office
QA Quality Assurance
RA Research Administration
R&R Research and Related
RAC Recombinant DNA Committee
RARC Research Animal Resource Center
RBM Research Business Models
RCR Responsible Conduct of Research
RCREC Responsible Conduct of Research Education Committee
RDC Research Data Assistant
RDNA Recombinant DNA Research
RDMS Relational Database Management System
RFA Request for Applications -- announcements that indicate the availability of funds for a topic of specific interest to a sponsor
RFP Request for Proposal -- announcements that specify a topic of research, methods to be used, product to be delivered, and appropriate applicants sought
RFQ Request for Quotation
RIO Research Integrity Officer
RISQ Reporting to Improve Safety & Quality 
ROI Return on Investment 
Routing The sequential movement of an award through OCG and SPA
Route as a Proposal (RASP) An award is received for which proposal documents were sent directly to the sponsor and did not go through OCG, or, alternatively, when a sponsor adds or increases funding or anticipated value without University input; therefore, a proposal needs to be completed with an OCG Proposal Analyst before the award can be processed. Once the OCG Grant or Contract Officer is notified that an award has been made and identifies that no proposal is in place (minimum statement of work, budget, budget justification and Proposal Submission Request form), an email will be sent to the PI and department contact copying the Proposal Analyst, notifying them that an internal proposal is required. Once the PI, department contact, if applicable, and Proposal Analyst have completed the internal proposal, the Proposal Analyst will notify the Grant or Contract Officer that the award can be processed internally. An internal proposal will be required every time supplemental and additional scope(s) of work or funds are added to any existing proposal and corresponding proposal budget, as required by federal and university policy.
RPC Research Project Coordinator
RSA Research Study Assistant
RTM Research and Technology Management
RU Rockefeller University
SA Session Assistant
S&W Salaries and Wages
S&W + B Salaries and Wages plus Benefits
S2S System to System
SAMHSA Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration
SBA Small Business Administration
SBU Sensitive But Unclassified
SBIR Small Business Innovation Research
SCC Starr Cancer Consortium
SECA Southeast Conference on College Cost Accounting
SEOG Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants
SEVIS Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (INS for tracking foreign students)
SF Standard Form
SKI Sloan-Kettering Institute 
SNAP Streamline Non-Competing Application Process
SOW Statement of Work or Scope of Work -- submitted as part of the proposal to the sponsor which becomes part of the award. It defines the work that will be completed by the award and how it will be done.
SPAS Sponsored Project Administration System
Special Purpose Equipment Equipment which is used only for research, medical, scientific, or other technical activities. Examples include microscopes, x-ray machines, and spectrometers.
Speed Type  (ST) A unique eight-digit number assigned by the PeopleSoft Finance System to each project number that includes the campus code, the fund code (30 or 31), and the number assigned to the project. A subclass is assigned its own unique speedtype.
SPIN An online search system for research opportunities developed by the University of New York (SUNY) System
SPO Standing Purchase Order (see Procurement web site for directions on requesting an Subcontractor SPO)
Sponsored Project A financial award from an external source (sponsor) that is governed by specific terms & conditions established in a written agreement between the sponsor and the University of Colorado for the purpose of research, training, fellowships, purchase of specialized research equipment, or clinical trials.
SRA Society of Research Adminstrators
SRO Sponsored Research Office
STEP Science, Technology, and Economic Policy Board
STP Science and Technology Policy
Stipend Refers to type of payment to be received by awardees. Sponsors often use this term loosely to mean any type of payment to individual recipient but UCB restricts this payment type to those individuals from whom no effort will be supplied to the University or to a sponsored project. See the document entitled, "GUIDANCE ON USE OF FELLOWSHIP JOB CODES" on the CCO website for detailed description of what constitutes positions that do not require effort and would therefore receive a stipend instead of a salary.
STTR Small Business Technology Transfer Program
Subcontract A document written under the authority of, and consistent with the terms and conditions of, a contract that transfers a portion of the research or substantive effort of the prime award to another institution or organization
Subaward A document written under the authority of, and consistent with the terms and conditions of, a grant or cooperative agreement that transfers a portion of the research or substantive effort of the prime award to another institution or organization
Subrecipient The legal entity to which a subaward/subcontract is made and is accountable to the University (prime awardee) for the use of the funds provided in carrying out a portion of the University's scope of work under a sponsored project.
T&A Time and Attendance
T&C Terms and Conditions
TBSR Total Business Systems Review
TCN Tri-Institutional Collaboration Network
TDC Total Direct Costs --  F&A classification in which all cost categories are charged F&A expense, including tuition remission, fixed assets, student aid, and all subcontract fees
Tri RCR Tri-Institutional Responsible Conduct of Research Program: MSKCC, RU, WCMC
Tri-SCI Tri-Institutional Stem Cell Initiatve: SKI, RU, WCMC
U.S.C United States Code
UBIT Unrelated Business Income Tax
UCA Utility Cost Adjustment
UCB University of Colorado Boulder
UCCS University of Colorado Colorado Springs
UCD University of Colorado Denver
UCD/AMC University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus
UMS University Management Systems
USA United States Army
USAF United States Air Force
USAID United States Agency for International Development
USCG United States Coast Guard
USDA United States Department of Agriculture
USDE United States Department of Energy
USIA United States Information Agency
USN United States Navy
VA Department of Veterans Affairs
Warrant Term commonly used for a check issued by PeopleSoft to pay for an outstanding obligation
WAWF Wide Area WorkFlow -- Payment system which allows web based funds withdrawal from grant accounts
WCMC Weill Cornell Medical College
WCGSMS Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences
WECA Western Conference on College Cost Accounting
WHO World Health Organization
XML Extensible Markup Language 
YCC Youth Conservation Corp