UCalgary Acronyms
Welcome to the university! As with any business, we use a lot of acronyms and terms that you may not be familiar with if you are new to Higher Education. Here are a few of the more frequently used acronyms and terms to help you out.
A committee formed in each faculty to review applications for tenure
or renewal of appointment for an academic staff member
An Administrative Appointment accepted by an academic staff member. Responsible for overseeing and faciliatating research activities within
a faculty.
Council of ADR's that meet monthly to discuss issues of common
interest
Alberta Health Services
Annual increase negotiated between the University, FA and AUPE.
Union that all support staff of the University are required to join.
Term used commonly in IT to refer to our entreprise PeopleSoft systems.
An agreement negotiated between AUPE or TUCFA and the university.
Professional Organization
Professional Organization
Canadian Energy Research Institute
CIC is the department responsible for all immigration processes. Foreign Nationals submit visa and work permit applications to CIC.
Canadian Institute of Health Research
Canada Research Chair
All VPs that report to the President are part of ELT, including the General Counsel
A committee formed in each faculty to review merit increments recommended for each academic and review applications for promotion.
PeopleSoft Module handling all financial and supply chain transactions.
Full Time Equivalent
Faculty Tenure and Promotion Committee
Faculty Merit Committee
Graduate Assistant Teaching
General Faculties Council
General Merit Committee
A committee chaired by the Provost; final authority on all promotion and merit increases, as well as granting of Emeritus status.
PeopleSoft Module handling all human resource related transactions.
Standing committee struck by the Board of Governors to provide oversight on HR policies and procedures.
HRSDC is responsible for evaluation of the Canadian Labour Market. When we wish to hire a foreign national, we must apply to them for a Labour Market Opinion (LMO).
internal, cross departmental billing
A project initiated in 2009 to improve and integrate administrative support services across campus; introduced the integrated service delivery model now in use.
Delivery model used to provide IT, Finance and HR services whereby each faculty and unit in the University has an assigned IT, Finance and HR "partner" to work strategically with the faculty/unit administration.
Interdisciplinary initiative of the UofC - similar in many ways to a faculty.
An online PeopleSoft form used to request authorization to hire an employee, and proceed with recruiting for the role.
Employee Group
National Institute of Health
Office of the Auditor General
Academics may be involved in outside professional activities under certain conditions and upon approval of their Dean.
North end of McMahon Stadium - University Office space
Post Award Research
An individual who has recently obtained his or her Ph.D. (usually within the past five years or possibly longer) who is engaged in advanced research activities at a university or at a facility or laboratory connected with a university. The aim of the individual is often to obtain sufficient experience and published research as a PDS to be considered for a position as a professor at a university.
An individual who has completed both the required academic and professional training in a particular field (for example, a medical doctor), and who has been given a special grant to enable him or her to engage in specialized training or research. In the field of medicine, such scholars often receive the grant to work in a highly specialized area requiring clinical duties as a medical doctor within a hospital setting. The University of Calgary refers to these fellows as PGMEs since this program is run through the Postgraduate Medical Education (PGME) program.
Researchers who lead one or more research projects.
Enterprise software system with many modules such as HR, Finance and Supply Chain. The University also uses a PeopleSoft module for its Student System.
The Public Service Employee Relations Act outlines the rights and responsibilities of employers, trade unions and employees in labour relations affecting the Alberta public sector employees.
Part of the Finance organization that specializes in Research Accounting.
Also referred to as a Sabattical; earned by an academic after a certain period of service; can be fully paid or partially paid (80%) depending on the length of service earned and length of leave selected.
Student Academic Appeals Committee.
The Signing Authority Matrix outlines spending authority levels for senior managers.
Formerly the Faculty of Environmental Design (EVDS)
Part of the VP Finance Services portfolio.
Includes the Executive Leadership Team (ELT), University Secretariat, Deans, Vice-Deans, Vice- Provosts, and AVPs.
Interdisciplinary initiative of the UofC - similar in many ways to a faculty.
Research Granting agency that promotes and supports post secondary-based research and training in the humanities and social sciences.
Student Union
Available in Human Resource PeopleSoft, Manager Self Service. Used to hire casual, Postdoc, Sessional Academic and Non-Classified appointment types.
Located by Foothills Hospital
Represents the academic staff members.
Business unit under which all positions funded from a department's operating accounts are hired. UCALG is used for budgeting purposes and defines appointment types where actual benefit amounts rather than estimated percentages are charged to applicable benefit accounts.
Business unit under which all positions funded from projects are hired. UCALT is used for budgeting purposes and defines appointment types where percentage based benefits rather than actuals are charged to applicable benefit accounts.
Rating system that students use to rate their instructors.
Portfolio includes Finance, IT, HR, Audit, Occupational Health & Safety, Ancilliary Services.
Additional Definitions
An appointment accepted by an Academic who agrees to take on additional responsibilities to be a Department Head, Associate Dean, Assistant Dean, Program Director, etc.
An adjunct is an associate or full professor who is affiliated with the University but has no formal teaching or research duties. Just like regular faculty members, adjuncts must meet the basic criteria of their rank. While this is a formal appointment, an adjunct is typically an unpaid position with no benefits and is not considered an employee.
Type of academic appointment; continuing, limited term, contingent term, sessional, honorary, faculty professor, etc.
General term used to refer to one of the IT, HR or Finance Partners, assigned to each faculty/unit across the University to assist with strategic business decisions
An appointment teaching hands-on clinical skills to students. Usually in the medical field and generally without remuneration.
A term used to refer to managers who have responsibility to manage a budget for their unit/department and approve any related financial transactions processed through PeopleSoft that hit their budget.
A compensation component typically added to a academic's rank salary for taking on additional responsibilities - e.g an administrative honorarium for a being a Department Head or Associate Dean
A speaker (lecturer) brought in for typically one session (after hours or for a weekend workshop). This term is also used to refer to "Examiners", who for example may be asked to examine international medical credentials.
Assistant, Associate or Full Professor; Instructor or Senior Instructor; Counsellor etc.
A term used to refer to managers who have responsibility to manage people and approve any related Human Resource (e.g. hiring, timesheets ) transactions processed through PeopleSoft.
An academic who is hired to teach a course for a semester (session) - also referred to as a "Term Certain" employee.
Seasonal Staff
Administrator who has the Student Payment security role and can initiate and process Template-Based Hires (TBH) for Graduate Assistantships and Scholarship job records (Research or Operating), as well as process scholarship payments.
Group of three major research funding resources
Inserted into the approval pathway for PeopleSoft self service transactions. Approval of all approvers must approve the transaction in order for it to be complete.
Inserted into the approval pathway for PeopleSoft self service transactions. Reviewers are not required to approve a transaction. They are inserted into an approval workflow for notification purposes only.