Top 5 Project: Institutional Definitions
Faculty Definitions
Actual Distribution
Actual distribution is a table that contains the results of the semi-monthly payroll calculation. It represents actual gross payments or negative payments (in the case of overpayments) to appointees in the payroll system. Payments are the result of projected distributions for appointments applied in the payroll system, followed by modifications from the Exception Time Reporting (ETR) and Positive Time Reporting (PTR) systems. As a general rule, projected distributions without an amount do not appear in Actual Distributions.
Entries in the Actual Distribution have two time dimensions, Earned Date and Pay Cycle End Date.
- Pay Cycle End Date indicates the last day of the pay cycle for which the payment was actually calculated and paid.
- Earned Date indicates the last day of the pay cycle for which the payment was earned or should have been earned.
The different values allow the isolation of retroactive payments and overpayments.
Examples:
- If an individual receives a payment of $500 (based on a monthly rate of $1000) on 4/30 for work completed in the pay cycle ending on 4/30, then both the Pay Cycle End Date and the Earned Date will be 4/30, and the Earnings Amount will be $500.
- If an individual then receives a retroactive salary increase to a monthly rate of $1200 (effective 4/16, entered into the system on 5/15), the following will occur: The individual will receive a payment of $600 (half of other $1200 rate) on 5/15. In addition, the individual will receive an additional payment of $100 (half the difference in rates) during the payroll calculation for the pay cycle ending 5/15 for work completed during the pay cycle ending on 4/30, the Earned Date will be 4/30, the Pay Cycle End Date will be 5/15, and the Earnings Amount will be $100.
- Overpayments or decreases in salary rates are treated the same way, with the exception that the distribution amount is negative.
All Earnings Amounts for a given combination of Earned Dates and Pay Cycle End Dates can be summed to arrive at a total Earned Amount.
Appointment
An appointment is a unique combination of a person, a job classification, and an organizational unit. It has beginning and ending dates, and a salary.
Appointment Begin Date
The Appointment Begin Date is the first day of an individual's appointment. Generally, the beginning of the appointment corresponds to the beginning of payment for the appointee's responsibilities in the appointing unit; however, an individual may be appointed and not paid.
Appointment End Date
The Appointment End Date is the last day of an individual's appointment. If the end date of an appointment is unknown, such as the case of faculty members with indefinite appointments, the Appointment End Date may be equal to 12/31/9999. Generally, the Appointment End Date corresponds to the end of payment for the appointee's responsibilities in the appointing unit; however, an individual may be appointed and not paid.
Appointment Status
Appointment Status indicates whether an appointment is currently active. The status codes are:
- A - Active - The appointment is active.
- L - Leave - The appointment is in a leave state, but still active.
- N - Inactive - The appointment is inactive and should be ignored. Ignore this rule in the summer,
Census Date
Census date is a quarterly date that is used for representing, reporting, and querying data about payroll and personnel. It occurs a few weeks into each quarter, to allow most quarterly personnel change processing to have been completed.
Census dates coincide with the last day of a pay cycle for the given quarters in an academic or fiscal year. The census dates are:
- July 31 - Summer Quarter
- October 31 - Autumn Quarter (generally used for annual reporting)
- January 31 - Winter Quarter
- April 30 - Spring Quarter
Faculty
Faculty members are persons paid for instructional, research, and service activities. They are identified by an ECS Code (also known as Employee Type) of F and a Job Classification Code that indicates participation in one or more of the above-mentioned activities.
Job Classification Code
Job Classification Code (aka Job Class Code) is a 4-digit code assigned to each appointment. It describes the conditions of an appointment with the University, including – but not limited to – conditions of employment, qualifications, benefits, pay scales, employment programs, and responsibilities.
Organization Code
Organization Code (also known as Org Code) represents the University organizational structure in a view that is primarily financially oriented. When referenced on the Budget Index (the 02 Index), Organization Code relates a Budget Number to an organizational unit.
- 2-00-00-00-00-0 - President
- 2-10-00-00-00-0 - Dean /VP
- 2-10-01-00-00-0 - Major Level
- 2-10-01-01-00-0 - Department
- 2-10-01-01-01-0 - Division
- 2-10-01-01-01-1 - Subdivision
One Organization Code may have many budgets associated with it; however one budget may be related to only one Organization Code at a time. Over time, one budget may be related to different Organization Codes, but only one at a time.
There are major issues with the Financial Org Code.
- It is a multi-characteristic attribute.
- Even though embedded in the code, the hierarchy is not applied consistently throughout campus.
- It does not always represent organizational areas; it can also represent financial holding areas, such as tuition.
Regular Equivalent Earnings
Regular Equivalent Earnings are a collection of Earnings Types that represent Regular Earnings or their equivalent. They are used to calculate FTE or earnings that are based on a faculty member's FTE. Supplements are excluded because they do not have an FTE associated with them.
- REG - Regular Earnings
- PLP - Paid Professional Leave
- S/L - Sick Leave
- MLP - Military Paid Leave
- TFA - Regular Earnings for Retirees
Student Definitions
Cross-Unit Major
A cross-unit a major is one that is shared by more than one school, college, or campus. This does not include multiple majors within a school, college, or campus. Cross-unit is defined here for administrative purposes. The term interdisciplinary still has application for academic purposes.
Duplicated Headcount
Duplicated headcount is counting the student in each unit (school, college, campus, or department) that sponsors the major.
Formal, Dual-Degree Major
A formal, dual-degree major means that the student has more than one major and is participating in a program that has been set up and approved through formal University channels. Previously, dual-degree majors were called concurrent majors. Contrast with Informal, Dual-Degree Major.
Informal, Dual-Degree Major
An informal, dual-degree major means the student has more than one major and is participating in a program that has not been set up and approved through formal University channels. Contrast with Formal, Dual-Degree Major.
Intended Major
Intended majors are the majors indicated by students at registration, including students who intend to apply for competitive majors such as Engineering or Nursing. Previously, intended majors were referred to as pre-majors.
Non-Matriculated Student
A non-matriculated student is one who has not been admitted to the UW to pursue a degree program.
On-Leave Student
An on-leave student is one who was enrolled in a previous quarter then chooses not to enroll in one or more subsequent quarters.
Unduplicated, Distributed Headcount
Unduplicated, distributed headcount allocates a percentage of the student to each unit (school, college, campus, or department) that sponsors the major, as agreed by all involved.
Finance Definitions
Beginning Balance
The term, beginning balance, applies to Grants & Contracts, Gifts, Endowment-Operating, Other Operating Funds, Royalty Budgets, Auxiliary and Self-sustaining Operations, and Endowment Principal. For these areas, beginning balance is the value of account code 9788, the ending balance of the prior fiscal period. Beginning balance does not apply to GOF and DOF budgets.
Carry-forward
Carry-forward indicates that portion of a permanent (on-going) commitment that is not funded in the current biennium. Do not confuse carry-forward with carryover.
Carryover
Carryover is the unexpended budget balances in Local Fund Allocation (LFA), Research Cost Recovery (RCR), and General Operating Fund (GOF) budgets. It can carryover as temporary allocations in the new biennium. For GOF budgets, the practice has been to allow up to a 1% carryover. The LFA and GOF carryovers return to the unit, school, college or campus as LFA funds. RCR is returned as RCR funds.
Cross-Unit Accounting
Cross-unit accounting refers to the business processes used to manage and report the financial operations of the University across schools, colleges, campuses, departments, and units. Previously, cross-unit was referred to as interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary.
Designated Operating Funds
Designated operating funds (DOF) are provided from local fund sources within the University of Washington, such as indirect costs (or overhead) charged to self-sustaining budgets and grants, interest income, summer quarter revenue, hospital revenue, administrative overhead, and miscellaneous fees. The University has unlimited discretion as to the use of such funds, though, as a matter of internal policy, may have restricted their use.
Discretionary Gifts
Discretionary gifts are voluntary provisions of external support from a donor. They are designated as non-public funds and, therefore, provide University officials greater flexibility in achieving the missions of their units.
Endowment
An endowment is a permanent fund established for the purpose specified by the donor.
Financial Aid
Financial aid is funding available to assist undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate students with the cost of tuition, books, and housing or living expenses.
General Operating Fund
General Operating Funds (GOF) are funds over which the University has significant discretion. They are composed of State appropriations (tax support) and operating fee revenue (a portion of tuition). GOF expenditures are subject to State of Washington and internal University of Washington polices and procedures.
Gifts and Discretionary
A gift is a voluntary provision of external support by a donor to the University. It does not require the recipient to provide the donor with any economic or other tangible benefit in return. There are three types of gifts: restricted, unrestricted, and discretionary.
Grants, Contracts, and Cooperative Agreements
Grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements are monetary amounts awarded to the University by State or Federal Agencies, philanthropic organizations, or private industry. They are used for specific purposes under defined terms and conditions.
Local Funds
Local funds are a general category used as a group term that includes both local fund allocations (LFA) and research cost recovery (RCR) funds. Local funds are supported revenues over which there are no externally imposed restrictions. Local funds are a subset of DOF.
Local Fund Allocation
Local fund allocation is a sub-category of DOF. Local fund allocation is supported by locally generated revenues over which there are no externally imposed restrictions on spending.
Research Cost Recovery
Research Cost Recovery (RCR) represents return of indirect administrative costs to schools, colleges, and campuses. RCR is a sub-category of DOF.
Restricted Gifts
Restricted gifts are voluntary provisions of external support from a donor. The gift funds are subject to State of Washington policies, internal University of Washington policies and procedures, and any restrictions imposed by the donor. Examples of donor restrictions are contributions for a specific use, such as library support, scholarships, or cancer research.
Restricted Operating Funds
Restricted operating funds (ROF) are funds over whose use the University has little or no discretion.
Self-Sustaining Funds
Self-sustaining funds are funds that are typically generated by auxiliary activities, such as Housing and Food Services, University Stores, and Student Publications to name a few. The decision whether to budget or not is at the unit's discretion.
With self-sustaining funds, revenue is the authority to spend. Expenditures are generally limited to support the purpose for which the activity was established. Self-sustaining funds are subject to State of Washington and University of Washington policies and procedures.
Shadow Systems
Shadow systems are locally developed applications that are used primarily by the units for budget projection and management reporting.
State Funds
Generally, the term, State Funds, refers to General Operating Funds (GOF). For purposes of standardization, this will be the accepted use of the term. However, technically there are other funds received from the State that are restricted, such as the Medical Aid Fund and the Accident Fund.
Unrestricted Gifts
Unrestricted gifts are voluntary provisions of external support from a donor. The gift funds are subject to State of Washington policies and internal University of Washington policies and procedures.