Acronyms
NC State lingo can take some getting used to… here’s a handy resource of some of the most common acronyms we throw around.
A
ABM – Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s degree program – allows exceptional undergraduate students at NC State an opportunity to complete the requirements for both the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at an accelerated pace.
AIF – Analytical Instrumentation Facility – located in Monteith Research Center. The AIF is NC State’s primary shared facility for materials characterization.
ASSIST – Center for Advanced Self-Powered Systems of Integrated Sensors and Technologies – located in Monteith Research Center.
B
BOG – Board of Governors of the UNC System
BOT – Board of Trustees of NC State
BR – Budget Revision
C
C&G – Contracts & Grants
CHANL – Chapel Hill Analytical and Nanofabrication Laboratory
CNE – Computer Networking Engineering – ECE offers a Master’s degree in CNE
COD – Change in Curriculum/level/co-major change request
COE – College of Engineering
COI – Conflict of Interest
CPE – Computer Engineering – ECE offers a Bachelors, Master’s and PhD in CPE
CPT – Curricular Practical Training – Internship for student on F1 visa
CSC – Computer Science
CWS – College Work Study (NCSU student who has received a financial award)
D
DGP – Director of Graduate Programs
DH – Department Head
DNC – Do Not Cancel Indicator – Indicator places on a student’s bursar’s account to indicate that a department will be covering tuition/fees for that student. These indicators protect the student from being dropped from registered courses when the bill has not been paid by the deadline.
DOG – Day of Giving
DVF – Departmental Voting Faculty – comprised of Associate Professors with tenure and all Full Professors
E
EB1 – Engineering Building I – the primary MSE and CBE building.
EB2 – Engineering Building II – the primary ECE and CSC building.
EB3 – Engineering Building III – the primary MAE and BME building.
ECE – Electrical and Computer Engineering
ECEDHA – Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association – Professional association composed of heads or chairs of departments offering accredited programs in electrical and/or computer engineering. There are programs within it for Communicators, Lab Technicians, and diversity in academia.
EE – Electrical Engineering – ECE offers a Bachelor’s, Master’s and Ph.D. degree in EE
EHRA – Exempt from the Human Resources Act – faculty and high-level staff (non-faculty) positions that are not subject to overtime laws
EPSE – Electrical Power Systems Engineering – ECE offers a Master’s degree in EPSE
F
F&A – Finance & Administration
FAR – Faculty Activity Report – the equivalent of a faculty member’s CV/resume; a comprehensive document of a faculty member’s accomplishments, experience, education, and overall academic/research activity throughout their career
FML – Family Medical Leave
FREEDM – Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management Systems Engineering Research Center
FTE – Full Time Equivalent – refers to the number of hours an employee works; employees at 0.75 FTE or greater are considered full time
FY – Fiscal Year
G
GA1 – Payment process used by departments to pay for tuition/fees not covered by GSSP
GRA – Graduate Research Assistant
GS – Graduate School
GSA – Graduate Student Association is a student organization representing graduate students. There are typically additional GSAs for each department/college.
GSHI – Graduate Student Health Insurance
GSSP – Graduate Student Support Plan – The Graduate Student Support Plan is a competitive support package used to attract top students to NC State University. Graduate students that meet the requirements below are eligible to receive health insurance and tuition support (for a limited number of semesters).
GTRM – Graduate Tuition Remission Match. Used in C&G. Applies to out-of-state students. It is 25% of the difference between out-of-state and in-state tuition. This percentage is charged to the grant.
H
HKN – (Eta Kappa Nu) is an International Honor Society for Electrical and Computer Engineers with members representing outstanding juniors and seniors from universities around the world and distinguished professional engineers. The Beta Eta Chapter is NC State’s local chapter.
HP – Hiring Proposal – A system action submitted for the top candidate in recruitment that routes through the College and University HR to review the candidate’s credentials and provide approval and salary range before an offer is made to the candidate.
HR – Human Resources
I
IDB – Interdepartmental Billing
IDT – Interdepartmental Transfer
IEEE – Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is a professional organization with a student chapter here at NC State.
J
JAR – Job Action Request – the system action to hire an hourly student worker, work-study student, temp employee, Z no pay, or permanent (monthly) employee
JV – Journal Voucher – If an error is made and a transaction is not posted to the correct project and/or account you will need to process a journal voucher (JV) to move the transaction.
K
L
LOA – Leave of Absence – Students may request up to one year of leave for personal reasons
LOI – Letter of Intent
M
MRC – Monteith Research Center
MSE – Materials Science and Engineering
MTDC – Modified Total Direct Costs
N
NCE – No Cost Extension. Used in C&G. Submitted when an extension is being requested on the project over the original project end date. No funding is requested (no cost).
NNF – Nanofabrication Facility
NOI – Notice of Intent
O
OIS – Office of International Services – University office who oversees student visas as well as J-1 visiting research scholar visas.
OPT – Optional Practical Training – employment authorization for student on F1 visa during or after they finish their degree program
OUC – Organizational Unit Code-Department ID Number
P
PA – PowerAmerica
PD – Position Description – used by HR to refer to an employee’s job duties
PDF – Provost Doctoral Fellowship – $30K fellowship for recruiting incoming Ph.D. students, awarded by the College of Engineering for one full year.
PEP – Provost’s Professional Experience Program
PI – Principle Investigator
PINS – Project Information and Navigation System – https -//research.ncsu.edu/sparcs/systems-portal/pins/
PM – Project Manager
PMR – Project Modification Request – Post-award actions on a project funded by a COE center such as a rebudget will need to be processed via the PMR system.
PMR – Project Modification Request. Used in C&G. Submitted when a change is needed in the project; e.g. equipment acquisition, change in PI, budget modification, etc.
PO – Purchase Order
PRR – Policies, Rules and Regulations
PRT – Peer Review of Teaching
PSC – Participant Support Costs
PT – Part Time (i.e., Part-Time Instructors)
PTR – Post Tenure Review
Q
R
RA – Research Assistant
RADAR – Research Administration Data and Reports – used for internal distributions when the sponsor is an NCSU sponsor.
RCL – Reduced Course Load – Exceptions to full-time enrollment
Real # –
REU – Research Experience for Undergraduates
RFP – Request for Proposal. Used in C&G. This is the Sponsor’s call for proposals
RPT – Reappointment, Promotion, Tenure – refers to the process that faculty members go through when they are up to be reappointed to a second term (Assistant Professors), receive tenure (Associate Professors), or be promoted
S
SAB – Strategic Advisory Board
SDC – Salary Distribution Change – Process of moving charges associated with an employee’s appointment from one project to another
SHRA – Subject to the Human Resources Act – positions that are subject to overtime laws; usually staff level positions
SMIF – Shared Materials Instrumentation Facility (Duke)
SOP – Standard Operating Procedure – A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a set of step-by-step instructions compiled by an organization to help workers carry out complex routine operations. SOPs aim to achieve efficiency, quality output and uniformity of performance, while reducing miscommunication and failure to comply with industry regulations.
SS – Summer Salary. Salary charged to sponsored projects and/or startups/fixed price projects when the PI works on the projects during the summer
SS – Summer Session/Summer School
T
TA – Teaching Assistant
TA – Travel Authorization
TEARS – The Employee Activity Reporting System
TR – Travel Reimbursement
U
UG – Undergraduate Student
UNC System – The UNC System is the conglomeration of educational institutions in North Carolina, including NC State, UNC, UNC-W, etc.
V
W
WiECE – Women in ECE
WiCS – Women in Computer Science
WRS – Wolfpack Reporting System – System utilized by NCSU to record each transaction that hits an account. All debits and credits to the account can be viewed in detail in the system.