Acronym Definition
21P Twenty-One Periods - annual salaried payment mode for faculty with academic year obligations who choose to receive their pay over 21 pay periods that approximate the academic year. (Defined pay periods from late August to the middle of June. (Being phased out - called contract pay in our new payroll system and creating major problems).
AA Affirmative Action
AAO Affirmative Action Office
ABD All But Dissertation - usually refers to candidates for jobs who have completed all work towards the Ph.D. except the dissertation. Vacancy announcements should state that ABDs will be considered.
ADA Americans with Disabilities Act. Requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities. See: ADA
ADEA Age Discrimination and Employment Act of 1967. Legislation that prohibits age discrimination in employment. See: ADEA
ANN Annual - usually refers to how an object, such as a position, is budgeted and the method of expenditure from the object
ANTE At Not To Exceed - a budgetary control that appears, for example, on the SOP and sets the ceiling for expenditures from a position.
APPENDIX A
APPENDIX B
Refers to listings in these appendices of the “Policies” that identify professional employee titles in the SUNY professional services negotiating unit in which appointees are ineligible for permanent appointment.
ARS Accident Reporting System. A system for managing and reporting employee accidents/injuries.
Article 78 A section of NYS Law. A proceeding brought in New York State Supreme Court for review of governmental action pursuant to Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules.
ASTD American Society for Training and Development. See: ASTD
ASU Administrative Services Unit. A collective bargaining unit that includes clerical/office worker positions in State service. It is currently represented by CSEA.
AY Academic Year - also AcaYr
BFOQ or BOQ Bona Fide Occupational Qualification. a minimum qualification requirement needed as a prerequisite to being able to do a particular job. BFOQs, if challenged, must be demonstrated to be valid by the employer. The courts have interpreted BFOQs very narrowly, especially with regard to sex. Each applicant must be treated as an individual in comparing his or her skills to the skills required to perform the job.
CAL Calendar - annual salary payment mode for employees with academic year obligations who receive their pay over 12 months (September 1 - August 31).
CAO Chief Administrative Officer. The head of a college or contract college whether called president, dean, provost, director, or otherwise.
CARES Acronym for SUNY’s internal control program. Complies with applicable laws and policies; Accomplishment of the campus’ mission; Relevant and reliable data; Economical and efficient use of resources; Safeguard assets.
CASUAL Casual Employee. unclassified service employee whose employment relationship is so limited as not to justify assignment to a negotiating unit.
CDL Commercial Driver’s License.
COBRA Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985. See: COBRA
Council82 Union that represents University Police Supervisors
CS Civil Service (Department of … not to be confused with CSEA, the union that represents some civil service employees. See: CS
CSEA Civil Service Employees Association - Union that represents State employees appointed to titles assigned to the administrative (office support staff), operational (mostly facilities), and institutional services (mostly hospitals or health centers) collective negotiating units. See: CSEA
CSEAP Clerical Secretarial Employee Advancement Program. It has since blended into the NYS & CSEA Partnership for Education and Training
CSL Civil Service Law. Select CVL at: Civil Service Law
CUPA-HR College and University Personnel Association with HR extension resulting from changes in the way some of us name our offices/profession. See: CUPA-HR
CWSP College Work-Study Program - a federal program that funds jobs for students who are awarded jobs as financial aid. They are paid on a separate payroll designed to track both their awards and payments received.
CY College Year - refers to SUNY professional positions budgeted for obligations less than 12 months and/or professional employees with less than 12 month obligations.
CYF College Year Full - annual salaried payment mode for professional employees with college year obligations but paid over 12 months.
CYP College Year Partial - annual salaried payment mode for professional employees with college year obligations but paid over 21 equal pay periods. (Being phased out - called contract pay in our new payroll system and creating major problems).
DIFR Dormitory Income Fund Reimbursable — budgetary term to describe funding for positions and budgets supported by income generated from dormitory (residence hall) fees. Positions may be established as PSR or TS even though funded by revenues.
DSI Discretionary Salary Increase
DOB Division of the Budget - a state agency responsible for State budgets. See: DOB
DOL Department of Labor: DOL
DOT Dictionary of Occupational Titles - a federal title classification document that categorizes and describes the type of work typically associated with job titles and places titles into statistical reporting categories. See: DOT
EAP Employee Assistance Program: EAP
EEO Equal Employment Opportunity. Backed by legislation and executive orders, this acronym is used to notify the public that we provide equal treatment and opportunity for all job applicants and employees.
EEOC Equal Employment Opportunity Commission - a federal compliance agency. See: EEOC
EPPA Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 See: EPPA
ERISA Employee Retirement Income Security Act. See: ERISA
ERS Employees Retirement System (NYS). A defined benefit retirement program available to all State employees. See: ERS
FEE A method of payment that allows periodic payments of varying amounts based upon the completion of some measurable unit of work/accomplishment.
FLSA Fair Labor Standards Act See: FLSA See also: FLSA Summary
FMLA Family Medical Leave Act - federal law the requires employers to extend medical coverage and guarantee leaves of limited duration. See: FMLA
FOIA Freedom of Information Act. Requires agencies to disclose records requested in writing by any person. However, agencies may withhold information pursuant to nine exemptions and three exclusions contained in the statute. See: FOIA
FTE Full Time Equivalent - a budgetary term used for both employees and students that “equates” an employee or student to a fraction of full-time based upon factors such as salary and number of courses to be taught for employees, and number of courses enrolled in for students. For employees, it is not a workload measure — only a budgetary measure. A faculty-student ration is often generated via the relationship between faculty FTE, say in a department, and the number of student FTE taking courses in the department.
GA Graduate Assistant
GA/TA Graduate/Teaching Assistant
GFT Geographic Full-Time. A person serving on the faculty of a medical center who is not employed on a full-time basis for the purpose of fixing compensation payable by the State but all of whose professional services and activities are conducted at the medical center or its affiliated hospitals and are available to the State on a full-time basis for clinical and instructional purposes.
GOER Governor’s Office of Employee Relations - agency responsible for collective bargaining with State employees, for administering negotiated agreements, and for managerial-confidential affairs. See: GOER
GSEU Graduate Student Employee Union - union that represents State graduate and teaching assistants.
HIPAA Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 See: HIPPA
HOP Health Option Program. A program that allows eligible classified service employees to exchange sick leave credits to reduce health insurance premiums.
HCS Health Care Spending account program. Also: Health Communication Standard as related to the NYS “Right to Know” law relating to safety and material safety data information.
HMO Health Maintenance Organizations. Alternative health insurance programs. See: HMO
HRMS Human Resource Management System. Information system for management of employee and position data. For campuses using HRMS, it forwards information to PaySr to effect payments.
I-9 I-9 Form. An Immigration and Naturalization Services form employers are required to obtain from of every appointee, along with documentation, to prove their identity and right to employment.
IFR Income Fund Reimbursable — budgetary term to describe funding for positions and budgets supported by income generated from fees. Positions may be established as PSR or TS even though funded by revenues. Sources include Parking Registration Fees & Ice Rink Fees.
IHRIM International Association of Human Resource Information Management. See: IHRIM
INA Immigration and Naturalization Act.
INS Immigration and Naturalization Service See: INS
IPMA International Personnel Management Association. See: IPMA
IPP Income Protection Plan. An alternative sick leave plan in which employees elect to reduce sick leave accruals.
IRS Internal Revenue Service See: IRS
ISU Institutional Services Unit. A negotiating unit in NY State service composed mostly of those classified service titles responsible for providing therapeutic and custodial care in the State’s institutions. It is currently represented by the Civil Service Employees’ Association, Inc. (CSEA).
LAG Payroll system pays two weeks later than the end of the pay period in which work was provided. Except for UUP represented employees, an additional lag is created by withholding one days pay from each of the first 5 pay periods for new employees. This amount is paid upon the employee’s separation from service.
LEAP Labor Education Action Program. A program that provides training for employees. Now part of the NYS & CSEA Partnership for Education and Training
LIFE Legal Immigration Family Equity Act. See: LIFE
M/C Managerial/Confidential - Positions (incumbents thereof) that through their designation are excluded from being represented by a collective bargaining agent.
MP (I, II,…) Management Professional (salary grades for SUNY Managerial/Confidential employees).
MSDS Material Safety Data Sheet. A MSDA must be available for any product, chemical, etc. with which employees may come in contact in the work place.
NACUBO National Association of College and University Business Officers. See: NACUBO
NRA Nonresident Alien. Individual who is not a U.S. citizen, does not have a green card, and is not a resident alien for tax purposes. NRAs are taxed under an entirely different system.
NU Negotiating Unit. A unit composed of State titles assigned similar duties that has been determined by PERB to have a common enough interest to collectively negotiate its terms and conditions of employment.
NYBEAS New York Benefit Eligibility and Accounting System. A system to maintain benefits eligibility and enrollment for health insurance for all state employees and for dental and vision benefits not covered by a benefit fund.
NYS New York State See: NYS
NYSCOPBA New York State Corrections Officers and Police Benevolent Association - union that represents University Police Officers. See: NYSCOPBA
NYSHIP New York State Health Insurance Program See: NYSHIP
NYSTEP New York State Electronic Personnel System. An information system for processing personnel and classification transactions for employees in the classified service.
OFCCP Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. A compliance agency that ensures that organizations receiving federal grants adhere to policies including those relating to affirmative action and equal employment opportunity. See: OFCCP
ORP Optional Retirement Program. Refers to defined contribution retirement programs approved for SUNY in 1964. Currently the authorized providers include Aetna, MetLife, TIAA-CREF, and Valic.
See: Aetna
See: MetLife
See: TIAA-CREF
See: Valic
OSC Office of the State Comptroller - Agency that administers State payrolls, State contracts, and other payments (vouchers, etc.) See: OSC
OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration - a federal agency responsible for ensuring safe work environments. It has a NYS counterpart. See: OSHA
OSU Operational Services Unit. a negotiating unit in NYS service composed of craft workers, maintenance and repair personnel and machine operators. It is currently represented by the Civil Service Employees’ Association, Inc., (CSEA).
OTETA Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act of 1991. Requires random drug testing for certain employees who need CDLs to do their jobs. See: OTETA
PaySR NYS Payroll System administered by the OSC.
PDME Payroll Distribution Management Transaction system.
PEF Public Employee Federation - union that represents classified service professionals in New York State service.
PERB Public Employment Relations Board - a State Agency with responsibility for providing oversight of collective bargaining for State employees including making unit determinations, rendering decisions in disputes, etc. See: PERB
PESHA Public Employees Safety And Health Act (the public employee OSHA)
POLICIES Policies of the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York. Applies to all State employees in the SUNY Unclassified/Professional Service (M/Cs and UUP Negotiating Unit)
PSR Personal Service Regular - a budgetary term to identify the type/source of funding. May include positions funded from IFR and DIFR as well as State positions (FTE) authorized in the NYS executive budget. PSR positions must be classified to appear on the SOP and appointees to them must be paid on an annual salary basis
PS&T Professional, Scientific and Technical Services Unit. A collective bargaining unit that includes positions in the State classified professional services. Currently represented by PEF.
PSU Professional Services Unit (SUNY) A negotiating unit in NYS service composed primarily of academic employees and professional employees of the State University of New York. It is currently represented by United University Professions, Inc., (UUP).
QAR Qualified Academic Rank - faculty rank other than academic rank. Includes the title Lecturer and academic titles with prefixes (qualifiers) such as Visiting, Clinical, etc. Faculty appointed QAR do not accrue credit (years of service do not count) towards tenure.
RA Resident Alien. Individual who is not a U.S. citizen and does not have a green card, but who has passed the substantial presence test for U.S. residency. A resident alien is taxed like a U.S. citizen.
RF Research Foundation See: RF
RIF Reduction In Force.
SA Student Assistant - students who are employed on temporary service and paid on an hourly basis.
SEC SUPR Security Supervisors Unit. A negotiating unit in NYS service composed of supervisors of corrections, university police, and safety employees, mostly lieutenants, currently represented by Council 82.
SG (SGxx) Salary Grade (statutory salaries tables).
SHRM Society for Human Resource Management See: SHRM
SL (SLxx) Salary Level (for professional employee position, non-statutory salary charts).
SLEP Sick Leave Exchange Program. Program that allows eligible M/C and UUP represented employees to exchange sick leave credits to reduce health insurance premiums.
SMSA Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area. The area of employee recruitment against which parity and utilization levels are compared. The SMSA may vary depending upon level of job class, availability of applicants, location of work station, etc.
SOP Schedule of Positions - part of the position/expenditure control system. All positions established in PSR must be lined out (listed by line item number) on the Schedule of Positions before OSC will approved expenditures from them.
SRA Supplemental Retirement Annuity
SS Social Security. See: SS
SSU Security Services Unit. A collective bargaining unit that includes corrections, safety, and university police officer titles. It is currently represented by NYSCOPBA.
SUBOA SUNY Business Officers Association See: SUBOA
SUCF SUNY Construction Fund See: SUCF
SUHRA SUNY Human Resource Association See: SUHRA
SUNY State University of New York See: SUNY
SUP State University Plaza - new name for system administration. Includes SUNY Operations, SUNY Research Foundation, and SUNY Construction Fund.
SysAdm State University of New York System Administration (being renamed: State University Plaza)
TA Teaching Assistant
Taylor Law Enabling legislation for collective bargaining in New York State. (The NYS Public Employees’ Fail Employment Act). See: Taylor Law
TB SERVICE or TBS Tuberculosis Service. A parenthetic designation attached to the title of a position the incumbent of which works in close and regular association with patients having active tuberculosis. In recognition of the hazard of infection, such positions receive a salary grade higher than that of other positions classified to the same basic title.
TDA Tax Deferred Annuity
TIMA Time Accrual System. A system that is used to maintain employee accrual balances.
TRS Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS). A defined benefit retirement program available to SUNY professional service employees. See: TRS
TS Temporary Service - also T/S. A source of funding that is provided as a lump sum in state appropriations that can be used to hire temporary staff or to fund student, graduate, and teaching assistant positions. TS positions do not have to be lined out on the SOP. Positions funded from temporary service cannot be paid on an annual salary basis (must be hourly, biweekly, or fee).
UUP United University Professions. Union that represents SUNY Professional Staff in the Professional Services Unit.
WC Workers’ Compensation
WCB Workers’ Compensation Board See: WCB