APS Glossary of Terms

A ChartField used to identify the nature and financial type of a transaction: generally asset, liability, net asset, revenue, expense, or transfer. The complete chart of accounts is available here.  Here is an easy reference list of accounts.

Employee(s) of an Affiliate(s) that accepts a role as Fiscal Staff for the University through a written agreement.

The plans and processes that allow essential business functions to continue in the event of a disaster or during an interruption of utilities or services (e.g., IT services).

The civil union partner of an employee in a civil union that satisfies the requirements of the Colorado Civil Union Act, C.R.S. § 14-15-101, et seq., if the employee and civil union partner have not dissolved the partnership and are not legally separated.

An event, such as an award dinner or fundraising activity, hosted by an external organization, which supports the instructional, research, or public service mission of the University.

This category includes data elements not usually disclosed to the public but are less sensitive than Highly Confidential data. If a legally required and applicable, Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) request is submitted, these records may be released. Examples include Personnel information, Non-public policies.

A vehicle loaned to the University by a sponsoring car dealer in exchange for goods and/or services (but not cash) provided by an organizational unit not to exceed the value of the annual lease of the vehicle (such as Athletics tickets and Athletic event parking).

A University-owned or operated facility with the primary purpose of processing, storage, and communication of large volumes of information needed for University or campus operations.

A party or entity possessing delegated authority to act on a data trustee's behalf.

Any person or party that utilizes university data to perform his or her job responsibilities.

The plans and processes that allow the University to restore utilities and services (e.g., IT services) in the event of a disaster in an orderly and timely manner. Disaster preparedness is a component of business continuity that uses advanced preparation and planning to minimize the duration and impact of utility/service interruptions.

means a record created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means.

As defined in the Administrative Policy Statement Fiscal Roles and Responsibilities, the key employee in the Organizational Unit with the authority and responsibility for its fiscal transactions.

As defined in Administrative Policy Statement Fiscal Roles and Responsibilities, Chairs, Directors and Principal Investigators (or equivalent titles) as the result of their assigned fiscal responsibility.

As defined in Administrative Policy Statement Fiscal Roles and Responsibilities, Employees (other than Fiscal Managers, Fiscal Principals, and Officers) of the University involved in University fiscal transactions, such as initiating purchases, receiving cash or other negotiables, entering or reviewing transactions into the University's Finance System, monitoring contractors, verifying compliance.

Employees or affiliate fiscal staff who have access to the university's HRM.

A legally binding arrangement whereby the University promises a sum of money in compensation for loss, injury, or damage or for trouble and annoyance.

Individuals that are authorized to use University IT resources. Examples of users include: faculty, staff, students, researchers, vendors, volunteers, contractors, or sponsored affiliates of the University.

On May 1, 2014 the title of “IT Security Principals” was replaced with the title of “Information Security Officers”.

Any person that designs, builds, implements, supports, or provides an IT service to other University employees, students, or affiliates, using a University IT resource. Examples of IT service providers include: website administrators, workstation support staff, server administrators, software programmers, application developers, data network technicians, user account administrators, and computer center personnel.

A measurement or threshold to gauge the significance of a fiscal transaction. Determining materiality often involves the reasonable person test; there are two ways to gauge this question: 1. By quantity: In the University, items that are in excess of $200,000 or in excess of 5% of the revenue or expense base (whichever is less) are always considered material. 2. By quality: No matter what the amount, an item is material if the misstatement or omission makes it probable that the judgment of a reasonable person, who was relying on the information to make a decision or to take an action, would be changed or influenced.

A record that is of immediate value only.  Non-records may share some characteristics with university records; however, they are distinguished from university records by their transitory usefulness.  Non-records may include envelopes, routing slips, data entry- and work-sheets, rough drafts, multiple copies of publications, blank forms, unofficial (“informational,” “courtesy” or “convenience”) copies of records, and notes and audio recordings that have been transcribed.  Non-records may also include duplicates which are maintained for convenience by a person or office who is not the originator or recipient (including copied recipient) of the record and electronic mail of temporary value.

Defined in Regent Article 3.C:  Officers of the Administration.

A meeting, meal, or other function, that is hosted by an organizational unit, attended by guests and/or associates or employees, and held for official university business. Official Functions do not include student residential functions, which are defined as events designed to sustain ordinary residential life activities, such as resident hall advisory meetings and resident hall events. Conferences and Fundraising Events are types of official functions separately defined by the university to recognize the need for specific policies and procedures related to those types of events. The following describe the most common types of official functions. • Training functions are held to enhance staff knowledge or to educate employees, associates, or other individuals that are affected by the university's operations or regulations. Note: Training functions should have a written agenda, study materials, and be led by an identified presenter(s). • Community relation functions are hosted on behalf of external entities, or are activities directly related to the educational, research, or public service mission of the university. • Employee recognition functions are held for the purpose of acknowledging, appreciating, or honoring employees as a means of providing an encouraging and supportive work environment. • Goodwill functions are held to express condolence, sympathy, get-well wishes, celebrations of birth, or presentation of official items to official guests or volunteers as an indication of goodwill or esteem. • Multi-unit or multi-campus functions are infrequent events or meetings involving associates or employees from more than one organizational unit or campus. • Recruitment functions are held to enlist new employees, including faculty or post/pre-doctorates. • Retirement functions are held to honor departing or retiring faculty or staff members for their university service. • Student functions are hosted for students and are directly related to student or educational development. Examples include student recognition, student recruitment, and student program development.

A subset of University operations. An Organizational Unit may be a department or any other distinct operational activity with the following characteristics: • Organizational permanency; • Programmatic autonomy; and • An annual operating budget that is fiscally independent. Within the Finance System, these areas are represented on the ChartField tree as Orgs.

A unique identifier for each employment position in the University's Human Resources Management System (HRMS).

Personal information about an individual for which the individual can reasonably expect will not be made available to the public. This type of University Information includes personally identifiable information (a category of personal information regulated by federal law), as well as other non-public personal information that would adversely impact an individual if inappropriately used or disclosed. Examples include FERPA-protected information, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and medical records.

a transaction that is the subject of external reporting by the university as a result of additional external rules, such as the State Fiscal Rules or the Internal Revenue Code.

University Information for which the university can reasonably expect will not be made available to the public due to business reasons, contractual obligations or risk determination and has not been classified as private. Examples include proprietary research data, risk assessments detailing potential weaknesses in the university's computing infrastructure, and inventories of hazardous materials.

A transaction that may have numerous and complex university, state, or federal regulations associated with it, or a transaction that may be perceived as being in appropriate for support by public funds.