Human Resources

A

• ABD: All But Dissertation. Usually refers to candidates for jobs who have completed all work towards the PhD 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.  
• ADEA: Age Discrimination and Employment Act of 1967. Legislation that prohibits age discrimination in employment.
• ANN: Annual Salary Paid over 12 months.  
• Appendix A / Appendix B: Refers to listings in these appendices of the SUNY Policies of the Board of Trustees 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.
• ATD: Association for Talent Development
• 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

B

• BU: Bargaining Unit for Collective Bargaining. Also, NU (Negotiating Unit)  

C

• CAO: Chief Administrative Officer. The head of a college or contract college whether called president, dean, provost, director, or otherwise.
• CDL: Commercial Driver’s License
• CEO: Chief Executive Officer
• CFO: Chief Financial Officer
• COLA: Cost of Living Adjustments
• COO: Chief Operating/Operations Officer
• COBRA: Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985. Provides for limited continuation of health insurance
• Council 82: Union that represents University Police Supervisors.
• CS: Department of Civil Service
• 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.
• CSL: Civil Service Law
• 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.
• CYF: College Year Full. Annual salaried payment mode for professional employees with college year obligations but paid over 12 months

D

• DCAccount: Dependent Care Advantage Account provides the opportunity to pay for childcare, elder care, or disable dependent care expenses on a pre-tax basis.
• DCP: Deferred Compensation Plan
• DSI: Discretionary Salary Increase
• DOB
  • NYS Division of the Budget. A state agency responsible for State budgets.
  • Date of Birth
• DOL: NYS Department of Labor  

E

• EAP: Employee Assistance Program
• EEO: Equal Employment Opportunity. Backed by legislation and executive orders, this acronym is used to notify the public that we provide qual treatment and opportunity for all job applicants and employees.
• EEOC: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A federal compliance agency.
• ERISA: Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
• ER: Employee Relations. A unit in the Human Resources Office.
• ERS: Employees Retirement System

F

• FMLA: Family Medical Leave Act. Federal law requires employers to extend medical coverage, and guarantee leaves of limited duration.
• FSA: Flex Spending Account. State employee benefit that saves money by allowing you to pay for certain expenses with pre-tax dollars. The two options are the Dependent Care Advantage Account (DCAccount) and the Health Care Spending Account (HCSAccount)
• FT: Full-time
• FTA: Full-time annual salary
• 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.

G

• GA: Graduate Assistant
• GA/TA: Graduate Assistant/Teaching Assistant
• GIB: General Information Book
• GSEU: Graduate Student Employee Union. A union that represents State graduate and teaching assistants

H

• HBA: Health Benefits Administrator
• HCS or HCSAccount:
  • Health Care Spending Account Program. allows for eligible State employees to set aside money annually in pre-tax salary to pay for health-related expenses that are not reimbursed by health insurance. Medically necessary health, dental, prescription, vision, and hearing expenses for eligible enrollees and their dependents may be reimbursed.
  • Health Communication Standard, as in the NYS “Right to Know” law relating to safety and material safety data information
• HIPPA: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.
• HMO: Health Maintenance Organization. Alternative local/regional health insurance providers that generally require participants to use their doctors and clinics unless treatment is required where they are traveling or living out of the region.
• HR: Human Resources
• HRY: Hourly. Paid at an hourly rate for hours worked.  

I

• I-9: I-9 Form. An Immigration and Naturalization Services form employers are required to obtain from every appointee, along with documentation to prove their identity and right to employment.
• IPP: Income Protection Plan. An alternative sick leave plan in which employees elect to reduce sick leave accruals
• IRS: Internal Revenue Service
• ISU: Institutional Services Unit. A bargaining unit in NYS service compost mostly of those classified service titles responsible for providing therapeutic and custodial care in the State’s institutions. It is currently represented by the CSEA.  

L

• LAG: The 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 day’s pay from each of the first five pay periods for new employees paid on an annual salary basis. The amount initially withheld is paid upon the employee’s separation from service.
• LWOP: Leave without pay
• LWP: Leave with pay  

M

• M/C: Management/Confidential. Positions that through their designation are excluded from being represented by a collective bargaining agent.

N

• NRA: Nonresident Alien. An 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. Also, BU (Bargaining Unit).
• 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
• NYSCOPBA: New York State Corrections Offices and Police Benevolent Association. A bargaining agent that formerly represent university police officers. Currently represents only Campus Security Assistants in SUNY.  
• NYSDCP: New York State Deferred Compensation Plan
• NYSHIP: New York State Health Insurance Program
• NYSTEP: New York State Electronic Personnel System. An information system for processing personnel and classification transactions for employees in the classified service

O

• ORP: Optional Retirement Program. Refers to defined contribution retirement programs established for SUNY in 1964. Currently the authorized providers include Fidelity, TIAA, Corebridge, and Voya.
• OSC: Office of the State Comptroller. Agency that administers State payrolls, State contracts, and other payments.  
• OSHA: Occupational Safety and Health Administration. A federal agency responsible for ensuring safe work environments. It has its NYS counterpart (PESHA).
• OSU: Operational Services Unit. A bargaining unit in NYS service composed of craft workers, maintenance and repair personnel and machine operators. It is currently represented by the CSEA.
• OT: Overtime
• OTETA: Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act of 1991. Requires random drug testing for certain employees who need CDLs to do their jobs.  

P

• PA: Participating Agency
• PaySERV: NYS payroll system administered by the OSC.  
• PBA: Police Benevolent Association
• PTCP: Pre-tax Contribution Program
• PE: Participating Employer
• PEF: Public Employee Federation. A bargaining agent that represents NYS classified service professionals.
• PEP: Productivity Enhancement Program. A program negotiated for CSEA employees that allows eligible employees to exchange previously accrued annual leave (vacation) and/ore personal leave in return for a credit to be applied towards health insurance premiums.
• PESHA: Public Employees Safety and Health Act (the public employee OSHA)
• PII: Personal Identifying Information
• PPL: Paid Parental Leave
• PPO: Preferred Provider Organization
• PS&T: Professional, Scientific and Technical Services Unit. A collective bargaining unit that includes positions in the State classified service which typically require advanced educational credentials and/or certification in order to be appointed. Currently represented by PEF.
• PSU: Professional Services Unit (SUNY). A bargaining 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 (UUP).
• PT: Part-time

R

• 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.
  • Resident Assistant. A student employed to assist in residence halls.
• RF: Research Foundation

S

• SA: Student Assistant. A student employed on temporary service and paid hourly.  
• 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.
• SS: Social Security
• SSC: Social Security Card
• SSN: Social Security Number
• SSU: Security Services Unit. A collective bargaining unit that includes corrections, safety, and university police offer titles. It is currently represented by NYSCOPBA.  

T

• TA: Teaching Assistant
• TA/GA: Teaching Assistant/Graduate Assistant
• TAS: Time and Attendance System
• TDA: Tax Deferred Annuity
• TRS: Teachers Retirement System. A defined benefit retirement program available to SUNY professional service employees.
• TS or T/S: Temporary Service. 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. Positions funded from temporary service cannot be paid on an annual salary basis.  

U

• UPD: University Police Department
• UUP: United University Professions

W

• WC: Workers’ Compensations
• WCB: Workers’ Compensation Board