Common terms, phrases and words used when discussing the Revenue and Cost Allocation Model (RCAM) project.
| Term | Definition |
| Academic Units | Primarily the schools and colleges, entities whose primary mission is teaching or teaching and research. |
| Administrative Units | Units that provide support and operational services for all other units within the university (i.e., human resources, facilities, Office of the President, Office of the Provost, etc.). |
| Advisory Teams | Advisory Teams are made of Mason SME’s that provide overall conceptual guidance to the RCAM project Working Teams, validate the approach of the Working Teams, and review Working Team deliverables. |
| Allocation | A method of distributing budgeted costs and revenues to applicable units. |
| Auxiliary Enterprises (AE) | Fund group funded through self-supporting activities and student fees to support activities that are ancillary to the university’s central mission of instruction, service, and research. |
| Banner (ERP) | Software suite that integrates financial aid, payroll, general student and finance application modules for managing and automating GMU processes. ERP stands for “Enterprise Resource Planning”. |
| Board of Visitors (BOV) | Corporate body serving under the leadership of a rector, vice rector, and secretary. The 16 members of the board are appointed by the governor of Virginia on a rotating basis to serve four-year terms. |
| Budget Authorization | Annual resource allocation to each management unit. |
| Budget Incentive Model (BIM) | The current budget model used by George Mason University. |
| Capital | Fund group used for construction and other projects that create assets of the university. |
| Carry Forward | Also referred to as Rollover. Budget authority or residual fund balances that roll to new fiscal year. |
| Cash Basis Accounting | Accounting system where revenue is recognized when cash is received and expenses are recognized when the cash is paid. |
| Central Services | Operational and administrative services provided by the University to all academic, administrative and auxiliary units that allow for the overall functioning of the University toward the achievement of its mission and goals. |
| Chart of Accounts (COA) | Financial accounting structure for recording transactions that includes codes and titles for all FOAPAL segments, including hierarchies used for grouping and reporting transactions. |
| Contracts | Form of agreement with a sponsor or other external party containing terms and conditions as well as rights and obligations of the parties. |
| Contra-revenue | Financial activity recorded in accounts included in the revenue group that offset (reduce) the amount of revenue (ex.: student tuition waivers). |
| Contribution to Central | Calculation of funding provided from academic units budgeted revenues to support the cost of central services. |
| Cost-sharing | The portion of project expenses related to a sponsored agreement that is contributed by the University and not directly charged to the sponsored project fund. |
| Course/Lab Fees | Fees paid by students for instruction directly related to a specific course, above and beyond tuition. |
| Credit Window | Additional student credit hours above 13 and capped at 15 in which no additional tuition is charged, applicable to undergraduate and Law students. |
| Crosswalk | Table or tool that maps the elements in one system to the equivalent element in another system, such as from the old COA to the new COA. |
| Debt Service | The cash that is required to cover the repayment of interest and principal on a debt for a particular period. |
| Detail Codes | Codes that include elements from the FOAPAL to help identify the financial activity. |
| Direct Expense | Non-labor related expenses in the income statement (e.g., travel, consultants, utilities, etc.). |
| Direct Revenues | Revenues generated from activities of the academic units outside of tuition such as contracts or partnerships. |
| Education and General (E&G) | Fund group funded by tuition and course fees along with state appropriations to support instruction, academic activities and administrative functions. |
| ERP (Banner) | Enterprise Resource Planning System. |
| Expense | Transactions representing outflow of funds to employees, suppliers, and other external parties to support university activities. |
| Expense Tax | Tax charged based on certain types of unit direct expenses. |
| Facilities and Administration Costs (F&A) | Also referred to as indirect costs Recovery (IDC or ICR) and overhead, these are costs that are incurred for common or joint objectives and therefore cannot be identified readily and specifically with a sponsored project, an instructional activity or any other institutional activity. |
| Financial Aid | Federal, state, or institutional money provided to help students pay for the cost of education. |
| FOAPAL | Acronym for the full Banner accounting string: Fund / Organization / Account / Program / Activity / Location. |
| FTE (Staff) | The full-time-equivalent (FTE) of staff is calculated by summing the total number of full-time staff from the Employees by Assigned Position (EAP) component and adding one-third of the total number of part-time staff. |
| FTE (Students) | The full-time equivalent (FTE) of students is a single value providing a meaningful combination of full-time and part-time students. |
| Fund Balance | The excess of Assets of an institution over Liabilities. Also referred to as “Net Position” for governmental organizations. |
| General Ledger (G/L) | Principle accounting records for the institution where all financial transactions are recorded and coded by accounting strings (see FOAPAL). In Banner, the General Ledger includes transactions for Assets, Liabilities, Control Accounts, and Fund Balances. |
| Grants | Form of agreement with an external sponsor to conduct a specified activity and provide deliverables, represented by individual research project codes in Banner system. |
| Headcount | Count of the number of staff, faculty or students. |
| Hierarchy | System that defines predecessor of the code in the COA, allowing financial data to be stratified in different groups and levels. |
| Incentives | A monetary benefit offered to encourage or motivate desired behaviors or actions or reward performance or outcomes. |
| Indirects | Indirect Cost Recovery (IDC or ICR). Negotiated Facilities and Administrative (F&A) “overhead” rate charged to sponsors when expenses are incurred in grant projects. Collected funds are allocated under Indirect fund group. |
| Mandatory Waivers | An allowance for all or a portion of a student’s tuition and fees not to be paid. |
| MicroStrategy | Business Intelligence reporting platform used by GMU to support dashboards, reports, ad hoc query and automated report distribution. |
| Net Assignable Square Feet | The sum of all areas on all floors of a building assigned to, or available for assignment to, an occupant or specific use. |
| Premium Tuition | Incremental charge (or credit) that specific academic programs carry on top of regular approved tuition, currently allocated separately in the GL. |
| Profit and Loss Statement (P&L) | Financial Statement reflecting Revenue and Expenses of an organization, with a net ‘profit’ or ‘loss’ calculated. Also called an “income statement” or “Statement of Revenue, Expenses, and Changes in Net Position (SRECNP).” |
| Project Coordination Team | This team will directly support the Advisory and Working Teams by performing project management; coordinating, monitoring, and reporting on the progress of all work; and supporting the development of deliverables. It will also oversee Communications and Change Management activities. |
| Project Sponsors | The RCAM project sponsors are Rene Stewart O’Neal, Associate Vice President Strategic Planning & Budgeting; Renate Guilford, Vice Provost of Academic Administration; and Martin Ford, Senior Associate Dean of the College of Education and Human Development. |
| Proof of Concept | Sample of proposed structure to test principles and identify opportunities for refinement. (See also “Strawman”) |
| Quality of (Weighted) Assignable Square Footage | The sum of all areas on all floors of a building assigned to, or available for assignment to, an occupant or specific use weighted by the cost of the type of space occupied. |
| Receivables | Unpaid portion of a university revenues charged to external parties (e.g., students, sponsors, etc.). |
| Recharge | Interdepartmental charge back for goods or services provided from an internal office or unit to another. |
| Reserves | Accumulated resources from prior financial transactions which provide a strong financial position and ability to invest in and grow the institution, as well as weather economic challenges. |
| Responsibility Center Management (RCM) | RCM is a financial management structure that couples decision making directly to the associated financial ramifications. Thus, revenues and costs are distributed to the responsible unit (e.g., colleges) to enable financial reporting and analysis for each responsibility center. |
| Restricted Funds | Funding that is limited to a specific use by sponsor or donor stipulations. |
| Revenue | Inflow of funds from ongoing operations (ex.: Tuition and Fees). |
| Revenue and Cost Allocation Model (RCAM) | Concurrent project at Mason reviewing the current budget model for distribution of revenues and the cost of central services across the enterprise, benchmarking against peers/best practices, and developing a revised model that provides greater transparency and equity. |
| Revenue Tax | Tax charged based on certain types of revenues generated. |
| SME | Subject matter expert. An individual with deep knowledge and expertise in one or more specialized areas of study. |
| Sponsored Programs | Programs and projects financed by federal and non-federal agencies and organizations which involve performance of agreed upon work and deliverables, often research-related. |
| State Appropriations | Funding provided by the state to colleges and universities. These funds can be unrestricted and used for any purpose or restricted with requirements governing the usage of funding. |
| Steering Committee | This group provides subject matter expertise and to offer insights and suggestions related to project design and execution. |
| Strategic Initiative Fund | Funding available to the president and the Ways and Means committee to be allocated for investment in the overall strategic priorities of the university and its mission and goals. |
| Strawman | Simple draft proposal intended to generate discussion. (See also “Proof of Concept”) |
| Student | An individual who is currently able to register to take classes at the University. |
| Student Credit Hours | A unit of measure representing the equivalent of an hour (50 minutes) of instruction per week over the entire term. It is applied toward the total number of credit hours needed for completing the requirements of a degree, diploma, certificate, or other recognized postsecondary credential. |
| Student Fees | Fees paid by students over and above regular tuition, may include auxiliary services unrelated to tuition (i.e. Intercollegiate athletics, etc.), room and board, dining services, course and lab fees, and others. |
| Student Success | Metrics that measure how well students are prepared to accomplish their current and future academic, personal, and professional goals through the development of knowledge, a sense of responsibility and self-reliance, and a connection to the college and wider community. |
| Subvention | A budgetary tool available to the Ways and Means committee that allows for the rebalancing of revenues to guide the direction of the University in accordance with the strategic priorities. |
| Tuition Prior | Cash received for the payment of tuition from prior years/periods. |
| UBC | George Mason’s internal University Business Consulting group. |
| Unrestricted Funds | Resources that are not limited to a specific use. |
| Working Teams | Resources pulled from Mason SMEs, UBC, and Grant Thornton that directly support the work of the Advisory Teams. |