Cost Sharing
Costs attributed to a research grant or contract but not reimbursed by the Sponsor

Effort Reporting
The process of recording and certifying personal effort devoted by faculty and staff to research grants and contracts in accordance with OMB Circular A-21 and sponsor requirements.

Encumbrance
The process of committing funds for a particular purchase or use through the establishment of a Purchase Order.  Payroll charges are committed by submitting Labor Distribution forms.

Honorarium
Payment made to a lecturer or speaker for a non-extensive or incidental speaking engagement, or when the lecturer does not request to be compensated.

Independent Contractor
An individual who, under agreement, performs a service for another person or business and who is subject to the controls of the other only in regard to the result achieved.  The contractor is not controlled in regards to the manner or means by which their services are performed.  Services provided are typically task oriented, specific in nature, short in duration, or sought based on expertise.  Compensation is usually according to an agreed upon amount or rate, for a given task.

Labor Distribution (LD)
The function in Oracle that distributes payroll charges to Research Foundation accounts. This function is distinct and separate from the payroll process that produces employee earnings.

Labor Schedule
The charging instruction Oracle uses to determine where payroll costs are charged. The charging instructions are a combination of the project, task, award, organization (department), (PTAOE) expenditure type, begin date, end date and a percentage of a person's salary.

Payroll Suspense
An account utilized when an employee has payroll earnings but no valid labor schedule exists to indicate where the charges should go.

PTAOE
Project, Task, Award, Organization, Expenditure type

Release Time
Process by where a faculty member is released from his/her academic duties to perform activities related to a research grant or contract. The grant or contract reimburses the University for the portion of the released academic duties.