Skip to content

Glossary of Terms

A-D

TERM DEFINITION MAY ALSO BE CALLED
Absence Management

Module in UCPath used to plan and manage absence events (including extended leaves) and calculate vacation, sick time, PTO accruals

Leave Administration
Approval Workflow Engine Tool for automatic routing of transactions for approval(s) prior to being committed to UCPath. AWE
Approver UCPath role for approval workflow assigned to the individual responsible for reviewing and approving/denying transactions locally.  
AWE Administrator UCPath role with administrative rights to manage AWE transactions. This role is limited to the central operations unit.  
Change Management

The application of a structured process and set of tools for leading people through organizational changes.

The UCPath Organizational Change Management (OCM) team includes communications, change management and training.

Organizational Change Management (OCM)
Composite Benefit Rates

Organizations and departments at UC Merced will be assessed an overall Composite Benefit Rate (CBR) covering most employer-paid fringe benefit costs within the University of California system. CBRs will be associated with a particular location, with up to 14 rates per location. The CBR is based on the salary and actual benefit expenses from the end of the prior fiscal year.  

CBR
Contingent Worker
  • Not an employee
  • Has relationship with university, department/division and/or employee
  • Volunteers
  • Position is counted toward head count/layoff
CWR

E-H

TERM DEFINITION MAY ALSO BE CALLED
Earnings Code Components of compensation used by UCPath Payroll to calculate gross pay. Earn Code
Employee Person receiving remuneration (benefits and/or pay) from university. Emp, EMPL
Employee Self-Serve

UC employees can see relevant, work-related information about themselves and perform employee actions (setting up direct deposit, changing tax status, changing tax withholdings) in one place.

ESS, Self-Service Portal, UCPath Self-Service Portal, UCPath Portal
Enterprise Systems Renewal Multi-year initiative program with focus on optimization of core business and administrative practices as well as delivery of new systems that will effectively meet the needs of the university. ESR
FLSA The Fair Labor Standards Act defines various labor regulations regarding employment, including minimum wages and requirements for overtime pay. In UCPath, employees may have only one FLSA status (Exempt or Non-Exempt) even if they have multiple jobs.  
Full-Time Equivalent The percentage of full-time a worker should normally work in a job. UCPath calculates FTE based on the scheduled standard hours entered for the employee divided by full-time standard hours. FTE
Human Capital Management A comprehensive software system for managing HR processes. For UCPath the HCM is PeopleSoft. HCM

I - L

TERM DEFINITION MAY ALSO BE CALLED
Initiator

Role for approval workflow assigned to the individual who initiates transactions in UCPath.

 
Job Earnings Distribution

The process in which a location distributes earnings by earn codes on the job record by percentage or amount. 

JED
Job/Job Record

The assignment an individual is hired to perform. The job contains information unique to the employee such as step, compensation rate, multiple components of pay (e.g. off-scale). The job is tied to a particular position and inherits certain attributes of the position.

 
Job Code

Used to define job titles and related classifications, including job families, FLSA, compensation rate ranges and steps and EEO compliance categories.

Title Code (in PPS)
Life Event A change in the status of the employee, such as birth of a child, death of a spouse, marriage or divorce.  
Location

A University of California campus and its associated medical center, if applicable. UCPath locations are:

  1. Berkeley
  2. Davis
  3. Irvine
  4. Merced
  5. Riverside
  6. San Diego
  7. Santa Barbara
  8. Santa Cruz
  9. UCLA
  10. UCSF
  11. UC Office of the President (UCOP)
  12. Agricultural & Natural Resources (ANR)
  13. ASUCLA (Associated Students of UCLA)
  14. Hastings School of Law
  15. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
UCM

M-P

TERM DEFINITION MAY ALSO BE CALLED
Manager Self-Serve

UC managers (who have approval access) are able to see relevant, work-related information about their direct reports in one place (the Manager Dashboard).

MSS
Multiple Components of Pay Multiple components of pay (MCOP) apply to any employee whose total monthly salary has more than one earn code level that contributes to their total monthly salary. MCOP
Off-Cycle Pay Any payment not paid on the employee’s regular “on-cycle” (monthly or biweekly). This can be necessary when employees miss a significant amount of pay (e.g., missed time card, incorrect hours). Off-Cycle Check
Pay Cards An option for employees not enrolled in direct deposit. Pay cards are loaded with a payroll balance on payday. Employees can either cash them out for the balance or spend down the balance.  
PayPath A custom component designed to streamline updates to employee data in UCPath. It is used to make data changes ONLY to positions that have an active incumbent.  
Person of Interest
  • Not an employee
  • No relationship with department/division and/or employee
  • Needs access to UCPath
POI
Position Control

System of tracking information based on positions rather than employees. It creates a framework of positions for all the jobs within UCPath without regard to whether there is an incumbent in a specific job or not.

 
Position Management

A module in UCPath that defines and standardizes information for approved positions with or without an incumbent. Attributes include home department, job code, standard hours, FTE, union affiliation, maximum headcount, reporting relationship, etc. In most cases, there will be one position for each employee. However, multiple incumbents with the same position attributes may be assigned the same position. Position Management is useful for recruitment, succession planning, monitoring turnover, etc.

 
Position Pools Position pools allow locations to group similarly funded work study positions.  

Q-T

TERM DEFINITION MAY ALSO BE CALLED
Reports To

Each position in UCPath reports to another position. The Reports To field holds the position number of the supervisor/department chair to whom the position reports. The incumbent of the Reports To position (supervisor/department chair) is able to view personal information for their direct reports using Manager Self-Service functionality.

 
Service Partnership Agreement

Service Partnership Agreements outline the roles and responsibilities for both the UCPath Center and the locations/partners as it relates to UCPath. 

SPA
Single sign-on Employees use UC Merced's secure login to access UCPath. SSO
Subject Matter Expert An expert or authority in a particular area or topic. SME (pronounced smee)
Supplement A defined contribution plan available to selected employees participating in the Defined Benefit plan who are subject to a new, lower covered compensation limit (the 2016 CCLs) associated with the defined benefit plan  
Tracker Tracker is an electronic solution adopted by all UC campuses to create and track I-9 forms, E-Verify and immigration compliance.  

U-Z

TERM DEFINITION MAY ALSO BE CALLED
UCPath

The critical business transformation program of the University of California. UCPath standardizes and streamlines payroll and HR processes system-wide while centralizing certain HR, Academic Personnel and payroll transactional processes.

PeopleSoft, UCPath HCM
UCPath Center

The UC system-wide shared services center in Riverside. The Center consolidates routine transaction processing and employee support for some tasks in the areas of payroll, benefits, absence management, compensation and workforce administration.

UCPC
UCPath Center Employee Services

Employee services provides assistance to UC faculty and staff via UCPath portal (cases), telephone, email, fax and mail.

 

UCPath Center Production Team

Provides processing of absence management, benefit, payroll, reporting, records fulfillment and workforce administration transactions. Serves as an escalation point for employee services when additional research, follow-up and processing is required.

 

UCPath Inquiry

An online ticket/request opened in UCPath by UC employees and managers to request help and track service requests from the staff at the UCPath Center.

Case, Ticket, Request

UCPath online

Provides employees 24/7 access to personal information from their desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile phone.

Employees are able to view personal job data and payroll information; sign up for direct deposit; update tax withholdings; view/enroll in benefits; see vacation and sick leave balances; and more.

With UCPath, UC employees are able to submit questions via case management, track requests, look up answers in a knowledge base and review/change certain personal employee information directly such as name, address, emergency contact, paycheck/W2 information, benefits information, open enrollment, direct deposit, life event changes, leave accrual balances.

Portal, Self-Service, ESS

Workforce Administration

A module in UCPath used by HR administrators at UC locations and at the UCPath Center to manage an employee’s lifecycle. WFA allows users to track and manage job related data, including managing pay and compensation, benefit eligibility programs, position and employee data, payroll and HR status.

WFA

Acronyms

ABBREVIATION DESCRIPTION
1994 CCL 401(a) grandfathered fiscal year Covered Compensation Limit for employees entering UCRP prior to 07/01/1994

2016 CCL coordinated

Covered compensation limit based on California PEPRA cap for employees subject to OASDI entering UCRP on or after 07/01/2016

2016 CCL non-coordinated

Covered compensation limit based on California PEPRA cap for employees not subject to OASDI entering UCRP on or after 07/01/2016
ACA Affordable Care Act
AM Absence Management
AP Academic Personnel
AWE Approval Workflow Engine
AY Academic Year
AYSO At Your Service Online
BN Benefits
CA Commitment Accounting
CBR Composite Benefit Rates
CCL Covered Compensation Limit
CEMLI Conversions, Extensions, Modifications, Localizations and Interfaces
COA Chart of Accounts
CPS Corporate Personnel System
CRM Customer Relationship Management
CWR Contingent Worker
DB Defined benefit; traditional pension similar to Tier 2013
DC Defined contribution / Choice plan available as an alternative to the Defined Benefit plan and its supplement
DDODS The UCPath Data Distribution Operational Data
EOY End of Year
ESR Enterprise Systems Renewal
ESS Employee Self Service
FPP Future Process Planning
FSPD Future State Process Design
FTE Full-Time Equivalent
FY Fiscal Year
GL General Ledger
HCM Human Capital Management
HR Human Resources
IDM Identity Management
IRS CCL 401(a) (17) non-grandfathered fiscal year Covered Compensation Limit for employees entering UCRP on or after 07/01/1994
IT Information Technology
JED Job Earnings Distribution
LMS Learning Management System
MCOP Multiple Components of Pay
MSS Manager Self Service
ODS Operational Data Store
OE Open Enrollment
PEPRA California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013
POI Person of Interest
PS PeopleSoft
PY Payroll
SPA Service Partnership Agreement
SME Subject Matter Expert
SSO Single Sign On
TCS Title Code System
TRS Time Reporting System
UAAL Unfunded Actuarial Accrued Liability
UCOP University of California Office of the President
UCPC UCPath Center
UCRAYS UC Retirement At Your Service
UCRP University of California Retirement Plan
UCRS University of California Retirement System
UPKs User Productivity Kits; includes transaction simulations and job aids
WFA Work Force Administration