Term

Text Update

A-21 Functional Categories

Code that designates the type of activity undertaken for which expenses will be reported under, per OMB circular A-21. Harvard’s Chart of Accounts captures the A-21 code on the activity value. Typically all accounts of the segment share the same activity value and therefore the same A-21 code.  The main account activity, however, should reflect the preponderance of activity for the segment.  The A-21 functional categories for sponsored awards are:

• Organized Research (A02);
• Instruction & Training (A01);
• Other Sponsored Activities (A03);
• Scholarship and Student Aid (A15).

Account Group

Numeric identifier that groups accounts together for financial reporting purposes:

• Accounts can be viewed per group or per award (all);
• Every account group must contain one and only one Main account (if the award has been awarded).

Account Type

Classifies the account per internal and external management requirements.  Valid values are Main (M), Part-of (P), and Subagreement (S).

Action Memo

The official University communication regarding a sponsored award notice accepted by the University. The high level award information, dates and dollars, and accounts activated for the award are included. The Action Memo is also used to communicate authorized internal requests and administrative changes. An Action Memo is automatically generated each time a segment revision is committed in GMAS.

Activity

Six-digit Chart of Accounts value and required segment of the account string that captures the purpose or use of funds:

• Can be shared across competing award segments;
• Unique to each sponsor.

Activity Descriptor

Represents the activity's description as seen in the General Ledger and the Harvard Data Warehouse.  The activity descriptor is made up of the Owning Tub^A-21, Sponsor Name, GL Award Title, Activity Keyword (which is optional).  Each Activity descriptor must be unique.

Activity Keyword

Optional keyword to identify and distinguish Activities.  Becomes part of the Activity's descriptor in the Chart of Accounts as seen in the GL and the HDW.  At times may be required to ensure Activity descriptor uniqueness.

Affiliate organization

An affiliate organization is a separately owned and operated institution that maintains a formal affiliation arrangement with the Harvard Medical School.  In cases where an affiliate organization has been granted their own Harvard Chart of Account Org value, it will be indicated in the organization profile of the Org. The affiliate organization name will appear in the Org profile as a link. Selecting the organization link will take users to the organization profile of the affiliate itself, which is always an external organization.

Agency Fund Flag

Indicates awards under which Harvard serves as an intermediary agent between the sponsor and the ultimate third party recipient.  Harvard has little or no discretion in determining how the assets transferred to the ultimate recipient will be used.  The transfer of assets from the sponsor is not a contribution received by Harvard and the transfer of assets to the recipient is not a contribution made by Harvard.

Agency LOC Number

Indicates Federal awards under the Letter of Credit system that will be reported on the quarterly 272A report. Also known as the sponsor document reference number located in the Notice of Grant Award terms and conditions.

Allocated

Funds obligated by the sponsor that have been associated to a particular account for spending purposes.

Anticipated

Expected funds and time awarded to the project should all criteria between the sponsor and recipient be met.

Approvals

GMAS maintains various approvals, trainings, and certifications required for requests, projects, or individuals in order to conduct sponsored research.  GMAS is able to track 17 types of approvals.

At-risk Account

Allow the PI to initiate spending on their project before the University receives and/or accepts an award. Such expenditures incurred are made at the department's risk.

Authorized

Authorized funds are those funds the sponsor has allowed the grantee to spend per budget period or segment. Authorized funds are obligated funds plus any carryfoward.

Budget Period

Interval into which a grant project period is divided for funding and reporting purposes, usually 12 months.

Carryforward

Carryforward allows grantees the ability to use grant funds from one budget period in a subsequent budget period. Carryforward can also occur across segments. Note: Carryforward and carryover are always referred to as carryforward in GMAS.

Carryforward/Carryover Request

Carryover

See definition for carryforward.

CFDA number

The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Programs (CFDA) is a government-wide compendium of Federal programs, projects, services, and activities that provide assistance or benefits to the American public.  These programs provide grants, loans, loan guarantees, services, information, scholarships, training, and insurance.Each federal assistance program has a unique identifying number. This CFDA Number is composed of a two-digit prefix that identifies the federal agency followed by a period (dot) and a three-digit number that identifies the specific program.  (E.g. 84.011)  Some programs are subdivided into smaller free standing programs by affixing a letter (A, B, C, etc.) to the end of the standard CFDA Number.

Change of PI Request

Request type. Asking to change the PI of a project.

Change Tub/Org Request

Changes to Existing Segment Request

A category of request types that alter what the sponsor has previously awarded. These requests may, but not always require sponsor approval.

Requests that always require GMAS routing whether or not sponsor approval is needed:

• Pre-Award Expenditures
• No-Cost Extension
• Subagreement at No Additional Cost
• Interfaculty Involvement
• Change PI
• Early Termination

Requests that do not require GMAS entry when sponsor approval is not needed:     

• Equipment Rebudget
• Rebudget Restricted Categories
• Carryforward/over

Clipboard

A user’s personal document space. This is the place where all e-mails sent from the user to GMAS will initially be stored.  Located within “My Documents” for an individual user.  Documents on a user’s clipboard can not be accessed by other users.

Co-Investigator (Co-PI)

Individual who collaborates with the Principal Investigator (PI) in the execution of the research project.

Competing Renewal Request

Request type.  Request to sponsor for financial or direct assistance to extend a previous project for one or more additional budget periods  and is going through the competitive review process. Indicates new period of performance and level of funding, should the request be awarded.  Generates a new segment and fund number in GMAS within existing project. If awarded they will often result in a new sponsor award number as well.

Continuation Request

Request type. A continuation is a request that is asking for the next anticipated period of funding for a previously awarded project, also referred to as a non-competing continuation. This mimics NIH terminology.

This request uses the previous awarded notice information to automatically filter in the dates and dollars for the next anticipated period.

Contract

A mutually binding legal relationship obligating the seller to furnish supplies or services and the buyer to pay for them. Contracts do not include grants and cooperative agreements.  Used in GMAS to determine Chart of Account fund types (FG, NE, NG).

Cooperative Agreement

An award mechanism used in lieu of a grant in which substantial programmatic involvement by the sponsor is anticipated.  Used in GMAS to determine Chart of Account fund types (FG, NE, NG).

Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI)

Harvard faculty or staff member who shares equally with another faculty or staff member the responsibility for directing the technical and administrative work of a sponsored project.

DHHS Modified Total Direct Costs

Overhead basis specifically used for DHHS training grants and some programs. Some examples are:

• All T awards;
• K awards;
• Some D Awards, if there are trainees.

Direct Costs

Costs that can be identified specifically with a particular sponsored project, and that can be directly assigned to such activities as are essential to the project's existence.

Disabled

Chart of Account status where the value is no longer available in the general ledger for transacting.

Discipline Code

Indicates the academic field in which the sponsored project is classified. The discipline code is entered at the proposal stage.

Document Repository

GMAS location to which users can upload and save documents.  Separate document repositories exist for Requests, Segments, Approvals, Notices, Subagreements, Persons, and Organizations.  With the document repository, users can create folders, check out/edit files, and mark files read-only.  The document repository accepts a variety of file types, including Word, Excel, PDF, and e-mail.

Early Termination Request

Request type. Asking to end the project earlier than the sponsor awarded end date.

Electronic Signature

An electronic signature is a legally binding signature captured in GMAS through authentication of a user's Harvard University PIN number.  If a user has permissions to electronically sign an item in GMAS, a <Sign electronically> button displays and allows them to enter their PIN as signature.

Equipment Re-budget Request

Request type. Asking to re-budget in order to purchase equipment that was not included in the original request. This request is only entered into GMAS when it is required that the sponsor approve the change in budget to purchase equipment.

Expanded authorities

Expanded authorities are the operating authorities provided by federal agencies to grantees under certain research grant mechanisms that waive the requirement of sponsor prior approval for specific actions.

External Organization

External organizations are the sponsors and sub-recipients of projects. GMAS provides the ability to add, edit, and delete external organizations. See Affiliate organization definition.

Fellow

Pre-doctoral or post-doctoral student or staff member at the University who provides research assistance to a sponsored project or executes his or her own project under a fellowship program.

Financial Report

Report required by sponsor upon completion of a sponsored project, or at specified intervals during the life of an award.  Financial reports are scheduled in GMAS by OSP. Example: SF425.

Fixed-price Contract

Type of contract that provides for a price that is not subject to any adjustments on the basis of the contractor's cost experience in performing the contract. This contract type places upon the contractor maximum risk and full responsibility for all costs and resulting overruns or underruns.

Fringe Benefits

Fringe benefits (FB) are employee benefit costs such as health/dental insurance, pension plan and workman's compensation expenses paid for by the employer. These costs are expressed as a rate by employee class.

Fund

A six-digit segment of the Chart of Accounts that identifies the source of the funding.Six-digit Chart of Accounts value and required segment of the account string that captures the source of funding.  Represents one competing award period and cannot be shared across segments.

Fund Descriptor

Represents the fund's description as seen in the GL and the HDW.  The Fund descriptor is made up of the Owning Tub^PI last name, Fellow/Mentor last name (if applicable), Sponsor Name, GL Award Number, Anticipated Start date, Anticipated End date, Fund Keyword (which is optional). Each Fund Descriptor must be unique.

Fund Keyword

Optional keyword to identify and distinguish funds.  Becomes part of the fund's descriptor in the Chart of Accounts as seen in the GL and the HDW. At times may be required to ensure fund descriptor uniqueness.

Fund Type

There are three sponsored fund types:  Federal Grants & Contracts (FG), Non-Federal Sponsored Grants (NG), Non-Federal Awards (NE).  The fund type assigned to a segment depends upon the sponsor type, the funding instrument, the prime sponsor type, the agency fund flag, and co-sponsors. 

Funding Instrument

Vehicle through which Harvard’s sponsor is providing funding.  GMAS categorizes funding instruments into three types: Contract, Grant, Co-operative Agreement.

GMAS User Flag

Indicates whether a person can be added to a GMAS standing team for security, reporting or Action Memo privileges.

Grant

An arrangement under which there is a transfer of funds, property, services or anything of value from the sponsor to the institution to assist the institution in reaching a particular institutional goal or public purpose. Used in GMAS to determine Chart of Account fund types (FG, NE, NG).

Inbox

Each GMAS user has an inbox that allows them to receive GMAS notifications and reminders within the system. Based on user preference, notifications, and reminders can be sent either to an e-mail account or their GMAS inbox.

Indirect Costs

Costs that are incurred for common or joint objectives and, therefore, cannot be identified readily and specifically with a particular sponsored project, an instructional activity, or any other institutional activity. For example: departmental administration, general administration, library costs, building, utility and maintenance costs.Indirect costs may be calculated against all direct costs or only some of the direct costs.  There are three: Total direct costs (TDC), Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC), or Training Grant/Career Devt MTDC. Typically accounts of the same segment have the same basis.

Initial Proposal

Interfaculty Involvement Request

Request type. Asking for additional PI’s that are located in a different school or department within Harvard to be added to the project.  These requests require the sign off of all departments / schools involved.

Internal Organization (Tub, Org)

Internal organizations are commonly known as Harvard Tubs and Orgs.  GMAS is updated nightly with new Tubs or Orgs.

Internal Requests

A category of administrative request types that are made internally to Harvard. These include requests for:

• —  New Accounts
• —  At-risk Accounts
• —  Change Tub/Org

Key Personnel

Individuals who contribute in a substantive way to the scientific development or execution of a project, regardless of whether or not they receive compensation from the grant supporting that project.

Lookup

The Lookup function in GMAS allows users to search and verify persons and organizations that already exist in the GMAS database. The red “X” indicates that the validation has not yet occurred.  The green checkmark indicates that the value is valid to be used by the user.

Main Account (Main)

A 29-digit Chart of Account string (all fields except Object Codes) that provides a means to capture expense transactions of an award. May function as a holding account for awarded funds and income that will later be allocated to appropriate part-of accounts or subagreement accounts. All awards must have one main account. If an award requires separate accounts for each budget period of the award, each period must have a main account. Every account group must have one and only one main account. Main accounts include the values of the project’s responsible Tub, Org and PI’s root.  Main accounts are identified by the letter “M” on Action Memos and in GMAS.

Mentor Investigator

Faculty member assigned to oversee the sponsored project of a Principal Investigator (fellow) on a fellowship grant.

Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC)

Subset of direct costs to which the overhead rate is applied. The overhead is calculated on the direct costs after being modified by excluding certain costs that should not have overhead applied to them. Examples of costs that may be excluded from overhead are equipment, subcontracts.

Modular Grant

A type of NIH grant application in which support is requested in increments or modules of $25,000 up to a maximum total of $250,000 in direct cost per year, without providing a detailed categorical budget breakdown. 

My Documents

User’s personal document repository where their clipboard and checked out documents reside.  Documents on the clipboard can not be accessed by any other users.  Documents that are checked out, still reside in the location where they were checked out from but indicate to the user that they still have the document checked out, which will eventually need to be checked back into GMAS.

New Account Request

No-Cost Extension

Request type. Extension of a grant's previously-awarded project period of performance without additional funds.  In GMAS, the last period’s end date should be increased to reflect the new end date, rather than creating a new period.

Non-financial Report

Report required by sponsor upon completion of a sponsored project, or at specified intervals during the life of an award.  Non-financial reports can be scheduled in GMAS by users in the Department Administrator role. Examples: patent report, final technical report.

Notice

Aka sponsor notice, notice of grant award, NGA. Correspondence from the sponsor regarding terms and conditions for a sponsored project. Notices are logged in GMAS and relevant documents are uploaded/scanned into the appropriate document repositories.

Notification

GMAS notifications are sent via actions taken by a user.  Some notifications are editable prior to the notification being sent out while other notifications are automatic.   Notifications are sent to user's preferred e-mail addresses.

Object Code

Four-digit segment of the Chart of Accounts that describes the nature of the transaction (asset, liability or expense).  Object codes are entered while transacting and are consistent throughout the University.  GMAS receives updates to object codes on a nightly basis.

Obligated

Funds and time authorized by the sponsor.

Off Campus(including HMS Non-affiliates)

Refers to the location of activities that occur in facilities not owned by Harvard University, regardless of their proximity to Cambridge or Boston. Examples may include: a rented structure used for field studies in Africa, or a private laboratory in Kendall Square. Off-campus- based awards do not use the full overhead rate because no Harvard facility costs are incurred at the rented sites.

On Campus(including HMS affiliates)

Refers to the location of activities that occur in facilities owned by Harvard University, regardless of their proximity to Cambridge or Boston. Examples of distant on-campus facilities may include: the library at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C., any buildings at the Villa I Tatti in Italy, or buildings at the Harvard Forest in western Massachusetts. On-campus-based awards may use the full overhead rate because Harvard facility costs are incurred.

On/Off Campus Code

Indicates the location of the research being conducted. Valid values are On Campus, Off Campus, Primate Center Core and Primate Center Research.  This code will help determine and/or influence the overhead rate to be applied.  Preponderance of effort rule is used in determining which campus code is most applicable to the proposal/award.

Org

Five-digit segment of the Chart of Accounts that identifies the organizational unit, cost center or entity within a tub, usually a department within a school.

Organization Type

Categorization of external organizations.  If the organization is a prime or direct sponsor on the project, the type of organization will assist in determining the fund type (FG, NE, NG) required for reporting purposes.

Overhead Effective Date

First day the Harvard overhead rate goes into effect for that account.  The initial effective date equals the start date of the account.  As new rates become applicable, the new effective dates establish when each new rate becomes effective for that account.

Overhead Rate

Percentage applied to the direct costs, per the Overhead Basis, which determines the amount of indirect costs (F&A) to be taken on each transaction relating to that account.

Participation Agreement

Required document for all researchers at the University. The Harvard University Participation Agreement is designed to help carry out the IP Policy and other research policies and to help Harvard fulfill its responsibilities relating to research. GMAS tracks the approval per person and per sponsored project.To access the Harvard University Participation Agreement for signature, follow this link: https://gmas.harvard.edu/gmas/participationagreement

Part-of Account

Account type to manage discrete tasks due to award restrictions and/or to capture financial data for reporting purposes. Part-of accounts must have a budget period within the budget period of the corresponding main account.  Part-of accounts are identified by the letter “P” on Action Memos and in GMAS.

Plan 294 Flag(Subcontracting Plan Flag)

Indicates proposals and awards from Federal sponsors that require submission of a Plan 294 form.  A Plan 294 form is applicable when the awarded amount to the University equals or exceeds $500,000.  It specifies the University's plan to procure a required percentage of subcontracts, services, or supplies from vendors who are Small or Disadvantaged Businesses.  The Plan 294 form is submitted either with the proposal (if the proposal is $500,000 or greater) or when a modification to an award is received, making the award exceed the $500,000 threshold.

Portfolio

A listing, per person, of the project-segment on which that GMAS user plays a role or roles.  The portfolio listing is automatically generated based on project team assignments.

Pre-Award Expenditure Request

Primate Center Core

Code used for the Primate Center Core Grant awarded by the NIH.

Primate Center Research

Code that identifies sponsored projects performed at the Primate Center.

Prime Sponsor

The original funder of a project for which Harvard has received a portion of funding via a subagreement. The prime sponsor is our sponsor's sponsor. Example: NIH is funding a project at MIT, and MIT is subcontracting a piece of the work to a Harvard PI. In this case, MIT is the sponsor and NIH is the prime sponsor.

Principal Investigator (PI)

The Principal Investigator (PI) is a Harvard faculty or staff member who directs the technical and administrative work of a sponsored project.

Project

A project has an identified time period, amount of funding, line of research, and terms and conditions. A project is also divided into one or more Segments and Periods and at any one time, has:

• One sponsor;
• One responsible PI;
• One responsible Tub and Org.

Project Administrative Team

Represents individuals who are responsible for the administration of the segment.  Identifies whether someone will receive notifications and to do’s for actions taken on the segment.  Determines whether the segment will appear in someone’s portfolio.Initially the team will default based on standing team assignments but can be altered on the individual project basis.  Can also provide someone with security to the segment’s information without having the permissions from a standing team.

Project ID

GMAS-generated identification number assigned to the project. Users can search for projects under Advanced Search with the project ID.

Project Type

A general description of the kind of research being performed.  Depending on the type selected, GMAS will have different validations.

Rebudget Restricted Categories

Request type. Asking to spend restricted funds, such as participant support costs, for other purposes. These requests must always be approved by the sponsor if federal.

Reminders

Types of GMAS notifications are associated with an uncompleted to-do.  User can set their preference on whether they want the reminder to go to their external email account or their GMAS inbox.

Request

A request is a proposal for funding, or a proposed change to an active segment. Request types in GMAS include:

• Initial
• Continuation
• Supplement
• Competing Renewal
• Pre-Award expenditures
• Carryforward
• No-cost extension
• Equipment re-budget
• Re-budget restriction
• Subagreement at no additional cost
• IFI at no additional cost
• Termination
• Change PI
• Change Tub/Org
• New Account
• At-Risk Account

Request ID

Unique system generated identification number assigned to each request.

Research Team

The research team is the group of people who perform work on a research project.  Certain GMAS approvals are generated based on people playing a role on the research team.

Responsible Org

Harvard Org responsible for the technical and administrative oversight of the sponsored project.

Responsible Tub

Harvard Tub responsible for the technical and administrative oversight of the sponsored project.

Revise to Resubmit (R2R) Request

Request type. A Revise to Resubmit Request is a request that is going through the sponsor review process for a second (or more) time after being rejected, or returned to the PI without funding. This does not include revised budgets (which are currently not captured in GMAS.) There can be multiple revise to resubmit requests, and they are built off the initial proposal or competing renewal they are a revision of.

Revisions (Project/segment)

GMAS mechanism for editing project-segment elements that require OSP, SPH-SPA or HMS-SPA approval.  (This includes posting accounts to the GL.)  A revision will be created either based on a sponsor’s notice, based on an internal request or based on an administrative change/correction.  Once the segment revision is committed, an Action Memo will be generated, indicating the updated project information.

RFP

Request for proposals, aka RFA, request for applications, funding opportunity. Formal announcement by sponsor of a funding initiative to support research projects within a well-defined area. All federal funding opportunities are posted on Grants.gov.

Role

Roles represent certain sets of abilities and security permissions in GMAS; they are not equivalent to job titles.   Roles appear on the standing team, project administrative team, and the research team.  Research team roles do not allow someone privileges to GMAS security.  Standing team and Project administrative team roles are associated to GMAS actions, such as editing a data element or viewing a web-link, thereby allowing those playing that role to perform the associated actions; giving someone security permissions to GMAS. Actions are assigned to roles by the GMAS Security Manager; roles are then assigned to teams and their members.

Root

Five-digit Chart of Accounts value and required segment of the account string that identifies the faculty member or Principal Investigator responsible for the account transactions.

School-specific Information

GMAS ability to store sponsored project information that is Tub specific. Questions applicable to the project’s responsible Tub will appear on the initial proposal homepage and can be maintained thereafter from the segment homepage.

Segment

A segment is a way of dividing a project into pieces with distinct periods of time, amounts of funding, and scopes of work; often a new segment is indicated by peer review submission.  For example, a NIH project often has a first Segment for years 1-5 and a second Segment for years 6-10.  Every project has one or more segments and all segments within a project share the same sponsor, PI, and Tub/Org.  Each Segment has a unique Fund value.  The initial segment will be created via an initial proposal and subsequent segments will be created via competing requests.

Special Equipment Flag

Indicates awards with special terms and conditions related to equipment.

Sponsor

The entity that funds a defined project.

Sponsor Notice Budget

The sponsor notice budget is the sponsor-approved budget accompanying the notice of the award. In GMAS, users may record the direct costs categorically, then copy the sponsor notice budget to the GL budget.  This process is applicable to those using GMAS to upload budgets to the GL rather than the sponsored budget tool.

Standing Administrative Team

A basis for GMAS security, Standing administrative teams assign users permissions to perform actions in the system. Based on standing team assignments, GMAS automatically populates the Project Administrative Teams.  Each standing team covers a specific Org scope, and each standing team is assigned GMAS roles and associated users.  Team owners can add and remove team members, and edit team assignments.

Subactivity

Four-digit Chart of Accounts value and required segment of the account string that that helps to identify tasks, phases, or sub-categories within an activity; allows award to be broken down by task, program, or year.

Subactivity Description

Represents the Subactivity Descriptor as seen in the General Ledger (GL) and the Harvard Data Warehouse (HDW).  The subactivity descriptor is made up of the corresponding Activity value^Subactivity Year(s) and the Subactivity Keyword (which is optional).  Each Subactivity Descriptor must be unique.

Subactivity Keyword

Optional keyword to identify and distinguish subactivities.  Becomes part of the subactivity descriptor in the Chart of Accounts as seen in the GL and the HDW.  At times may be required to ensure subactivity descriptor uniqueness.

Subactivity Year

Reflects the year(s) of the award in which the funds are being allocated to the account:

• if the account has been obligated for 3 years then the Year should be Y1-3.  If it is the third year of the award and the account only reflects the third year then the Year should be Y3;
• for NIH use the year(s) obligated on the NGA.  For example if it is a transfer from another institution to Harvard but it is year two of the award then the Subactivity Year should be Y2.

Subagreement

Module in GMAS that captures the arrangement between Harvard University and another institution where there is the acquisition of services or products that Harvard will pay for via the sponsored project.

Subagreement Account (SubA)

Established for subagreements issued by Harvard to capture the transactions of that particular agreement.  Subagreement accounts are identified by the letter “S” on Action Memos and in GMAS.

Subagreement at No Additional Cost

Request type. Asking to add a subcontract to the project by re-budgeting funds.

Subagreement ID

Unique GMAS-generated number assigned to each subagreement for identification purposes.

Sub-recipient (Subcontractor)

Identifies the institution/organization Harvard University is subcontracting out to.

Supplement Request

Request type. A Supplement is a request that is asking for additional funds not originally anticipated for a period of funding that has already been awarded.

To-do’s

To-do's are an automatically generated list of actions to be completed in GMAS by a particular user and/or role.  To-do's are displayed two ways: per segment and per user role. To-do's are automatically removed when the action is completed.  They cannot be manually generated, edited, or deleted. Associated with to-do’s, reminders are generated by GMAS to inform users of upcoming to do’s that need to be completed.

Total Direct Costs(TDC)

Sum of all direct costs.  The overhead is calculated based on the total of all direct costs.

Tub

Three-digit Chart of Accounts value and required segment of the account string that identifies one of the highest financial reporting levels at Harvard; usually a school or major department, such as the School of Public Health.