Glossary of Terms

Free-standing minor
An interdisciplinary minor, not attached to a major, available to students from other academic plans.
Freight On Board
Indicates the point at which the ownership or title of the goods transfers from the vendor to the customer.
Frequent Flyer Account
Account set up with an airline for an individual traveler for the purpose of accruing miles to be redeemed for free or reduced-price airline tickets or for other benefits. For most major U.S. airlines, current minimum frequent flyer miles needed to obtain free round-trip ticket is 25,000 miles.
Frequent Flyer Miles
Miles awarded by individual airlines that can be redeemed for free or reduced price airline tickets or other benefits on the same airline or a partner airline.
Full-time
Considered an appointment of 75% -100%, consistent with eligibility for human resources benefits.
Full-time
Considered an appointment of 75% -100%, consistent with eligibility for human resources benefits.
Full-Time Faculty
A regular appointment that is two-thirds time or more over the academic year.
Fundamental Research
Basic and applied research in science and engineering where the resulting information is ordinarily published and shared broadly within the scientific community. The information that results from fundamental research is excluded from export controls.
Funding Approval Authority
The approval by the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of those financial commitments and transactions that require specific approval by the Board of Regents or by Board of Regents policies. No financial transactions requiring Funding Approval Authority may be presented to the Board of Regents without the CFO's prior approval. Where required, Signature Authority is invalid without Funding Approval.
Fundraising
Activities undertaken for the purpose of raising funds for the benefit of the University or an institutionally related foundation.
Furlough
Mandatory time off of work, without pay. Furloughs allow the University to save on salary and benefit dollars to be used in meeting budget challenges under times of financial stringency.
General Ledger
The official financial system used to record, summarize and report financial data for the University of Minnesota.
General Liability
Insurance that covers damages and legal defense costs for bodily injury or property damage to third parties for which the University is legally responsible.
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)
The body of accounting literature that governs the appropriateness of the University's accounting policies and procedures. Conformity with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) is a criterion that must be met before agency fund treatment will be considered. GAAP dictates that agency fund treatment is only appropriate when the University is acting as custodian or fiscal agent for another party; and when the University has no administrative or direct financial involvement in an activity, but is merely acting as a fiscal agent.
Generator
A person that produces a waste. A generator may be a student deciding they no longer need last semester’s term paper or a professor whose current research experiment produces 5 gallons of waste flammable solvent a day.
Gestational Surrogacy

A legal agreement between intended parent(s) and a gestational carrier to carry an embryo to term as a means for the intended parent(s) to become parent(s) of a child. Under this policy, both the intended parent(s) and the gestational carrier would be eligible for paid parental leave.

Good standing/good academic standing
Students remain in good standing if they: (a) make timely progress towards degree completion as required by the program and by this policy; (b) maintain a GPA at or above the minimum set by the program and by this policy; and (c) pass all appropriate examinations within the time frame specified by the program.
Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB)
A nongovernmental entity that is recognized by governments, the accounting industry, and the capital markets as the official source of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for state and local governments.
Graduate Fellowship
A merit-based stipend award that an individual student wins competitively. The student applies (or is nominated) directly to the funding source.
Graduate students
Students enrolled in post baccalaureate degree programs with the exception of "first professional" degrees. (The first professional degrees are: the J.D., M.D., Pharm.D., D.V.M., D.D.S, and L.L.M. degrees.)
Graduate Traineeship
Is awarded competitively to a group of faculty members in a particular disciplinary or interdisciplinary area, the discipline having been specified in advance by the funding agency. The University faculty group awarded the training grant identifies the recipients from among its students interested in studying in the targeted field.
Graduating with Distinction
Degree with distinction indicates graduation with high grade point average; the words “with distinction” or “with high distinction” are printed on the transcript and on the diploma.
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA)
A Federal law which requires "financial institutions" to ensure the security and confidentiality of customer personal information. The University has adopted an Information Security Program for certain highly critical and private financial and related information.
Grant
Additional resources awarded to the University to support instruction, research or public service. The terms of a grant may dictate particular activities but restrictions are generally few. Frequently a grant has similar characteristics to a gift. Sponsored grants are administered by Sponsored Project Administration (SPA). Although rare, certain grants are administered by specific University departments. For example, scholarship grants such as Federal Pell Grants. The terms of the grant will determine whether it should be processed as a gift, a sponsored project administered by SPA, or managed by a specific University department.
Grantor
External provider of funds to the University. The Grantor provides direction on the use of the funds.