CUNYfirst (CF) Glossary
3C’s: Communications, Checklists and Comments. The Checklist and Communications features of CUNYfirst
(CF) are tracking and notification mechanisms. Administrators can record documents that are received
(through the Checklist) and send emails and letters requesting missing documents (through Communication).
Administrators can also add Comments to student records. See the illustration below.
Communication
Checklist
Comments
Account Activity: Shows all account activity over a fixed period of time. Account activity can include any
transactions posted to the student's account includes charges, cash, checks, or credit card payments, financial
aid and refunds.
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Academic Career: The grouping of all academic work undertaken by a student (Undergraduate or Graduate).
At BMCC, the Career will always be Undergraduate (UG) [see page 9].
Academic Level: Is calculated based on the rules defined for an academic program and number of units of
course weight a student has successfully completed within an academic career. For example, freshman and
sophomore are academic levels.
Academic Standing: Academic Disposition For example: satisfactory progress towards their degree [active],
academic probation, academic dismissal, etc.
Academic Program: The academic area, to which a student applies, is accepted, and from which the student
graduates. For example at BMCC, the programs will consist of: Undergraduate-Degree or Undergraduate-NonDegree [see page 9].
Academic Plan: An area of study within a career or a program (also known as the major) [see page 9].
Academic Sub-Plan: A concentration or specialization within an academic plan. Examples at BMCC include:
Multimedia Programming and Design (MMD) has specializations in Computer Art & Design, Programming, and
Video Production and our Business Management Degree has concentrations in General Management, Finance
& Banking, Marketing, and Travel & Tourism.
Academic Statistics: Displayed by academic term. Includes units toward GPA, units not for GPA, and total
units toward GPA. Also included is the Cumulative GPA.
Adjustment Calendar: This represents the refund schedule that is applied to and adjusts a student’s account
when they drop classes or withdraw from a term. The charge adjustment is based on how much time has
lapsed from a predetermined date and it is applied according to the percentage of the original charge.
Admissions Module: A module within Campus Solutions which is managed by the Admissions office that
establishes the core record for the potential student.
Admit Type: A designation used to distinguish first-year applications from transfer applications.
ADW (Academic Data Warehouse): A University resource where all records are electronically stored.
Anticipated Aid/Pending Aid: The FAP merge process. The process loads financial aid data from FAPINQ
into CUNYfirst. At this time the aid has not been disbursed or credited to the student’s account.
Auto Enroll: A feature set up in the class schedule that automatically enrolls the student in a related class
(i.e., when a student registers for a class that has a required lab, the system enrolls them into the lab).
BARFIT: Representing the Bursar, Admission, Registrar, Financial Aid and IT areas, representatives from
these offices have comprised the core team for the Campus Solutions implementation.
Bio/Demo Data: Information that identifies an individual, such as name, date of birth, gender, address,
telephone number, citizenship, and ethnicity.
Business Unit: The University identifier for the college. The Business Unit code represents the college; for
example, BMCC in FAP is Col 12, but BMCC in CUNYfirst is BMC01.
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Campus Community: a module within Campus Solutions which provides a single source of shared data.
Features in the Campus community Module include: Personal Bio/Demographic Information (name, address,
email, etc), Citizenship / Residency, Immunization Tracking, Veterans Affairs Information, and Ethnicity.
Campus Solutions: This is the umbrella term for the suite of software designed to serve our student
population. The modules within Campus Solutions include: Admissions, Campus Community, Financial Aid,
Student Records (Registrar), and Student Financials (Bursar). When you hear Campus Solutions, think
Student Support and Administration. See the illustration below.
Cancelled Generally indicates the student never attended in the specified term.
Catalog Number A four digit alphanumeric code that the College assigns to a course that appears in the
College Catalog. A unique number that is tied to a specific subject (course). For example, 3100; 91A5.
Charges Due: Shows all outstanding charges and deposits incurred to date, including charge details.
CITRIX: server that provides access to and ability to generate crystal reports based on the information stored
in the Data Warehouse before it is converted into CUNYfirst.
Class: a specific offering of a course component within an academic term.
Class Number (generally 4 digits but may increase by an undetermined amount): a unique number that is
electronically assigned by CUNYfirst when the class is created in the schedule of classes. This is a CUNY wide
process and is not limited by campus. This number is also used in CUNYfirst to enroll in the class. It is the
registration code for a specific course section.
Course: a course that is offered by a college and that is typically described in a course catalog. A course has a
standard syllabus and credit level; however, these may be modified at the class level. Courses can contain
multiple components such as lecture, discussion, and lab.
Course Attributes: associated to a course and are generally used for reporting purposes.
Course ID: a permanent, unique number assigned automatically to each course as it is created in the
CUNYfirst Course Catalog.
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CRM (Customer Relationship Management): the CUNYfirst application used by the Help Desk to log and
track CUNYfirst incidents. When you report an issue, a CRM “ticket” is created.
CUNYfirst (CF): The City University of New York's Fully Integrated Resources and Services Tool. CUNYfirst is
a University-wide system that manages students’ education & records, faculty and staff employment & benefits
information, and all college business operations.
CUNY Legacy Systems: The umbrella term used for current systems (UAPC, CUNYVM, SFA/IDMS)
Customer Account: A screen within the Student Financials Module which displays the tuition and fee
breakdown as well as an overview of the student’s finances (pending aid, payments, payment plans, etc.) See
the illustration below.
Effective Dating: The date CUNYfirst uses to determine when a row of information becomes active. It will
automatically default to the system date (today’s date). You can predate information to add historical data to
your system, or postdate information in order to enter it before it actually goes into effect. By using effective
dates, you do not delete values; you enter a new value with a current effective date
EmplID: It is a unique number assigned to every student and/or employee in CUNYfirst. It is not the student’s
social security number.
Enroll: the equivalent of “register.”
Enrollment Appointment: date and time when a student or student group can begin to enroll (register) in
courses for a term.
Enrollment Letter: a certification letter confirming a student’s registration.
Enrollment Request: an attempt to enroll or register student(s) in a particular class.
Enrollment Requirement Group: a set of rules that is associated to one or more courses and/or classes and
specifies the requirements (co/prerequisites) that a student must meet in order to register. The rule can specify
things such as a student’s career, program and plan, academic level, etc.
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Faculty Center: Self-service component where faculty will be able to manage a class, student, and advisee
related activities.
Favorite: allows you to create your own list of bookmarks to commonly used components in CUNYfirst under
“My Favorites”.
FERPA: The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act provides students with the authority to permit or
restrict the institution from releasing personal information. The icon of a shade/blind will appear is the student
is requesting limitation on release of information. If the FERPA icon appear, you must click on it to determine
what information can be discussed/released. See the illustration below.
Financial Aid Module: a module within Campus Solutions which the Financial Aid office manages the
awarding of federal/local need-based aid, departmental aid, and scholarship funds. The Financial Aid Module
is not currently operational.
Grade Roster: the online screen that is used to enter grades into the system, generated close to the end of
the term.
Interfaces: A tool that refers to a point of interaction between components. The interface process will allow all
of the various financial aid systems (FAP, SFA, HESC/TAP & APTS, etc.) to communicate with CUNYfirst by
exchanging files back and forth.
Load: Enrollment status. For example: full time or part time on the basis of units.
Matriculate/Matriculation: Formally admits the student (either degree-seeking or non- degree) and moves the
record from the admission module to the student records module. Matriculation enables term activation after
which the student is able to enroll.
Module: A self-contained component of a system with well-defined interfaces to the other components. Each
module is “one piece of the ‘pie’; for example, the many modules of Campus Solutions comprise the Student
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Support System of CUNYfirst. Another example would be FAPINQ, PETS and CUDLS are all modules of
UAPC.
National ID: The Social Security Number. The Social Security Number will be masked with only the last four
digits displaying.
Query: A tool for building on-line reports of information stored in the database.
Requisites: Course restrictions, pre-requisites, co-requisites, and anti-requisites.
Run Control ID: The name a user gives to a set of parameters defined to run a batch process (i.e., when
printing a subject or section of the schedule of classes, printing class rosters [not roll books], verification
enrollment for multiple students, printing multiple transcripts, etc.).
Search/Match: Examines all records in the University database to identify possible duplicates, but does not
post unduplicated records. Used to identify records in the database that match the criteria specified when
adding a person or organization into the system.
Search/Match/Post Process: Examines all records in the University database (including human resources
records) to identify possible duplicates, and posts unduplicated records if you have selected the Post option.
Service Impact: an action triggered by a service indicator. For example, a service indicator that reflects a
tuition liability will result in a service impact that prohibits registration for classes. Most positive service
indicators are used for administrative tracking purposes (such as Veterans, International Students, etc.). Only
negative service indicators are visible to students.
Service Indicators: Icons which display on CF which can either prevent a student from performing a task in
the system or require the student to undergo special processing. Service Indicators can be positive or
negative. See the illustration below.
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Service Indicators (Negative): Indicate that a student is prevented from performing certain tasks in the
system. For example, a General Advising Service Indicator will prevent students from adding courses until the
Service Indicator is removed (Similar to Impounds). Negative Indicators are seen by the student in Self
Service.
The do not continue sign is the symbol of Negative Indicators:
Service Indicators (Positive): Indicate that a student requires special processing (Similar to the 3rd Position in
TIFINQ/CUNYVM). Examples of Positive Indicators are: Student is in CD, Student is in ASAP, Student has
applied for graduation, etc. Positive Indicators are not seen by the student in Self Service.
The Star is the symbol of Positive Indicators:
Student Appointment Block: Groups of students assigned enrollment appointments (i.e., freshman, transfer);
determines how each group of students is ranked, such as GPA, number of units, and level.
Student Career Number: A unique number that identifies each set of Program/Plan/Sub-Plan information in
which a student is admitted into and graduates from.
Student Financials: a module within Campus Solutions which the Bursar’s office manages information related
to a student’s financial account information (tuition & fees, payments, disbursements, etc.).
Student Groups: Allows to group together students that share a common characteristic (honors
students, ASAP, CD, International Students, etc) for various processes. Access to who can create, view
and update a particular student group is controlled by security level.
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Student Record (repository): The center of information for student services offices in completing the entire
cycle for a student (admissions, enrollment, and graduation). See the illustration below.
Student Records- A module within Campus Solutions which the Registrar’s office manages information
pertaining to a student’s academic record (enrollment, registration, graduation, etc).
Student Service Center (Self-Service): Students will be able to view their financial aid packages, bills, and
registration information on-line. Students will also be able to accept and deny financial aid awards and provide
address changes online as well. CF provides a more expanded and enhanced Student Self-Service system
(our current Student Self-Service system is Panther). The Student Service Center within Campus Community
will provide an administrative 'dashboard', a single point of entry to view student data (similar to PF11 on
TIFINQ/CUNYVM). See the two illustrations below.
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Student’s Plan of Study: The academic structure as it relates to the student. See the illustration below.
Student
Undergraduate/Graduate
Degree or Non-Degree
Major
Concentration/Specialization
Term: Currently known as a semester. The first digit represents the century, second and third digits represents
the year and the last digit represents the term. Note: Winter session will be grouped with the Spring term.
Example: 2014 Spring Term
1
1
4
2
Fall = 9
Spring = 2
Summer = 6
[1142 translates into: 1= 21st Century; 14= 2014; 2= Spring]
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Term Activate: A student must be active for each term in which he or she is eligible to enroll. Tuition
calculation is driven by the term activation record.
Term Roll: The process of copying a previous year’s term forward providing a starting point for the scheduling
of a new term.
Term Withdrawal: Indicates that the student has left the college for the term. Upon readmission, a student’s
term record must be term activated to allow new enrollment.
Tuition Calculations (Tuition Calc): This control is used to charge the student with the required tuition and
fees. Every time this control is used it makes the necessary adjustments in the student’s account after any
academic changes such as withdrawal updates.
Units: Currently known as credits.
Update Access: A type of security access that permits the user to edit and update data in CUNYfirst.
User Acceptance Testing (UAT): assigned UAT users are provided with a specific testing environment to test
scripted conditions. This process is necessary to validate that the system works per CUNY requirements and is
campus ready for production.
Submitted by:
Mark Rivera
Updated as of:
January 2013
Roseann Ragone
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