Human Resources

Listed below is a helpful glossary of terms often used at the UofM in relation to Human Resources. This glossary can be helpful to onboarding employees who are new to the University's lingo.

• ACA: The Affordable Care Act, which provides rules that make some employee groups eligible for medical benefits when they had previously been considered ineligible. More information about the ACA and how it affects employees at the UofM is available online.
• Banner: The University's ERP system for Student and Accounts Receivable. Finance and HR modules are now in Oracle Cloud (beginning January 5, 2026).
• Banner ID: Also known as a U Number, U#, or UID, the Banner ID is a specific identifier for one person (employee or student) and/or vendor within the Banner system. An example would be U00001234. The Banner ID is not to be confused with a UUID (see below). For many employees, the Banner ID will be secondary to the Oracle Person Number (see below).
• CDHP: Short for Consumer-Driven Health Plan. The CDHP health insurance option offers lower premiums and lower out-of-pocket maximums, but has higher deductibles.  CDHPs include the use of a Health Savings Account (HSA) to use for qualified healthcare expenses, including deductibles and retirement savings. The State of Tennessee provides seed money for these HSAs.
• Chronicle of Higher Education: National higher education publication in which select faculty job postings are often advertised.
• Collaborator: An existing employee who will be assisting a hiring manager with a recruiting search, such as a member of a search committee. Collaborators have the option of reviewing applicants & leaving feedback in Oracle Cloud. 
• Deferred Salary: Nine-month and ten-month faculty at the University work only a portion of the full calendar year but get a monthly paycheck the entire year via a portion of their earned salary being deferred for payout during the months in which they are not working. Salary deferrals are easiest to understand by using the helpful Faculty Salary Calculator online.
• Department Initiator: An identified individual within a department who can begin HCM transactions such as requisitions or direct hires on behalf of that department. Department Initiators may NOT begin or approve employee time cards..
• Direct Hires: The method by which faculty summer compensation, graduate assistant, one time pays, part-time faculty, student workers, and temporary employees are appointed in Oracle Cloud. Also referred to as e-contracts.
• Dual Services: Involves when a State of Tennessee employee (including UofM employees) is doing work for another State of Tennessee institution. See this website for more information.
• Element: Oracle term that corresponds to a given deduction or given earnings being withheld from or added to an employee's payroll check.
• Exempt/Non-Exempt: The Federal Labor Standards Act (FLSA) identifies work functions performed as being either non-exempt or exempt corresponding to whether overtime worked is compensable in that particular position. Frequently at the UofM, the terms "monthly" and "hourly" (meaning "paid by the month" or "paid by the hour") are used as synonyms for exempt and non-exempt but they should not be. Hourly/monthly refers to which payroll an employee is paid on; exempt/non-exempt refers to the type of work they are performing.
• FAS: Faculty Administrative Services. This area of Human Resources formerly reported to the Office of the Provost. It is concerned with all employment issues related to University faculty, from hiring/posting, onboarding, faculty relations, etc.
• FMLA: The Family and Medical Leave Act, a federal law that provides job protection for family and medical leave in certain circumstances. More information about FMLA is available online, along with frequently asked questions.
• FWS: Federal Work Study (FWS) is an allotment of dollars assigned to students that charges their work to the federal government rather than using University funds. Some students have federal work study; others do not. If hiring a student or graduate assistant using FWS, those funds should be expended first in a semester prior to University funds being used.
• HigherEdJobs.com: A website that posts higher education employment opportunities for both faculty and staff. As of January 2026, departments wishing to use this site should reach out to HR for more information on how to proceed.
• HireRight: The University's background check vendor. Aside from most student employee positions, all new employees must clear a HireRight background check prior to employment beginning with the University. The HireRight background check exists in Oracle Cloud as part of the hiring process.
• I-9: The federal form stating eligibility to work. The I-9 form must be completed within the first three (3) days of employment for any new hire of any type. More information about the I-9 form is available online.
• Line Manager: The immediate supervisor of an employee. This can never be a vacancy. If there is a vacancy, an interim supervisor must be named. Oracle Cloud is largely built around the hierarchical structure of line managers.
• Oracle Learn: The University's learning management system and registration site. Departments across campus that offer training can maintain their course offerings in Oracle Learn and users may register for them online. Line managers can assign existing trainings to their direct reports. Oracle Learn must be accessed from on campus computers or remotely via the University's virtual private network (VPN).
• OCRCTIX: The Office for Civil Rights Compliance and Title IX, formerly known as the Office for Institutional Equity, which monitors the University's policy on equal opportunity and affirmative action in employment and education in that it will not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, religion, age, sex (except where sex is a bona fide occupational qualification), disability, where the person is a qualified disabled person, or because of their status as a qualified disabled veteran or veteran of the Vietnam era. OIE provides institutional leadership in promoting and furthering the University's commitment to equal opportunity and nondiscrimination for all members of its community. OIE provides a range of services that uphold values of equity and diversity, as well as support compliance efforts in the areas of equal opportunity, affirmative action, harassment prevention, nondiscrimination and Title IX.
• Opportunity Marketplace: The internal job postings site only viewable to current employees of the University.
• Oracle Cloud: The University's comprehensive ERP system with modules for Human Capital Management (HR), Finance, Budgeting, Grants and Procurement.(beginning January 5, 2026).
• Oracle Person Number: Also known as an OPN, the Oracle Person Number is a specific identifier for one employee within Oracle Cloud. An example would be 1001234. The OPN is not to be confused with a UUID (see below) or a Banner ID (see above). For employees, the OPN will be their primary identifier.
• Organizational Chart: Current University organizational charts are provided within Oracle Cloud under the Me tab and the My Organization Chart tile. Changes or errors can be reported to Human Resources via Oracle Cloud..
• Payroll Schedules: A list of the dates involved in the University's payroll calendars, listing dates covered, pay dates, etc. A complete list of payroll schedules is available via the Payroll Web site.
• PPO: Short for Preferred Provider Organization. PPO health insurance plans have the highest premiums, but you pay less for copays at the doctor's office and pharmacy. The University of Memphis offers premier and standard PPO options.
• Program Guide (Finance & HR): A web application featuring information of interest to those involved with the finances of the University. Features include an chart of accounts (COA) search, authorized signatures lookup, budget notices, HR training guides, web time entry approval lookups, position lists by org & index, and organizational charts on demand. The Program Guide must be accessed from on campus computers or remotely via the University's virtual private network (VPN).
• Recruiter: The Human Resources representative that is responsible for using Oracle Cloud to verify a requisition's details, post the position, screen the applicants, and assist with the hire & offer letter. 
• Regular Employee: Refers to a University employee in a leave-accruing, retirement-eligible position such as full-time faculty or staff. Does not apply to part-time faculty, temporary employees, graduate assistants, student workers, or volunteers.
• Retitle: A Position Profile update action should be completed in Oracle Cloud to modify the rank of an existing faculty position. For example, a position of Professor may be retitled to Assistant Professor or Associate Professor when an incumbent retires and a replacement is found.
• Requisition: The most common action taken in the Oracle Cloud recruiting, a requisition alerts Human Resources of the need to post a vacant (or soon-to-be vacant) position.
• SAMS: Short for the Staff Assessment Management System, this web application is where staff performance appraisals are performed, routed, and approved. The standard period for performance review for staff employees is May 1-April 30, with appraisals being due to Human Resources by April 30 each year. SAMS will be used to complete the 2025-26 staff performance cycle, and then the University will transition to using Oracle Cloud for performance appraisals.
• SOC Codes: Short for Standard Occupational Category codes, SOC codes help define the types of duties a particular position will be performing. A full list of SOC codes is available online.
• UUID: Not to be confused with a Banner ID (UID) (see above), the UUID stands for Universal User ID and refers to the official username assigned by the University to employees, students, etc. For example, an employee whose e-mail address is jdoe@memphis.edu would say that his UUID was jdoe.
• User Person Type: A two-character classification system that identifies specific employee groups at the University. This was previously known as an E-Class in Banner. Our list of user types is as follows:
  

  AD	12-Month Administrative or Academic Professional	Regular full-time Fiscal Year employee, employed on a continuing basis for more than 6 months
  	Coaches - Other	12-Month employee
  AE	Administrative/Academic Executive	Employees classified as Executive, EEO Skill Code 10, as defined by the US Federal Government, for use by institutions of higher learning, for EEO reporting.
  AF	Affiliate Faculty	Professional staff members of businesses, industries and other agencies and organizations who are appointed by institutions and schools on a part-time basis to carry out instructional, research or public service functions
  AM	10-Month Administrative	Employee working on a 10-Month contract
  CH	Coaches on Special Contract	12-Month employee hired through the legal department
  CL	Hourly Clerical Support Staff	Regular full-time Fiscal Year employee, employed on a continuing basis for more than 6 months
  F1	10-Month Campus School	Employee appointed in Campus School whose primary responsibility is classroom instruction or supervision
  F9	9-Month Faculty	Any employee holding faculty rank and working a 9-Month academic year calendar
  FA	12-Month Faculty	Employee holding faculty rank working 12-Months, with the rank indicated in their title
  	12-Month Lipman School	Employee appointed in Lipman School whose primary responsibility is classroom instruction or supervision
  FD	Post-Doctoral	Employee working a 12-Month contract NOT HOLDING rank or TENURE primarily involved in Research
  GA	Graduate Assistants	Graduate Assistants - Master's
  GB	Graduate Assistants	Graduate Assistants - Doctoral
  GC	Graduate Assistants	Graduate Assistants - Master's (Biweekly paid Non-Exempt)
  GD	Graduate Assistants	Graduate Assistants - Doctoral (Biweekly paid Non-Exempt)
  GW	Graduate Assistants - Work Study	Graduate Assistants on Work Study - Master's
  GX	Graduate Assistants - Work Study	Graduate Assistants on Work Study - Doctoral
  GY	Graduate Assistants - Work Study	Graduate Assistants on Work Study - Master's - Biweekly paid Non-Exempt)
  GZ	Graduate Assistants - Work Study	Graduate Assistants on Work Study - Doctoral - Biweekly paid Non-Exempt)
  KS	Temporary Agency (Kelly Services)	E-class used to track individuals working at UofM through temporary agency
  PF	Part-Time Instructors	Part Time Faculty
  S8	40-Hour Work Week - Hourly	Police Officers
  ST	Student - Hourly	Undergraduate Student paid hourly
  SW	Student - Hourly Work Study	Undergraduate Student paid hourly on Work Study
  TE	Temporary Hourly - Eligible	Temporary employee paid an hourly rate working 30 hours or more per week employed one calendar year or less.
  TH	Temporary Hourly	Temporary employee paid a hourly rate employed one calendar year or less.

• W-2 Form: The IRS Form W-2 is an employee’s annual wage and tax statement. A W-2 is provided  for each employee who was paid at least $600 for the tax year and is filed with the Social Security Administration (SSA). A W-2 form records how much an employee was paid in wages, tips, other compensation and benefits as well as the amount of federal, state and local income tax and Social Security and Medicare tax withheld. The University of Memphis offers both electronic and paper W-2s.
• W-4 Form: The IRS Form W-4 is the Employee’s Withholding Certificate. An employee fills it out upon hiring (and any time their withholding or filing status should change) to let the employer know how much tax to withhold from their paychecks. On this form, an employee indicates their tax filing status: single, married filing jointly, married filing separately or head of household. They include whether they work additional jobs, have a working spouse or claim dependents and they indicate any additional withholding. University of Memphis employees complete the W-4 as a post-orientation task, listed on the Employee tab of the MyMemphis portal.
• WorkforUM: WorkforUM is the branded public name for University's applicant tracking and recruiting system. The public-facing portion of this site is viewable at https://workforum.memphis.edu. WorkforUM is used to post positions for staff, full-time faculty, brand new temporary employees, and brand new part-time faculty, and each of these types of hires will involve an electronic offer letter. Other types of appointments are handled via Direct Hires in Oracle Cloud (see above). The public-facing site will point to PeopleAdmin for existing faculty hires in Spring 2026, with new postings from Oracle Cloud linked from PeopleAdmin to Oracle Cloud's public recruiting site.