Glossary of Terms

This page is an alphabetical list of EECS-specific acronyms, abbreviations, and terms that you may encounter while browsing this website.

For a list of general computer-related acronyms and terms, see Wikipedia’s list of computing and IT abbreviations.

Chartstring: Another term for a CoA

CIF: Computer Infrastructure Fee. A monthly fee that pays for basic computer account resources. See the IRIS Recharge Rates page for current information.

CIS Fee: An outdated term for the Computer Infrastructure Fee

CNIL: The Computer, Networking, and Instructional Laboratories committee is charged with overseeing the computing, networking, and laboratory infrastructure of the department, for both instructional and research purposes.

CoA: This is an abbreviation for “Chart of Accounts“, which refers the master list of internal funding accounts. A “COA String” or “chart of accounts string” is a long string (up to 46 characters) that specifies not only the fund that is the source of money, but also specifies the type of charge, and can include other identifiers that help administrators track expenses.

ICF: Infrastructure Capitalization Fee. A monthly fee that pays for upgrades to EECS Departmental network infrastructure. See the IRIS Recharge Rates page for current information.

Instructional Computer Accounts: The EECS Instructional Group manages a computing environment specifically for the purpose of teaching classes. These computer accounts are distinct from Non-Instructional computer accounts.

Non-Instructional Computer Accounts: Any EECS Department computer accounts that are not part of the Instructional computing infrastructure are called “non-instructional”. This includes most faculty, EECS and ERSO staff, graduate student, and any other research-related accounts. This is sometimes called a “Research Account”. This computing environment is managed by IDSG.

Research Computer Account: Another common term for a Non-Instructional computer account.

RSO: Research Support Officer. Provides financial, analytical and administrative support to faculty, primarily with grants. Part of ERSO .

SIF: Storage Infrastructure Fee. A monthly fee that funds our department’s high-availability storage system. This fee is tiered according to a person’s account type. See the IRIS Recharge Rates page for current information.

T&M: Time and materials. Refers to the total cost of a person performing a task (time) and any materials necessary to perform that task. Primarily used to indicate that the associated work, task, or service isn’t included in a standard monthly fee and will incur additional charges if performed.