Oracle / Project Glossary

Term

Description

Account Segment

Used to record the nature of the transaction (“Natural Account”), accounts are categorized as Assets, Liabilities, Equity, Revenues, and Expenses. Examples: Cash, Salary – Lab Technician, Tuition Reimbursement – Undergraduate, AP – Sales and Use tax, AR – Student Tuition.

Activity Segment

Used to “tag” revenues and expenses that are generated or incurred in connection with a specific undertaking or event. Activities are events, occurrences, initiatives, etc., that generate revenues and/or incur expenses.

Affiliate Segment

Used as a system populated to record cross-entity transactions.

Assignment

Refers to a set of information that defines an employee’s role in the organization, including job, pay, compensation, managers, working hours, and work location. An employee can have multiple assignments in a single work relationship.

BDM

Banner Document Management is a specialized software system designed for higher education institutions to capture, store, manage, and retrieve digital documents, including employee records, financial documents, applications, and forms.  For the Oracle project, work is still in progress to determine the specific documents that will need to be converted into an alternative document management system, as well as what documents will need to be captured and stored in the future state of Oracle ERP, HCM, and EPM. 

Boundary System

Any current MTSU system or software that houses financial, human resources, and budget-related data that will need to be shared with the Oracle Cloud system.

Business Unit

A way to organize and segregate data into distinct pillars for processing, reporting, and security.  Generally applicable to subledgers, but not to the GL.

Chart of  Accounts (CoA)

The structure used to record financial transactions for the University. COA provides the organizing framework for all budgeting, recording, and reporting. It provides reporting capabilities and underlies fiscal administration of projects, units, and activities.

CII

The Change Impact Inventory is a tool used to identify and document the impact of system changes on roles, processes, and workflows. It documents which business functions or departments are affected, process updates, role modifications, or technology shifts, and their level of impact. The CII informs communication, training, and readiness plans by highlighting where support is most needed.

Department

Department indicates the lowest level of an organization to which employees are assigned.

Development Goals

Development goals facilitate the career growth of employees so that they can perform better in their current jobs or prepare themselves for advancement.

Enterprise Performance Management (EPM)

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a comprehensive integrated suite designed to support diverse university functions. It facilitates modeling and planning across various business operations, thereby streamlining the financial close process and enabling more informed decision-making.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

An integrated management tool used to manage day-to-day business activities, such as accounting, procurement, project management, risk management, and compliance, and supply chain operations.

Entity Segment

Used to identify a legal organizational unit or a major institutional unit.

File-Based Data Import (FBDI)

Spreadsheet that can be used to load specific data or transactions en masse.

FOPAL

FOPAL is the current standard COA structure in banner.

Fund Segment

Used to track pots of money that the institution chooses to account for separately; this includes general operating, institutionally designated, and restricted funds.

Future Segment

Used as an additional expansion of segments for future use/growth of the University.

General Ledger (GL)

A general ledger is a bookkeeping system that accountants use to record financial transactions.

Human Capital Management (HCM)

HCM stands for Human Capital Management and refers to Oracle’s cloud-based software solution that will manage all aspects of our university’s human resources, from attracting talent to managing payroll and benefits. Oracle HCM is designed to improve the employee experience and streamline HR processes across MTSU.

Jobs

Jobs are generic roles that identify the general nature of the work performed.

Knowledge Transfer (KT)

Knowledge Transfer is the continuous, informal sharing of information and skills throughout a project. It starts early—before formal training—and builds a foundation through meetings, discussions, and problem-solving, so teams are prepared and confident when structured training begins.

Module

Distinct but interrelated components of the overall ERP system.

OCM

Organizational Change Management is a structured approach to prepare, support, and guide individuals and teams through changes in systems, processes, and roles introduced by the True Blue Fusion project. Core elements include identifying impacted groups and building awareness, delivering clear, timely, and targeted messaging, and equipping users with skills and confidence to adopt new tools.

OGL

Oracle Guided Learning is an in-application learning platform that provides step-by-step guidance for Oracle Cloud users directly within the system interface. Features include instructions that appear as users perform tasks and guided processes for complex transactions. OGL accelerates user adoption and reduces errors by delivering real-time, role-specific assistance. 

Organization Segment

Used to identify units/departments that incur costs and/or generate revenue. Generally, Organizations have an ongoing financial objective (i.e., distinct function), a permanent assembly of individuals, an established Budget, fiscal oversight by a responsible individual, and may occupy physical space.

Position

Position is a specific instance of a job in an organization.

Program Segment

Used for formal, ongoing, sets of activities conducted by academic and administrative units.

Project Cost Collection Segments

Used to collect business transaction details for Capital Projects, Individual Awards and Discretionary Funds, Grants, and other internal projects. The segments are comprised of four-to-six segments known as Project, Organization, Expenditure Type, Task, Award, and Funding source (POETAF).

Project Portfolio Management (PPM)

Module that houses grants, capital projects, and the management of faculty funds.

Purpose Segment

Used to record the institutional function supported by the transaction. Examples: Instruction, Research – Departmental, Operations & Maintenance, Institutional Support.

Seniority Date

Seniority date is the basis of calculation of a person’s seniority with the Enterprise, Department, Grade, or other entity.

Site Segment

Represents an operational location. The Site segment is used to track financial activity (primarily revenues and expenses) to a specific operating location.

Subledger

A subledger is a ledger containing all of a detailed sub-set of transactions. The total of the transactions in the subledger roll up into the general ledger.

Subject Matter Expert (SME)

Individuals at MTSU with deep business process and university knowledge.

Talent Profile

A talent profile is a module that maintains professional details for candidates and employees, such as skills, licenses, certifications, and education details.

TNA

Training Needs Analysis is the process of assessing skill gaps and identifying training requirements for end-users impacted by the Oracle Cloud implementation. The TNA ensures that training programs are relevant, efficient, and aligned with user adoption goals.

Workstream

A way to break down the True Blue Fusion project into smaller, more manageable parts. Each workstream focuses on a specific area or set of tasks that need to be completed to move the overall project forward. Think of it like building a house: you hire various contractors (workstreams) for choosing the land, designing the blueprints, construction, and decorating the interior. Each of these workstreams involves related tasks that can be done separately but contribute to the final goal of completing the house.