Below is a guide to some of the commonly used acronyms and jargon around the College. Please contact the Central Secretariat if you have any additions or corrections.

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Common College Acronyms A-F

 
AcronymDescription
A  
AUA  Association of University Administrators
AMICUS  Trades Union
AUT   Association of University Teachers
B  
BBSRC   Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
BUSA   British Universities Sports Association
C  
CID   College Identifier
COSMIC   Catering Operations and Stock Management System
CHAMPS   Conference Office Computerised Booking System (Existing)
CASLAT   Certificate of Advanced Study in Learning and Teaching
CCMB   Catering and Conference Management Board
D  
DDA   Disabilities and Discrimination Act
DDR   Conference Day Delegate Rate
DFID  Department for International Development (in 2009 all programmes were rebranded as 'UK Aid')
DP   Data Protection
E  
EA Environment Agency
EDU Educational Development Unit
EFA Education Funding Agency
EPSRC Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
EQ Educational Quality
ESRC Economic and Social Research Council
EYEC Early Years Education Centre
EDCs Educational Development Co-ordinators
F  
FAP Funding Assurance Programme
FP6 Sixth Framework Programme
FP7 Seventh Framework Programme
FFO Faculty Finance Officer
FOO Faculty Operating Officer
FoI Freedom of Information (or FOIA Freedom of Information Act)
FoM Faculty of Medicine
FEC Full Economic Cost
FTE Full time equivalent
FWAC Forestry and Woodlands Advisory Committees
 
A-F

Common College Acronyms G-N

 
AcronymDescription
 G  
 GTA  Graduate Teaching Assistants
 H  
 HEFC  Higher Education Funding Councils
 HEFCE  Higher Education Funding Council for England
 HEFCW  Higher Education Funding Council for Wales
 HEI  Higher Education Institution
 HEIST  Higher Education Information Services Trust
 HESA  Higher Education Statistics Agency
 HoD  Head of Department/Division
 HNC/HND  Higher National Certificate / Diploma
 HCPC  Health and Care Professions Council
 HEA  Higher Education Academy
 HSE  Health and Safety Executive
 I  
 ICFB  Imperial College Faculty Building
 ICIS  Imperial College Information System
 ICSA  Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators
 IiP  Investors in People
 ILAs  Individual Learning Accounts
 INSET  In-Service Education of Teachers
 ITT  Initial Teacher Training
 ICT  Information and Communications Technologies
 ICU  Imperial College Union
 ICWC  Imperial College Women's Club
 J  
 JANET  Joint Academic Network
 JCR  Junior Common Room (South Ken)
 JIF  Joint Infrastructure Fund
 JISC  Joint Information Systems Committee
 JMM  Joint Managers Meeting
 K  
 Kx  Kinetics Computerised Conference Office Booking System
 L  
 LAN  Local Area Network
 LD  Labour Distribution
 LEA  Local Education Authority
 LLL  Life Long Learning
 LINKED  London Imperial Network for Education Development
 M  
 MADSAC  Medical and Dental Services Advisory Committee
 MaSN  Maximum Student Number
 MBA  Master of Busines s Administration
 MIS  Management Information Systems
 MMM  Monthly Managers Meeting
 MRC  Medical Research Council
 MDH  Main Dining Hall (South Kensington Campus)
 MTS  Management Training Scheme
 N  
 NCTL  National College for Teaching and Leadership
 NICHE  National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education (Dearing Committee)
 NERC  Natural Environment Research Council
 NHS  National Health Service
 NIHEC  Northern Ireland Higher Education Committee
 NISS  National Information Services and Systems
 NUS  National Union of Students
 NVQ  National Vocational Qualifications
 NPIMR  Northwick Park Institute for Medical Research
 
G-N

Common College Acronyms O-S

 
AcronymDescription
 O  
 OECD  Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
 OFSTED  Office for Standards in Education
 OU  Open University
 P  
 PFI  Private Finance Initiative
 PGCE  Postgraduate Certificate in Education
 PGR  Postgraduate Research
 PGT  Postgraduate Taught
 PI  Principal Investigator
 PRDP  Personal Review & Development Plan
 Q  
 QAAHE  Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education
 QAV  Quality Assurance and Validation
 R  
 RAE  Research Assessment Exercise
 RAMP  Research Administration Management Project
 ReMAS  Records Management and Archive Storage Project
 RCUK  Research Councils UK
 ROLE  Research Students On-line Evaluation
 RoBIC  Room Booking at Imperial College
 RSM  Royal School of Mines
 RCSR  Rector’s Committee on Student Residences
 RPA  Radiation Protection Adviser
 RPS  Radiation Protection Supervisor
 S  
 SAF  Sir Alexander Fleming Building
 SALC  Seminar and Learning Centre
 SAM  Subjects Allied to Medicine
 SAMS  Student Administration System (Registry Database)
 SCR  Senior Common Room (South Ken)
 SFC  Scottish Funding Councils for Further and Higher Education
 SHEFC  Scottish Higher Education Funding Council
 SKILL  National Bureau for Students with Disabilities
 SLA  Service Level Agreement
 SLC  Student Loans Company
 SOLE  Student On-line Evaluation
 SDU  Staff Development Unit
 SAUL  Supperannuation Arrangements for the University of London
 SOV  Son of Validate (password database)
 SSI  Support Services Initiative
 SLTP  Supporting Learning and Teaching Programme
 SRP  Society for Radiological Protection
 STA  Standards and Testing Agency
 STFC  Science and Technology Facilities Council (created in 2007 from a merge of Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils and Particle Physics and Astronomy  Research Council)
 
O-S

Common College Acronyms T-W

 
AcronymDescription
 T  
 THES The Times Higher Education Supplement
 TRAC Transparent Costing
 TOAST The Original Academic Survey of Time
 TQI Teaching Quality Indicators
 TRG Teaching Research Grants
 TDG Teaching Development Grants
 U  
 UCAS  Universities & Colleges Admissions Service
 UCEA  Universities and Colleges Employers Association
 UCELNET  Universities and Colleges Education Law Ne twork
 UL  University of London
 UNESCO  United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
 UNISON  The Public Services Union
 USS  University Superannuation Scheme
 UUK  Universities UK
 V  
 VFWP  Vote Formula Working Party
 VFM  Value for Money
 W  
 WAN  Wide Area Network
 
T-W