Terms You Should Know

This is an alphabetical glossary of terms that you may encounter while browsing this website.

ACS accounts
ACS accounts are available to all faculty, staff, and students. The Academic Computing System (ACS) provides the University's central e-mail services, general access to UNIX computing, website hosting, and a broad range of software, including mathematical, statistical, and scientific software; programming languages; and text processing and graphics packages.
Boston Medical Center Expanded Circle
Boston Medical Center Expanded Circle is composed of specialists who are associated with the Harvard Pilgrim provider network.
Boston Medical Center Inner Circle
Boston Medical Center Inner Circle is composed of providers in the Boston Medical Center network.
Branding
Branding is the process of identifying and differentiating an organization’s products, processes, or services from another organization by giving it a name, phrase, or other mark.
BUMC
BUMC (Medical Campus — Boston University Medical Campus) is located in Boston’s South End, and comprises the Boston University School of Public Health, the Goldman School of Dental Medicine, the Boston University School of Medicine, including the Division of Graduate Medical Sciences, and the Boston Medical Center.
casual employee
Casual employee is an employee who is hired directly and paid by Boston University, but cannot be employed for more than six months.
Charles River Campus
Charles River Campus (CRC) is Boston University’s 133 acre, 1.8-mile-long primary campus which stretches along Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. The urban campus is home to 14 of the University’s 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges, and encompasses classrooms, lecture halls, libraries, laboratories, social and recreational centers, and administrative offices. It also comprises student residences ranging from historic brownstones to high-rise apartment towers, as well as the John Hancock Student Village, which includes the Agganis Arena and Fitness
COBRA
COBRA: the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) requires most employers sponsoring health plans to offer employees and their families the opportunity for a temporary extension of health care and union Employee Benefit Fund coverage called “continuing coverage” at group rates in certain instances where coverage under the program would otherwise end.
coinsurance
Coinsurance is the percentage of covered expenses paid by you each year after you meet your deductible (20% coinsurance means that you pay 20% of the expenses).
confidentiality agreement
Confidentiality agreement is an agreement restricting an employee from disclosing confidential or proprietary information.
conflict of interest
Conflict of interest is a conflict between the private interests and the official or professional responsibilities of a person in a position
copayment
Copayment is the dollar amount you pay to a network (or HMO) physician, pharmacy, or emergency room or other service provider at the time a service is rendered.
CORI
CORI: Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) is a database that contains a comprehensive account of all arraignments and convictions on criminal charges in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
covered expenses
Covered expenses are those the plan will pay for, either partially or in full. The amount a carrier will cover may be limited by the reasonable and customary amounts determined for providers and services in your geographic area.
Criminal Offender Record Information
(CORI) is a database that contains a comprehensive account of all arraignments and convictions on criminal charges in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.