Provost's OfficeGlossary of Terms
Central Fund
A strategic initiatives fund under the direction of the provost (and PCIP) to support university priorities.
Direct costs
Costs directly incurred and tracked by units, such as salaries, benefits, supplies, etc.
Indirect costs
Costs that are incurred but cannot be directly tracked to each unit, such as grounds-keeping, legal fees, etc.
Resource allocation
This is the process of an activity-based allocation of resources among and within colleges and units.
Responsibility Centre (RC)
A campus unit with the budget authority and responsibility to finance its costs (both direct and indirect).
Revenue Centre
A campus unit that generates revenue (primarily from external sources such as tuition or research funding), controls that revenue and finances its costs (both direct and indirect). Examples include the College of Engineering or the School of Public Health.
Support Centre
A campus unit that generates little or no external revenue, but provides critical services to support the activities of the Revenue centres. Similar to a Revenue Centre, a Support Centre controls its budget and finances its costs (both direct and indirect). Examples of Support centres are the Financial Services Division (FSD), Information Technology Services(ITS) or Facilities Management Division (FMD).
