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Glossary of Common Academic Acronyms and Jargon (Canada & U.S.)

2–2, 2–3 (Teaching Load)
Shorthand for the number of courses a professor teaches per semester (or per term). A 2–2 means two courses in the fall and two in the spring (standard at many research universities). A 2–3 means two in one semester, three in the other. Heavier loads (like 3–3 or 4–4) are common at teaching-focused institutions.

CFP – Call for Papers / Call for Proposals
An invitation from a journal, conference, edited collection, or funding agency to submit work on a specific theme or competition.

CFHSS – Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences
Umbrella organization representing Canadian scholarly associations; organizes the annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences.

CIHR – Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Canadian federal agency funding health-related research.

CV – Curriculum Vitae
Academic résumé listing education, publications, teaching, service, and grants.

EDI – Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Guiding principle and policy requirement in Canadian and U.S. academia, often tied to grant applications and institutional practices.

F&A – Facilities and Administration costs
Also called “indirect costs” or “overhead”; the percentage of a research grant allocated to the university rather than directly to the project.

FTE – Full-Time Equivalent
A measure of employment or teaching load; one full-time position equals 1.0 FTE.

IRB – Institutional Review Board
U.S. equivalent of the Canadian REB; oversees research involving human participants to ensure ethical standards are met.

NEH – National Endowment for the Humanities
U.S. federal agency supporting research, education, and public programs in the humanities.

NIH – National Institutes of Health
U.S. federal agency funding biomedical and health-related research (sometimes supports social/behavioral health sciences).

NSERC – Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
Canadian federal agency funding natural sciences and engineering research.

NSF – National Science Foundation
U.S. federal funding agency for science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and some social sciences (e.g., sociology, political science, anthropology, economics).

PI – Principal Investigator
The lead researcher responsible for a grant or project.

RA – Research Assistant
A student or staff member hired to help with tasks such as data collection, analysis, or literature review.

REB – Research Ethics Board
Canadian equivalent of the U.S. IRB; reviews and approves research involving human participants.

R&R – Revise and Resubmit
A common peer-review decision for journal submissions, meaning the manuscript is not yet accepted but revisions are invited.

SSHRC – Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
Canadian federal agency funding research in the social sciences, humanities, and arts.

TA – Teaching Assistant
A graduate student (or more rarely a senior undergraduate student) who supports teaching through grading, tutorials, or labs.

TT – Tenure-Track
Refers to academic positions that lead to a tenure review.


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