ctcLink Learning Opportunities & Support Roundup: Jan. 22, 2025

To plan further ahead or find the latest learning opportunities, as well as notices of cancellation or schedule changes, see the complete calendar at the ctcLink Training & Learning Opportunities Registration page or on the SBCTC meetings and events calendar (apply filters). 

 

Learn about how to register, badging opportunities, and more at the Professional & Personal Development Workshops page.

Registering for the workshops is easy!

1. Visit the SBCTC meetings and events calendar
2. Filter by "CTC Professional Development » Personal & Professional Development Suite"
3. Click "Sign up" button to enroll

 

Process Alignment Workgroup (PAW) Update

The Process Alignment Workgroup (PAW) is a systemwide, college-led volunteer effort formed at the behest of WACTC presidents to create common ctcLink business processes in the three ctcLink pillars (Campus Solutions, Human Capital Management, and Finance).

PAW efforts are supported by SBCTC project management office and ctcLink team members, but no additional state or college funds or resources are available to offset these efforts.

A lot of work has been going on behind the scenes to prepare for the first PAW Taskforce – focused on Travel & Expense (including Travel Authorizations and Expense Reports) – as it kicked off its work this month.

Travel Authorizations & Expense Reports taskforce members

Travel & Expense PAW Taskforce Lead, Lia Homeister, Director of Institutional Research & Effectiveness and ctcLink College Leader at Renton Technical College, will head up this inaugural effort, along with PAW college volunteers and SBCTC IT/ctcLink staff support.

Organizers were heartened to see the systemwide enthusiasm and willingness to be part of the inaugural ctcLink Process Alignment Workgroup (PAW) Travel Authorizations & Expense Reports taskforce. Twenty-two colleges and SBCTC submitted nominations for nine positions to work on behalf of all 34 community and technical colleges.

The nine taskforce members will work on behalf of all 34 community and technical colleges. Their individual contribution will help all of us to streamline processes and to improve our use of ctcLink as a system:

• Bellingham Technical College, Becky Cox, Confidential Administrative Assistant
• Everett Community College, Arega Tesfaye, Fiscal Analyst 3
• Green River College, Jennifer Warden, Travel & Expense Administrator (Fiscal Analyst 2)
• Olympic College, Christopher Pitman, Subject Matter Expert
• Renton Technical College, Jessica Briggs, Pre-pay Auditor / Travel Admin
• Seattle Colleges, Heather Emlund, Operations Manager, Finance and IT
• Skagit Valley College, Miranda Brown, Finance SME
• State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, Teri Sexton, Director of Accounting & Business Services
• Yakima Valley College, Angela Garza, Director of Business & Accounting Services

What’s next?

The taskforce kickoff was held Tuesday, January 14, 2025, with weekly meetings scheduled every Tuesday.

To ensure everyone begins with the same foundational knowledge, taskforce members were asked to (re)acclimate themselves to the Travel and Expense related Canvas trainings and Quick Reference Guides (QRGs).

This taskforce will review and analyze the current processes. Its findings and recommendations will be presented to the colleges and SBCTC during a meeting with all ctcLink College Leaders and the T&E subject matter experts.

This effort is expected to take about one quarter (by early April), but as a learning pilot, adjustments may be made.

Get involved!

For colleges not selected to the initial taskforce, rest assured there will be more PAW Taskforces in the future across the ctcLink pillar areas. We will engage with all subject matter experts for user acceptance testing and other activities and encourage everyone to get involved however they can.

• The T&E taskforce and leadership will need your subject matter expertise and support as they and the PAW Leadership team reach out for input.
• Requests may take the form of responding to surveys, attending a forum, answering emails, user acceptance testing, and other activities. 
• This is a pilot project, and we will be learning together, so we encourage everyone to get involved however they can!

The special role of Travel Contacts

Each college’s ctcLink College Leader (also known as the ctcLink Point of Contact) identified one or more Travel Administrators or other subject matter expert (SME) and added to a Travel Contact list.

As efforts in the ctcLink Process Alignment Workgroup (PAW) Travel Authorizations & Expense Reports (T&E) taskforce ramp up, these college travel contacts will receive communications and have an opportunity to provide input and feedback on the process.

Because they truly care about improving the travel experience in ctcLink for both admins and travelers, their subject matter expertise will be vital!

Resources

• More details will be added to the Process Alignment Workgroup (PAW) Project Info Guide in the ctcLink Reference Center.
• College & SBCTC Travel Contacts

Contact

To contact the Process Alignment Workgroup, please reach out to Jason Hetterle, PAW Team Lead, Wenatchee, Valley College Director of Technology & Enterprise Solutions, 509-682-6446 or jhetterle@wvc.edu.

System Environments

ctcLink Support Page (includes Planned Service Outages)

HCX Versions

We are currently on Version 24.2.1, deployed November 2024.  While the 2025 Release Calendar is not yet final, we anticipate our next adoption will be all versions through HCX 25.2 in October 2025.  HCX (HighPoint Campus Experience) delivers releases three times a year, corresponding with the PeopleSoft Image Update schedule.

PeopleSoft Campus Solutions Update Image

We are currently on Image 32, deployed November 2024.  While the 2025 Release Calendar is not yet final, we anticipate our next adoption will be of Images 33, 34 and 35 in October 2025.  Oracle delivers CS Image releases three times a year.

PeopleSoft PeopleTools Updates

We are currently on 8.59.21, deployed April 27, 2024.  While the 2025 Release Calendar is not yet final, we anticipate our next adoption will be of PeopleTools 8.61 in April 2025. 

Oracle delivers PeopleTools releases every 12-18 months.  PeopleTools provides the underlying technology for PeopleSoft applications, including Campus Solutions.  PeopleSoft applications are built, deployed, and maintained using PeopleTools. 

PCD: The ctcLink Testing Environment for All Staff

Testing directly in Production (the live ctcLink environment) can be dangerous. For this reason, multiple test environments are maintained for testing and development purposes.

ctcLink colleges have an exclusive test environment called Production College Development (PCD). 

If you are new to ctcLink and want to test a process within the system, please see the quick reference guide (QRG) Testing in PCD and Production in the ctcLink Reference Center.

All staff members have access to the PCD test environment.

What can I do in the PCD?

Testing in PCD can include practicing established business processes, developing new business processes, testing security access, developing queries, or researching "What would happen if I did X?" questions. Because PCD is a test environment, any EmplID can be used for testing purposes, including those that belong to real students or staff.

What is a PCD Refresh?

On the first Monday of each month (unless otherwise noted), the PCD test environment is refreshed to match the live ctcLink environment. This means any changes (or mistakes) made in PCD during the month are erased with each refresh.

All staff members have access to the PCD test environment, so you can go wild with testing in PCD, because the slate is wiped clean with each refresh! Users new to PCD can establish their PCD logins by following the "First Time User?" link.

Learn more at Testing in PCD and Production in the ctcLink Reference Center. Please contact your campus ctcLink security administrator if you cannot log in to the PCD test environment.

PCD Refresh and Your Queries: Get Ready!

The PCD (Production College Development) environment will be refreshed from PRD on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. Beginning Friday, Jan. 31, at noon, PCD will not be available for query development until after the PCD is refreshed.

What you need to do

Make sure any PCD queries you want to keep begin with the prefix DEV_ unless you have submitted a ticket requesting backup of queries that will be used for BI Publisher, Pivot Grid, or nVision reports.

Standard Queries

Any queries in PCD that do not begin with DEV_ will be deleted.

• This applies to all standard Public and Private queries. SBCTC will perform a query backup for in-progress queries (private and public) that meet the DEV_ naming convention.
• This backup will NOT be done by folder. This means if a query is in the DEVELOPMENT folder but doesn’t begin with DEV_ it will be overwritten and lost.

BI Publisher, Pivot Grid, and nVision Queries

Any query used in a BI Publisher, Pivot Grid, or nVision report DOES NOT have to follow the DEV_ protocol as it is very time-consuming to change them back when they are ready to migrate.

Instead, please submit a Service Desk ticket under Data Services – Reporting – Other with the title “PCD Refresh Backup Request.”  Provide the name of the query being developed for use in one of the advanced reporting tools in the request.  These queries will be individually backed up on an as-needed basis.

What to expect

• The queries in the backup will be imported back to PCD after the refresh is complete and a notice is received from Application Services.
• Data Services will send a message to you once our work is complete.
• Please do not log back into PCD after Friday, Jan. 31, at noon but wait until you receive a notification from Data Services.
• Queries that do not follow these naming conventions will be lost

Remember! Naming convention for queries

• Being developed in PCD: MUST begin with the prefix DEV_
• Used for training in PCD: MUST begin with QXX_TRAIN
• Being developed for use in BI Publisher, Pivot Grid, or nVision reports in PCD: MUST begin with the appropriate convention based on the reporting tool being used. Do not follow the DEV_ convention. Request must be sent to Data Services via Service Desk ticket.

Why you need to do it

Queries that do not follow this convention will not be backed up and will be lost.

Contact Emily Mullins, Reporting and BI Solutions Analyst for ctcLink, if you have any questions.

Are You Receiving ctcLinkAlerts?

SBCTC uses the ctcLinkAlerts eList to send notices about planned downtime for system updates, production alerts, urgent issues, and any unplanned downtime.

Each college maintains a local ctcLinkAlerts email distribution list (e.g., ctclinkalerts@columbiabasin.edu, ctcLinkAlerts@spscc.edu) which your ctcLink College Leader maintains as needed.

These college lists, not individuals, are subscribed to ctcLinkAlerts@lists.ctc.edu.

It’s each college’s choice who to include, but typically colleges include their local ctcLink leadership, local ctcLink committee or taskforce members, key subject matter experts, IT, Help Desk, and PIO.

ctclink Enhancement Request 2024 At-A-Glance

Includes only approved & deployed formal Enhancement Requests (ERs) for Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2024

46 enhancements were deployed in 2024

• 11 in Campus Solutions
• 26 in Finance
• 6 in Human Capital Management
• 3 Cross Pillar

Campus Solutions (CS)

Finance (FSCM)

Human Capital Management (HCM)

Cross Pillar

How to Check the Status of an Enhancement Request

The ctcLink Customer Services Teams have documented all Enhancement Request (ER) forms submitted.

The ctcLink Enhancement Request Status lists are updated the first and third Wednesday of each month to align with the ctcLink Working Group calendar.

You can see where each Enhancement Request is in the governance review process, approval status, and/or any other actions taken in a couple of different views.

High-Level Summary At-a-Glance

The Full Enhancement Request List is sorted by status:

CS Support Notes

Advising Notes Issue Resolved

We are pleased to share that an updated Oracle bug fix for the Advising Notes Notification issue passed testing in our lower environments and the fix was migrated to Production on Jan. 9.

College staff can now add notes and notify students using the previously-impacted navigation: ctcLink Advisor Homepage > Advisor Center tile > Student Center page.

Thank you for your patience as our development team worked with Oracle to address this high-priority issue.

Welcome Krista Gaff

We would like to welcome Krista Gaff to our team as a new Senior Functional Analyst!

Krista began Jan. 2, and you will soon start seeing her name among CS Core emails, tickets, and work sessions. She joins us from Illinois State University, where she worked as a PeopleSoft Technical Analyst.  She also worked at Heartland Community College, where she gained a passion for education and its transformative power to support and build community.

We are excited to have Krista join our team and add to our collective PeopleSoft knowledge and expertise. She is a self-motivated problem solver who enjoys collaborating and helping others. She has a passion for identifying efficient solutions and finds fulfillment in the “Aha!” moments for which we all strive. Krista is excited to join SBCTC and begin supporting you all and the important work you do!

CS Core Learning Opportunities

CS Core Training

CS Core Trainings, a valuable learning opportunity, are held on the third Wednesday of every month from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. The dates may change, and notifications will be sent in advance. The CS Core training alternates between refreshers and different process approaches. We highly value your participation and welcome all end-users to attend these training courses. You can find details about upcoming meetings on the SBCTC Calendar, CS Core Weeklyish CORErespondence, and CS Core listserv. Please visit the QRG Campus Solutions Learning Opportunities Recordings for a list of previous recordings.

CS Core Training: Graduation Tracking and Processing

Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, 8:30 – 10 a.m., Learn more and join the session

Join us for an in-depth training session on the Graduation Processing functionality within ctcLink. This session will explore the Student Program Plan Stack, the core component that manages student records and determines term activation and enrollment eligibility. You'll learn how the stack evolves as students progress, ultimately recording essential graduation information upon completion.

We will also navigate the ctcLink Student Homepage, highlighting the Academic Progress tile where students can view their eligible programs and terms for graduation, submit online applications, and receive confirmations. Additionally, we'll demonstrate how credential evaluators can utilize the Graduation Tracking Search page to efficiently review new graduation applications, update statuses, and add relevant notes.

This training provides you with the knowledge and tools to effectively manage graduation processing for a smooth and accurate experience for both students and evaluators.

Module(s): Records and Enrollment

Primary Audience: Records staff

Related QRGs: Awarding Degrees and Graduation Chapter

Prerequisite Course(s): SR106: Credential Management - End of Term & Graduation

CS Core Training: Term Withdrawals

Wednesday, April 9, 2025, 8:30 – 10 a.m., Learn more and join the session

Join us for an essential training session to ensure your college accurately records term withdrawals and maintains compliance with reporting requirements.  Your participation is vital to ensure compliance and seamless reporting.

This training will guide you through the Term Withdrawal process, which is crucial for:

• Accurately recording student withdrawals for Financial Aid offices.
• Meeting National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) reporting requirements.

Key Highlights:

• Understanding the Term Withdrawal process post-census date.
• Learning to record dates for students who withdraw from all classes, resulting in zero units.
• Clarifying that this process applies only to full-term withdrawals and excludes partial course withdrawals.

Module(s): Student Records

Primary Audience: Staff involved with the Term Withdrawal process.

Related QRGs: Processing Term Withdrawals, Processing Term Withdrawals to Recognize 100% Refunds

Prerequisite Course(s): SR102 Beginning of Term Processes

CS Core Training: Processing Deceased Students

Wednesday, May 21, 2025, 8:30 -10 a.m., Learn more and join the session

Join us for a thoughtful and informative training session designed to guide you through the sensitive process of managing records for deceased students with professionalism, empathy, and adherence to institutional policies.

Topics:

• Systematic steps to handle deceased students' records respectfully.
• Best practices for institutional compliance.

This training aims to equip you with the knowledge and tools to navigate this responsibility with care and confidence.

Module(s): Student Records

Primary Audience: Records Staff

Related QRGs: Processing a Deceased Student Record, Entering Decedent Data

CS Core Work Sessions

Campus Solutions (CS) Core Work Sessions, open to ALL end users, are held the first Thursday of each month, from 1 to 3 p.m. The CS Functional Support team facilitates, alternating between functional team delivered content and college user delivered content with functional team support. Each meeting includes time for colleges to ask questions about other topics or service tickets.

Find details on the SBCTC Calendar and in the CS Core Weeklyish COREspondence (sent on Fridays to the CSSupport listserv).

Core Sessions: College System & SBCTC Calendar

CS COREterly Open Q&A Sessions

CS Core invites you to attend its quarterly Open Q&A sessions! While these sessions are for learning and problem-solving, and community building. Topics will be announced as dates approach.

We want these sessions to provide an opportunity for college users to:

• Get assistance with any functionality they want to better understand or situation they are struggling to make work.
• Seek advice on anything they are trying to solve.
• Share best practices and lessons learned.
• Develop networks and build community.

To support the varied work areas of our users, each session includes breakout room for each of the following modules:

• Records & Enrollment, which includes Student Program/Plan, Term Activation, Enrollment Appointments, Enrollment, Transfer-In Credit, Transcripts, Graduation and so on.
• Campus Community, which includes 3Cs, BioDemo, Service Indicators and so on.
• Curriculum Management, which includes class building, course catalog management, enrollment requirements and so on

We encourage you to submit your questions before the session (but doing so isn’t required). Enter your questions on the CS COREterly Question Submissions tab. Knowing your questions ahead of time just helps us to be prepared and allows us to help as many people as possible.

We hope you’ll join us even if you don’t have specific questions! We look forward to connecting with you and for you to connect with each other.

Questions? Contact CS Core Support.

Don’t Miss a Thing

ctcLink Customer Support shares information with ctcLink PeopleSoft Finance (FIN) SMEs and users. Join the ctcLink PeopleSoft Finance Users ctcLinkSME_FIN list to get the latest updates right away.

FIN Learning Opportunities

FIN Work Sessions

Travel and Expenses Q&A Drop-In

Every LAST Monday of the month, 11 a.m. to noon, join us for a collaborative, interactive and troubleshooting drop-in support session on everything Travel and Expenses. This session is not recorded, unless otherwise noted.

• 11 – 11:30 a.m., Training: Come learn or share something new.
• 11:30 a.m. - 12 p.m., Q&A: Please come with your questions or issues and be ready to share your screen.

Grants/Projects Q&A Drop-In Sessions

Every second Monday of the month at 11 a.m. join the ctcLink Finance Customer Support team for a collaborative, interactive and troubleshooting drop-in session on everything Grants/Projects.

Questions? See the contact information listed in the event calendar listings below.

Need help with setting up FY25 grants? Feel free to reach out to Michele Rockwell, MSML, ctcLink Finance Functional Analyst.

You are invited to drop in with any questions related to grants and projects at the open Q&A sessions.

Asset Management Q&A

Every third Tuesday from 11 a.m. to noon, join the ctcLink Finance Customer Support team for a collaborative, interactive and troubleshooting drop-in session on all things Asset Management.

• 11 – 11:30 a.m., Training: Come learn or share something new.
• 11:30 a.m. - 12 p.m., Q&A: Please come with your questions or issues and be ready to share your screen.

Some examples of topics:

• Tagging Active Assets
• Excel to CI Asset Upload
• Processing issues
• General questions

Finance (FSCM) College Users Production Support Meetings

Meetings are held every Tuesday, from 2 to 3 p.m.

These sessions are open to ALL Finance (FSCM) end users. The ctcLink Finance Customer Support team provides updates on Service Tickets, PeopleSoft enhancements, and open forum time to ask questions or request future topics.

The ctcLink Finance Subject Matter Experts list received a calendar invitation to Upcoming Finance Users Production Support meetings.

Didn’t get the invitation? Reach out to Shon Dicks-Schlesinger, Associate Director of Finance Functional Support.

• Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2 p.m.
• Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2 p.m.
• Tuesday, March 5, 2 p.m.
• Tuesday, March 19, 2 p.m.

Monthly Student Finance/General Ledger SF/GL Open Forum

Every second Wednesday, 2 to 3 p.m., the SBCTC Business Operations Accounting team invites you to bring your questions (and solutions) to share during this open forum meeting space for all things Student Finance/General Ledger (SF/GL) related.

There is no formal agenda as we welcome all questions about everything from item types and second journal sets to waivers, queries, or internal cash reconciliation.

See the SBCTC meetings and events calendar and look for ctcLink Accounting Team: SF/GL Open Forum Meeting.

ctcLink Accounting Team: Reconciliation & Open Q&A Sessions

Every Thursday, 10 to 11 a.m., join the ctcLink Accounting Team for weekly work sessions aim to provide accounting support and guidance in regarding but not limited to the various reconciliation topics and processes. We will cover a specific topic(s) and then move to open Q&A.

FA Support Updates

Friendly Reminders and Ticketing Housekeeping

• When submitting tickets, please submit detailed screenshots.
  • For example, if you are encountering an error in the Message Log, errors posting aid, awarding, or processing of any kind, please grab a screenshot of it for the ticket. 
  • Word descriptions are great, but we are looking to recreate the same error message you are seeing.  Screen shots of the actual message you are encountering, no matter how nonsensical the error message may be, we still want to see it!
• Before you submit a ticket, check your ticket history to see if this is something you have asked about before, maybe in a previous year.
  • That older ticket may have the solution from way-back-when!
• Remember to properly categorize your ticket request types so they are getting to the right tech in a timely manner. 
  • For example, if you are submitting a ticket requesting help with a ctcLink technical issue, the Request type is:  ctcLink Support > Financial Aid > FA(specific function)  If you are requesting a training ticket, the Request Type is:  ctcLink Support > Training > Financial Aid > FA(specific process)

FA Query Corner

The following queries have been disabled in PRD as housing data is no longer provided on ISIRs: QCS_FA_RESIDENT_OTHER_GRANT and QCS_FA_NONRESIDENT_OTHER_GRANT

Known FAFSA Issues QRG

SBCTC continues to update the FAFSA Simplification 2024-2025 Known Issues in ctcLink QRG.

Please check back with this document at least once a week. New bug findings are being added as we find them. This document contains the issue at hand, potential workarounds, and timelines expected to resolve the issues.

Financial Aid Team Updates

FA Support Team

The FA Support team is testing the latest PRPs containing FAFSA Simplification bug fixes and 2025-2026 processing functionality.

Training Team

• Updates to Canvas Training courses and QRGs are ongoing and will be worked up to include screen updates from the 24/25 FAFSA Simplification.  Announcements will be made in Canvas as the courses are completed.  This work is expected through January. 
• Updates to Business Processing Guides will be made as time and resources allow. 
• Trainings are being planned for 2025.  As Aid Year Rollover (AYRO) progresses through February/March, training will be held only once a month during the AYRO process.  Once AYRO is completed for all colleges, new training opportunities will be announced in March.  Trainings for 2025 will be offered twice a month, on Tuesdays at 9 a.m.

FA Learning Opportunities

Financial Aid PRP 1.2 Functional Overview Q&A Session

Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, 10 – 11:30 a.m., Learn more and join the session

The Campus Solutions Financial Aid PRP 1.2 upgrade will be implemented in production the evening of Jan. 30. The Q&A session is optional; however, we encourage users affected by these changes to attend.

SBCTC has created a supporting document Campus Solutions Financial Aid PRP 1.2 Overview - January 2025 which includes changes the user will experience once the PRP is implemented.  

Please feel free to reach out to Caitlin Stein, Test Coordinator, if you have any questions or concerns.

Financial Aid Training

Fin Aid Training: PLUS Loan Processing Refresher

Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, 9 to 10:30 a.m., Learn more and join the session

Join us for a re-review on processing PLUS loans in ctcLink and understand how to:

• Award the PLUS Loan
  • Perform a credit check
  • Using loan request form vs. PLUS Loan application on studentaid.gov
• Establish the Parent Record in ctclink
• Establish a student parent relationship
• Link the parent record to the PLUS Loan record
• Work with PLUS-denied students by awarding additional unsub

Audience:  New Financial Aid Staff (and current staff needing a refresher) who are responsible for processing PLUS loans in ctcLink

This session will be recorded. 

Module(s): Financial Aid Direct Loan Processing

Related QRGs: Awarding PLUS loans (ctclink.us), 9.2 Awarding an Additional Loan After a PLUS Denial

Prerequisite Course(s): FA104 Pell Payment Processing and Direct Loans

Contact Kelly Forsberg, ctcLink Functional Trainer (Financial Aid).

Loan Exit Counseling Processing (Intermediate Level)

Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, 9 - 10:30 a.m., Learn more and join the session

Loan processing staff responsible for managing exit counseling notifications and email bounces

Objectives:

• Understand the difference between the emailed Loan Exit Counseling notification and the paper print out Loan Exit Packet options
• Understand how to work email bounces using Communication Management
• Understand how to test Loan Exit communications before sending them through Communication Generation
• Understand how to print batch Loan Exit Packets using Communication Generation

Contact Kelly Forsberg, ctcLink Functional Trainer (Financial Aid).

ISIR Processing Refresher

Tuesday, March 18, 2025, 9 - 10:30 a.m., Learn more and join the session

New Financial Aid Staff (and staff who need a refresher) who are responsible for ISIR processing in the 25/26 AY

Objectives:

• Understand how to set/update User Defaults for the new AY
• Understand the steps in ISIR Processing
• Upload/download process
• FA Inbound
• Process Imported ISIRs
• Understand how to load ISIRs using the File List Driven process and the Single File process

Contact Kelly Forsberg, ctcLink Functional Trainer (Financial Aid).

ISIR Correction Fundamentals

Tuesday, March 25, 2025, 9 - 10:30 a.m., Learn more and join the session

New Financial Aid Staff (and staff who need a refresher) who are responsible for ISIR processing and file corrections in ctcLink for the 25/26 AY

Objectives:

• Understand how to make ISIR Corrections on specific scenarios
• Making Corrections on an Alien Registration Number
• Processing Dependency Override/Homeless Youth Determinations
• Processing Special Conditions/Special Circumstances/EFC Adjustment Request
• Understand how to Process ISIR Corrections in ctcLink using the following steps:
• Process ISIR Corrections
• Create Federal Data File
• Upload/Download File Process

Contact Kelly Forsberg, ctcLink Functional Trainer (Financial Aid).

Financial Aid Work Sessions

EdConnect Show & Tell

Thursday, March 27, 2025, 1 – 3 p.m., Learn more and join the session

Only Financial Aid staff with EdConnect access should attend. Lorena Saucedo, Assistant Director of Financial Aid (Tacoma Community College) & Kelly Forsberg, (SBCTC) ctcLink FA Functional Trainer, will present this session geared towards newer users.

Join your colleagues to learn from our valued FA community member, Lorena Saucedo, Tacoma Community College Assistant FA Director,  in a financial aid community Show & Tell on how to send/receive files in EdConnect, how to identify varying message class files, what to look for and just general functionality in a system YOU in FA need to perform your jobs.

Contact Kelly Forsberg, ctcLink Functional Trainer (Financial Aid).

HCM Support Updates

PeopleTools 8.61

Oracle released the PeopleTools 8.61 update January 24, 2025, and the ctcLink Production implementation is scheduled for Saturday, April 26. All Support Teams will be analyzing and planning for the new functionality and updates to existing functions. Watch for more information regarding the testing plan and dates.

HCM 25A Tax Update

Oracle releasea the 25-A Tax Update January 31, 2025, and the ctcLink Production implementation is slated for Thursday, Feb. 13. Watch for more information regarding the testing plan and dates.

Absence Management/HR Core

Absence Processing Update

Absence accrual process uses the CTC Job Data Tab fields (like Job Empl Type, Leave Accrual Date, etc.), for accrual processing. We have updated the process to use the highest effective row data instead of the lowest Effective Sequence.

For example : If an employee has 2 effective sequence rows for the same effective date, Absence process has picked the lowest effective row value from CTC JOB Data and CTC Earning Distribution Tab.

After this update, the system will pick the highest effective sequence row. 

Benefits/Faculty Workload (FWL)

Benefits—Open Enrollment Updates in ctcLink

Please validate employee open enrollment changes in ctcLink. When working with employee open enrollment changes, please make sure that employees' medical, dental, and vision coverage changes in PAY1 match what is reflected in HCM's Health Enrollment pages. When updating an employee’s vision plan data and/or enrolling new employee into a vision plan in ctcLink (this data should come to us directly from HCA), please use Vision Plan Type code 14. You will need to add a new row at Plan Type level in Health Plan Enrollment Page and select correct vision benefit plan which are as follows: Davis Vision T1P, EyeMed Vision T2P, and MetLife T3P.

Benefits—Savings Age Catch Up Extension Limits & Process

Savings limit updates for 2025 have been applied in ctcLink (limits and plan extension amounts are maintained by SBCTC). Colleges need to run the Savings Age Catch Up Extension process in time for each payroll processing timeframe. When running this process for 402(g) and 457 plans, please use 12/31/25 in the As of Date field to capture individuals who are age 50 or over at the end of 2025 calendar year.

Benefits—Query Updates

• QHC_BA_SAVINGS_SYSTEM_AMT Query has been updated to include additional details such as age, employee contribution amounts and/or percentages, and year to date gross wages.
• QHC_BA_BENEFITS_SUMMARY_RPT Query has been updated to include employee’s vision plan data.

Faculty Workload—HR Job Data Terminations

Prior to terminating part-time and/or moonlight faculty’s job data record in HCM, always check that faculty’s final contract payment has been extracted from Faculty Workload to HCM for payroll processing. Active pay lines in Faculty Workload will not get picked up for FWL PSHUP file processing if faculty’s job has been inactivated due to termination.

Faculty Workload—HR Department Updates

HR Department changes made in part-time and/or moonlight job data records used in calculations of faculty contracts in Faculty Workload should be made during quarter breaks and applied to contract data processing for a new quarter. Doing so during any other timeframe will lead to payroll processing errors.

Payroll

The Paycheck Modeler function in ESS has been disabled for the time being. The implementation of Non-Resident Alien 1042-S Reporting caused issues with the Paycheck Modeler because a 1042 earnings code has been mapped to the pay groups that are used for both US Residents and NRA Employees. While a solution is being researched, the functionality is turned off and if selected during that time, an error message will display to the user.

HCM Learning Opportunities

HCM Work Sessions

Human Capital Management (HCM) meetings are held every other Wednesday, from 1 to 3 p.m. The HCM Functional team along with the training team offers Work Sessions and Training Sessions around the different functionality in HCM.

For calendar details, search the ctcLink Learning Opportunities calendar at SBCTC meetings and events and apply Human Capital Management filter.

Questions? Contact HCM Customer Support.

 

Student Financials Update & Reminders

Quick Reference Guide (QRG) Updates

• 2024 1098-T Business Processing Guide: This QRG provides a comprehensive guide to everything 1098-Ts. This resource is the ultimate resource for all things ctcLink 1098-T related and will be reviewed in detail during the upcoming 1098-T trainings.
• Generate Student Statements: Security roles have been updated to reflect the correct role(s) needed.
• Student Statement Report: Security roles have been added.

SF Training Canvas Updates

Preliminary updates have been made to the SF101 (Cashiering), SF102 (Refunds), SF103 (Payment Plans), and SF104 (Third Party Contracts) Canvas Courses. This is a continuous process with the timeline of preliminary completion for all SF Canvas Courses set for the end of the calendar year.

Please refer to the Accessing ctcLink Courses on Canvas page for more information regarding Canvas, including registration.

SF Learning Opportunities

Please feel free to reach out to SFSupport@sbctc.edu if you have any questions or need further clarification.

SF Work Sessions

2024 1098-T Processing

Please mark your calendars for the training and drop-in sessions listed below.

For any of the trainings we will also offer Friday morning “follow-up” drop-in hours from 8 to 11 a.m. for 1098-T follow up questions and assistance.

Primary Audience: Student Financials staff

Related QRGs: 1098-T Guide

Contact Email: SFSupport@sbctc.edu

Monthly Student Finance/General Ledger SF/GL Open Forum

Every second Wednesday, 2 to 3 p.m., the SBCTC Business Operations Accounting team invites you to bring your questions (and solutions) to share during this open forum meeting space for all things Student Finance/General Ledger (SF/GL) related.

There is no formal agenda as we welcome all questions about everything from item types and second journal sets to waivers, queries, or internal cash reconciliation.

See the SBCTC meetings and events calendar and look for ctcLink Accounting Team: SF/GL Open Forum Meeting.

Systemwide Accessibility Initiative: It’s Happening!

In response to the U.S. Justice Department’s final rule to strengthen web and mobile app access for people with disabilities, SBCTC and Washington’s community and technical colleges have embarked on a systemwide web and digital accessibility initiative — including, but well beyond ctcLink — to ensure our technical communications and processes are accessible to everyone.

This will include communications systems, public websites, email communications, and documents, as well as the other technologies and third-party applications we use in the many facets of our work.

SBCTC ADA Title II Project Workgroup

The ADA Title II Work Group has been up and running since fall 2024 and is getting our college system ready for the work ahead.

Monica Olsson, SBCTC Accessibility Policy Associate, and Michael Hanscom, CATO Co-Chair, have outlined this important initiative to several groups, including STAC and WACTC.

What’s Next?

• All colleges have responded with the name of their Accessible IT (AIT) Coordinator to be invited to a systemwide Accessible IT Coordinator Kickoff meeting on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025.
• The Work Group will present a Canvas Ally Accessibility dashboard prototype to the eLearning Council (eLC) for discussion and feedback on Feb. 6, 2025:
• Rob Carr from WebAIM and guest attorney Judith Risch will provide a Q&A session on Feb. 14, 2025.
• In coming weeks, the group will reenergize the Mailman list for AIT Coordinators (AT-COORD listserv)

Stay tuned for more news and activities around this initiative.

Learn more

• DOJ Ruling ADA Title II for WACTC - Web Accessibility, presentation to WACTC-Tech
• ADA Fact Sheet: New Rule on the Accessibility of Web Content and Mobile Apps Provided by State and Local Governments
• Explore the SBCTC Library of Accessibility Resources, especially the modules titled “Understanding Accessibility” and “Accessible Design Concepts”
• Watch a three-minute video from the Department of Education, Introduction to Digital Accessibility

Questions?

Reach out to one of the SBCTC ADA Title II Work Group Work Group members:

• Monica Olsson, Policy Associate - IT Accessibility Coordinator
• Andy Duckworth, Technology Innovation Officer
• Carrie Powell, PMO Team Project Manager
• Kevin Bouwman, PMO Team Project Manager

ctcLink Accessibility Monthly Open Forum

Join us! The ctcLink Accessibility monthly forums engage Washington's community and technical college system in discussions around ctcLink accessibility and technology. We aim to improve communication and transparency while providing space for productive and solution-focused dialog. Our main objective is to deliver accessible technology for all our students, staff, and the larger community.

Meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month, 11 a.m. to noon.

Please join us for the next ctcLink Accessibility Open Forum on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at 11 a.m. All are welcome to attend via Zoom.

• Zoom meeting link: ctcLink Accessibility Open Forum 2024 and beyond

In case you missed a meeting, please see materials from past Open Forums.