ctcLink Learning Opportunities & Support Roundup: Jan. 29, 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

 

System Environment Updates & Outages

Stay up to date on planned maintenance and service outages for ctcLink and related systems: 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. 

ctcLink Testing Environment Available 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.

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 Updates

New Bug Infestation

Using self-service, a student cannot enroll onto the waitlist of an OEE class.  This has been reported to Oracle, has been accepted as a Bug, and given the status of “Severe Loss of Service.”  While not a comprehensive list by any means, the Bug Tracker lists the bugs your CS Support Team is actively tracking in case you are curious.  Many of these are identified by our system! 

Reminder: Time to Purge the Waitlist

Waitlisted enrollment counts toward a student’s enrollment load on the NSC Report.  For this reason, we recommend you purge waitlists before running your Census Date NSC report. If you don’t purge your waitlists, students on a class waitlist will be reported as enrolled in more credits than they are.  We recommend you purge the waitlist before the census date for the current term.  It’s never too late to purge the waitlist!  Purge it now if it hasn’t already been done to ensure that NSC reporting is correct.

BUT don’t forget!  

• If a user enters a Run Control ID name that was previously saved by another user, the last saved institution value becomes available even if the user does not have security access to that institution. Since the last institution code is retained, a user from a college can unknowingly purge another college’s waitlist if they do not update the institution value.
• When users create a unique Run Control ID name, they can only select their institution for the Waitlist Purge process.
• What does this mean?  Two things.  First, do not use the Run Control ID of “WAITLIST_PURGE.”  Second, begin each Run Control ID with your college code (i.e., “WAXXX_WL_PURGE.”)
• While not all batch processes have this issue, we strongly recommend creating a Run Control ID beginning with your college code as a best general practice. 

Reminder:  Time to Do Term Withdrawal

Term Withdrawal is a fancy enrollment transaction: in one action, it can drop student from all classes (if they are not already dropped), set a Last Date of Attendance for NSC (reducing NSC errors), and update FA Term to indicate student is no longer attending.  After Census Date, process your Term Withdrawals regularly between Census Date and the end of the Term.  For enrollments after Census Date that should count for FTE, adjust action dates as needed.

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.

In 2025, CS Core Work Sessions will:

• Include community engagement within each session (rather than have a formal, predetermined college panel).  As possible, we will post the anticipated questions ahead of time so that you can be prepared.
• Dedicate at least the last half hour (2:30-3:00 pm) to Open Q&A. 
• If the scheduled session ends early and all related questions have been answered, Open Q&A will begin (i.e., it may begin earlier than 2:30 but will begin no later than 2:30)

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.

Coming up next!

Join us for Leveraging Available Resources, the first CS Core work session of 2025!

PeopleSoft is used internationally, and we benefit from the WORLD (literally) of existing resources, experience, and knowledge. The configuration of our instance of PeopleSoft, ctcLink, is customized for our system and SBCTC has developed additional resources to support ctcLink users specifically.  But it doesn’t matter how many resources exist if you don’t know how, or where, they are!

Join us for this session and we’ll teach you how to find the answers you need.

• Knowledge sharing (questions we’ll invite all participants to answer):
• Did you know that SBCTC’s membership covers college users?
• How many people have accessed HEUG?
• How do you introduce and promote resources on your campus? 

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.

FIN Learning Opportunities

IT’S BACK! The FSCM Production Support Meeting will start up again on Tuesday, Feb. 4, at 2 p.m. and will continue every other week. This meeting supports all Finance Modules with service ticket updates, provides upcoming functionality enhancements and changes, and an opportunity for college end users to troubleshoot process issues/errors in a collaborative format with the functional support team.

Additional Finance Learning Opportunities have been added to the College System & SBCTC Calendar calendar. FIN Trainings and module-specific Open Q&A Work Sessions have been added to the ‘Trumba’ calendar. For more information, please see the College System & SBCTC Calendar for complete event details.

Please find below a list of upcoming learning opportunities for finance-related Trainings, FSCM Support Work Sessions, and Accounting Team Recon meetings.

TIP: When you add a recurring event to your calendar, select the “Make Recurring” link so future sessions are automatically added to your calendar. Please note, life happens, and meeting times/dates can change. Please check back with the Trumba calendar often for the updated events.

Travel and Expenses Q&A Drop-In

NEW! Recurring every SECOND 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.

FIN Work Session: Grants/Projects Q&A Drop-In Sessions

NEW! Recurring 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.

FIN Work Session: 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.

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.

 

Financial Aid Support Update

Resources for Reconciliation

• ctcLink Accounting Manual | 50.50.60 Financial Aid Reconciliation
  • Sections include:
  • Who is responsible?
  • Queries for FA, SF, and GL Account Analysis (FIN)
  • With detailed pivot table examples!
  • Drawdown/Billing/Refund Process
  • Financial Aid Billing and Banking
• Fall BAR Session FA to SF Reconciliation
• GEN-24-84 NSLDS Post-screening & Additional Identity Verification for the 2024–25 Cycle (Updated January 10, 2025) | Knowledge Center
• Post-Screening ISIR functionality will be available by early Spring 2025.  Until that time, FPP will not generate ISIRs for applicants with updated information (Pell LEU, UEH, Loan Aggregates, etc.) as a result of NSLDS post-screening.

Financial Aid Query Corner

FLF Service Indicator Process query issue

An issue was reported about query QCS_FA_ASSIGN_PKG_VARS_EI, which used to pop-update packaging variables as part of the FLF Service Indicator Process.

• Issue: When packaging variables are manually updated & Var Num1 field is 0.00 (no enrollment for Fall term), Var Num 1-4 values are updated to 1.00. This overwrote the manual adjustments that were made and may have caused the FLF service indicator to get assigned to students whose aid was already adjusted.
• Resolution: The query was modified to add criteria to look for a value greater than zero entered in Var Num1 or Var Num2 or Var Num3 or Var Num4 field of Assign Packaging Variable page.

Queries updated to include the student email address

• QCS_FA_POST_WITHDRAWN
• CTC_FA_WITHDRAWN_AID_AWARDS
• CTC_FA_WITHDRAWN_UNOFF_AID_AWD

Middle name field

The middle name field has been removed from CTC_FA_WITHDRAWN_AID_AWARDS & CTC_FA_WITHDRAWN_UNOFF_AID_AWD to align with the format of the QCS_FA_POST_WITHDRAWN query.

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)

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.

FA Team Updates

FA Support Team

The Campus Solutions Financial Aid PRP 1.2 upgrade will be implemented in production on the evening of Thursday, Jan. 30. The overview document with the changes the user will experience once the PRP is implemented is now available on the SBCTC website and can be reached at the following link: Campus Solutions Financial Aid PRP 1.2 Overview - January 2025

FA 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 when as the courses are completed.  This work is expected through January. 
• Updates to Business Processing Guides will be made as time and resources allows. 
• Trainings are planned through March 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 will be announced in April.  2025 Trainings after AYRO will be offered twice a month, on Tuesdays at 9 a.m.

FA Learning Opportunities

Financial Aid Training

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

COD Show & Tell

Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, 1-3 p.m., Learn more and join the session

Join your colleagues to learn from our valued FA community member, Chloe Hays, LWIT Assistant FA Director. Learn how to use COD to find student awards, MPNs, batch file information, PLUS loan batches, and all sorts of other COD fun in a system YOU in FA need to perform your jobs.

Audience:  Only Financial Aid Staff with COD access, geared towards newer users

Presenters:  Guest Speaker: Chloe Hays, Assistant Director of Financial Aid (Lake Washington Institute of Technology) & Kelly Forsberg, (SBCTC) ctcLink FA Functional Trainer

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 Updates

SF Distribution List Blasts

Did you miss the latest edition?  Find the latest SF Distribution List (DL) Blasts at the ctcLink Reference Center.

SF Learning Opportunities Recordings

The Student Financials Learning Opportunities Recordings Quick Reference Guide includes a comprehensive list of all previous SF-related recordings.

SF Quick Reference Guide (QRG) Updates

• Understanding Item Types
  • Formatting changes have been made to reduce scrolling.
• Copy/Update 1098-T Table/Template
  • The Address Usage field has been added to the processing steps and no-audio video to reflect the encouraged use of SF_1098T.
• Create or Copy a Payment Plan
  • Under the Payment Plan Fee Tab section, an alert has been added that states: “If you want the Assessment Fee to be paid first, either that item type must be in a separate node than the Payment Plan Charge if numerically greater so it can be made higher priority in the CPL on the node level, or the item type must be numerically smaller than the Payment Plan Charge when in the same node so it can by higher priority within the node level on the CPL. Submit a ticket to SF Support for Tree Node changes and Item Type creation.”
• Student Self Service Select Charges to Pay Information
  • An alert has been added under the Payment by Charge (New Optional) section which states: “PAYALL CPL may be used with any SF Term Default. PAYNOFUT CPL, if used, should be used in combination with a SF Term Default Effective Date of the day Enrollment begins for that term.”
• Assign a Waiver for Multiple Students
  • An alert has been updated to reflect that this process only works with waivers that have no criteria.
• Enrollment Cancellation Population (aka Drop for Non-Payment)
  • The Aging Criteria step has been updated to reflect more information regarding the By Days radio button. “The By Days radio button can be used to pull students with balances a certain number of days past due based on their unique due dates, instead of a specific static date.”
• Request Missing Student National ID (SSN) Communications
  • Step 10 has been updated to indicate that the Check Duplicate Communication checkbox should be unchecked.
  • Step 18.C.III has been updated to the following information:
    • “Letter Code: B*3 (can be locally defined)
    • Note: We have localized the Letter Code so that the first letter will always be the letter 'B' and will end in the number '3'. The global Letter Code is B03. The asterisk above refers to your local, 1 Letter School Abbreviation.
  • Term Rollover Checklist
    • Under Term Default, the Effective Date step has been updated to provide an updated example which states:
      • Enter the Effective Date.
        • This date must match the date that registration opens for the Term that you are adding.
        • Example: Winter 2024 registration at my college opens November 15. I will enter 11/15/2023 for the Winter 2024 Term.

Canvas Updates

Work continues on the SF100 and SF106 Canvas Courses.

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

Student Financials Update & Reminders

2025/2026 Tuition Rate Updates

The SF Team will once again collaborate with colleges to facilitate the updating of new tuition rates, waivers, and college specific fees.  We will be sending out tickets and meeting requests starting this Friday to commence meetings on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025.

1098-T Statements

The SF Team delivered the colleges’ 1098-T print files as of Jan. 21 to the Department of Enterprise Services to be post marked by this Friday and will update you as soon as we’ve heard it’s been completed.  Additional 1098-T training courses are scheduled and account clean-up is still necessary prior to the March 31 deadline to upload student information to the IRS Fire Site. Make sure you are up-to-date with the 1098-T training schedule and processing details via the QRG 2024 1098-T Business Processing Guide.

Student Financial Responsibility Agreement (SFRA)

The SF Team is working with the SBCTC Application Services Team to configure the SFRA enhancement (ER#266) into the proper environments for college User Acceptance Testing (UAT) Q&A meetings.  We will be sending out these two UAT dates in the coming weeks.  The enhancement is still scheduled to deploy before mer/Fall registration. Please see the QRG for additional information.

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.

Keeping the Lights On

In a ctcLink world populated with acronyms and mysterious jargon, the Application Services teams are the “pillar behind the pillars” for Washington’s community and technical colleges 24/7 by supporting ctcLink pillars, systemwide IT applications, environments, accessibility improvements, testing, and managing the network data load behind-the-scenes.

While you may never meet them directly or understand what they do, they support you every day.

Completed/Wins

• Development deployed to production this week
• Data fixes and bug fixes in HCM, CS, and FSCM
• SASI Work Package #1 Role Grouping Templates User Acceptance Testing - ended 1/27, still getting final colleges to sign off
• FA PRP 1.2 IOVD complete
• FA PRP 1.2 System Integration Testing Exit and Go/No Go Decision - meeting held 1/21, it's a Go!
• ER 999 - OAAP Work Package 1 - Residency and Citizenship UAT Kickoff - held on 1/22
• SASI Work Package #1 Role Grouping Templates UAT Kickoff - held on 1/22
• OBIS integration data mapping - complete.
• CampusCE retrofit for PeopleTools upgrade - complete.
• OKTA retrofit for PeopleTools upgrade - complete.

In Progress

• In Development, SIT, UAT, and Completed
• PeopleTools 8.61 retrofit development has begun. Tickets:
  • 207942 PeopleTools 8.61 - Portal Retrofit - In progress.
  • 207944 PeopleTools 8.61 - Finance Retrofit - Completed.
  • 207953 PeopleTools 8.61 - Campus Solutions Retrofit - In progress.
  • 207956 PeopleTools 8.61 - Human Capital Management Retrofit - Completed.
  • 208038 PeopleTools 8.61 Cybersource - In progress, need CS PIA access.
  • 208040 PeopleTools 8.61 Nelnet - Needs new Java version.
  • 208042 PeopleTools 8.61 Clean Address - No retrofit is needed.
  • 208043 PeopleTools 8.61 - OAAP - No retrofit is needed.
  • 208046 PeopleTools 8.61 CampusCE - No retrofit is needed.
  • 208048 PeopleTools 8.61 OKTA - No retrofit is needed.
• ER 122 - Charge Benefit Expense to Primary Job development is in progress. Updates to PAYGL01 SQR. HCM-1380 and ticket 162711. In UAT.
• ER-171 TAM Enhancements. Ticket 163606 and HCM-1292. It's in SIT.
• ER 242: Offboarding Automation. In SIT.
• ER 232 - Adding Custom Self-Service Questions in Campus Solutions. UAT is in progress.
• Working with Nelnet, the CS SF team, and Managed Services for the Nelnet SBCTC Campus Solution Connector Install upgrade project. In UAT now.
• ER 203 - PTF LTD Report. Ticket 164932. In UAT.
• HCM Image 50: Preferred Name Issue in Update Dependent/Beneficiary Page. Ticket 203133. Oracle development completed fix and it will come with image 51.
• Automatically Resubmit Asynchronous IB Errors. Ticket 200430. On hold for higher priorities.
• Enhancement FWL Employee Record Look Up. Ticket 148615. Continuing troubleshooting, gathered trace, std err dump and app server crash log, and opened SR with Oracle.
• Enter time, report time, and other time pages we are exploring new functionality with configurable headers. The plan is to replace the drop zone and use the now accessible configurable headers to display information about the job the person is entering time for. The HCM functional team completed the enhancement request. This will solve a years ongoing accessibility issue as well as weekly tickets from customers requesting this functionality.
• ER 282. SASI work package 1- role grouping - copy roles from one user to another. Ticket 204380. Role copy audit queries added to CSRs to migrate with the projects. In UAT.
• GL_EXCL_BATC is hanging up the process monitor in FSPRD. Ticket 204146. We are unable to replicate anymore. Ticket back with Brandy to reactivate GL_EXCL_BATC in FSPRD.
• Character errors in TAM. Tickets 204166, 192823, and 192248. Currently in SIT. Sarah Sullivan is going to start with questions about how the employees are posting jobs. This may be a training issue instead of a code change.
• ER 219 - Automation of adjustments to vacation / sick time donations for Shared Leave. Ticket 168718. Currently in development.
• Book to Bank enhancement development is on hold as we await further instruction.
• ER 253 - Make a Payment Page Classic to Fluid. Development is in progress. Ticket 181828.
• Offboarding Automation System Integration Testing
• FA PRP 1.2 Sanity Testing - scheduled to end on 1/28
• SASI Work Package #0 Offboarding Automation System Integration Testing
• Nelnet PeopleSoft Connector Upgrade Project Testing
• ER-232 Adding Custom Self-Service Questions in Campus Solutions UAT - scheduled to end 2/4
• ER 999 - OAAP Work Package 1 - Residency and Citizenship UAT Prep
• ER-266 Student Financial Responsibility Agreement Testing Planning
• ER-308 Multi Currency Correction System Integration Testing
• FA PRP 1.2 Sanity
• SDT 199915 CampusCE NOR issue – Development complete, Functional testing is in progress.
• Retrofits for PeopleTools Update project.
• Analyze and perform fit/gap for new services released in PeopleTools 8.61 update.
• Support tickets related to integrations.
• Student success software solution vendor demos.
• Support Nelnet connector upgrade testing in PQA.

Upcoming

• ER 232 Self Service questions, phase II and additional accessibility updates.
• SASI Work Package #1 Role Grouping Templates deployment to production
• ER 999 - OAAP Work Package 1 - Residency and Citizenship UAT - scheduled to end on 2/4
• SASI Work Package #0 Offboarding Automation System Integration Testing Results Review
• SASI Work Package #0 Offboarding Automation UAT Kickoff - scheduled on 2/10
• 1/30 - FA PRP 1.2 PRD Deployment
• Support OAAP, CampusCE, HCX and OKTA integration enhancements, bug fixes.
• Support tickets related to PS integrations
• Student success software vendor demos.
• Support Nelnet connector upgrade testing in PQA.
• Support and monitor 3rd party integrations.