ctcLink Learning Opportunities & Support Roundup: March 12, 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

 

Travel & Expense Process Alignment Workgroup Update

During today’s ctcLink College Collaboration Group (cCCG) meeting, the Process Alignment Workgroup (PAW) Travel & Expense (T&E) Taskforce shared preliminary highlights of its recent work toward aligning the system’s 34 colleges in common travel and expense practices. 

Lia Homeister, T&E Taskforce Lead, Renton Technical College; Miranda Brown, Travel & Account Payable Specialist, Skagit Valley College; and Becky Cox, Administrative Assistant, Bellingham Technical College, reviewed the group’s charge, areas being reviewed for alignment, preliminary ideas and recommendations, and next steps.

Task Force Responsibility

The PAW T&E Task Force is conducting an initial review of the ctcLink Travel & Expense process and provide recommendations on best practices and available variances.

The Task Force will connect with related subject matter experts and end-users across the system for a variety of activities, including gathering ideas about pain points, utilization of the system, and review of training and ctcLink Reference Center tools.

Current Process Review Areas

• Travel Employee Profile
• Travel Authorizations
• Cash Advance
• Expense Reports

Preliminary Ideas and Recommendations

The following information is preliminary and not finalized for voting.

Classic (navigation) vs. Fluid (tiles)

In PeopleSoft, there are two ways to get around: Classic (navigation) and Fluid (tiles).

The taskforce finds Fluid to be a more sustainable long-term choice, and some T&E Classic pages are being de-supported by PeopleSoft. Fluid has a responsive and adaptive interface, offers accessibility best practice features for inclusivity, and is more user-friendly on different devices.

Travel Employee Profile

The suggestion is to check monthly for missing Travel Employee Profile Information via PS Query. Travel admins receive information about new hires/position changes in various ways and this regular check can help fill in any gaps. May require a possible modification of query: QFS_EX_EMPL_TRAV_DEFAULTS_CF

Update Display Name with Regular Updates

This is a required field, but does not populate from HCM data due to an Oracle sync issue. The group suggests updating processes per directions in the Editing Employee Name Data (including Preferred Name QRG.

Update only the Operating (Oper) Unit in the Default Chartfield Values

It is required to enter the Oper Unit, but the rest of the fields are not required. Travelers may use multiple chartstrings for traveling, but there is only one default. Cash advances must use a global chartstring, so do not want the default to carry over. An idea for an enhancement request is to auto-populate the Oper Unit based on other available data.

Set the default Employee Payment method to Automated Clearing House (ACH)

This can help with reducing time/effort into tracking uncashed checks and can still update to System Check when necessary. This is a best practice recommendation, but not required

Notify Traveler their default bank account and/or how to view it in self-service

If multiple bank accounts are set, the default HCM bank account doesn’t carry over as the default in FIN. The FIN default is the first in numerical order based on routing number. The travel admin should notify the traveler which bank account their payment will go to or have the traveler view in self-service

Create a solution for auto insurance and valid driver's license attestation

An idea for an enhancement request is to include a checkbox for auto insurance attestation by the Transportation ID or have a pop-up message when user submits mileage for approval, and to make this data available in a query. 

Travel Authorizations

Add/Update Expense Type options for seamless approval workflow and accounting compliance

Refining Expense Types can reduce pre-travel paperwork by triggering a refinement template in the approval workflow, allowing higher-level executives to be added for specific travel types. In-state and out-of-state Expense Type codes must be linked to different GL accounts, requiring separate codes for each. The group suggests revising descriptions of codes to make them easier for users to find.

Implement a refinement template for when an approver is needed that is not in the approval workflow

The refinement template is meant for when someone is not in the approval workflow. For example, if a travel authorization (TA) needs to be routed to the president for international travel

Next Steps

• The (T&E) Taskforce will delve into Cash Advance and Expense Reports processes for best practice ideas in its upcoming meetings.
• College and SBCTC staff are invited to submit any ideas via the Bright Ideas Travel & Expense Suggestion Box by end of day Friday, March 21, 2025. See next article for details.
• Expect Task Force final recommendations in early Spring quarter.

Travel & Expense (T&E) Taskforce Members

Hats off to this dedicated group for its focused efforts on behalf of all our colleges.

Taskforce Lead

• Lia Homeister, Renton Technical

Subject Matter Experts

• Heather Emlund, Seattle
• Christopher Pitman, Olympic
• Jennifer Warden, Green River
• Arega Tesfaye, Everett
• Miranda Brown, Skagit Valley
• Angela Garza, Yakima Valley
• Jessica Briggs, Renton Technical
• Becky Cox, Bellingham Technical
• Teri Sexton, SBCTC

Functional Analysts from SBCTC

• Jennifer Smith
• Michele Rockwell

Data Services from SBCTC

• Carmen McKenzie
• Ivy Brent

cCCG/PAW Liaisons

• Pat Daniels, Highline
• Pauline Marvin-Smith, Peninsula
• Jo Munroe, SBCTC

Process Alignment Workgroup (PAW) Seeks Your Bright Ideas About Travel & Expense Processes

The Process Alignment Workgroup (PAW) Travel & Expense (T&E) Taskforce members are hard at work reviewing processes to work toward aligning our system’s 34 colleges in common travel and expense practices. 

The PAW T&E Taskforce pilot team welcomes ideas from travel administrators and any other college personnel who either travel or interact with the travel process on their campuses. 

Get involved 

Submit your thoughts anonymously or add contact information to receive a follow-up at the Bright Ideas: Travel & Expense Suggestion Box. 

The deadline for input is March 21, 2025. 

What is PAW? 

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. 

Process Alignment Workgroup: College-driven, Agency-supported, Leadership-endorsed

Travel & Expense (including Travel Authorizations and Expense Reports) is the focus of the pilot taskforce. 

Learn more about the PAW Travel & Expense Taskforce 

• "Process Alignment Workgroup (PAW) News," ctcLink CONNECT, Jan. 22, 2025
• Process Alignment Workgroup (PAW) Project Overview in the ctcLink Reference Center 

Contact

Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns about the Process Alignment Workgroup activities:

• Lia Homeister, Travel & Expense PAW Taskforce Lead Director of Institutional Research & Effectiveness, ctcLink College Leader, Renton Technical College
• Jason Hetterle, PAW Team Lead, Wenatchee Valley College Director of Technology & Enterprise Solutions

Downtime Notice: Scheduled Firewall Hardware Upgrade for dataLink

Friday, March 14, 2025, 5 to 11 p.m.

As part of Stage 2 of the refresh program, firewall hardware supporting your college’s Datalink connection will be upgraded. This enhancement will increase bandwidth for inbound and outbound traffic while adding an extra layer of security to protect our network from external threats.

• Impact: During this time, dataLink connections will be unavailable.
• No action required: This upgrade does not require changes to your local configuration.

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to the SBCTC Network team.

Join a ctcLink Support eList (aka LISTSERVs)

Any Washington state community and technical college ctcLink PeopleSoft users — including SBCTC staff, ctcLink, and IT teams — are encouraged to join one or more ctcLink-related Mailman eLists (aka LISTSERVs).

Find a list — or two or three or four — and join today at ctcLink Support eLists.

Connect with your ctcLink peers and colleagues

• ctcLink Customer Support sends updates, outage notices, changes to configuration, training and workshop opportunities, global and cross-pillar communications to colleges.
• College subject matter experts (SMEs), PeopleSoft users/stakeholders can use the lists to ask  their college peers questions about how they do things in ctcLink, best practices, local training plans, and more. 

ctcLink Alert: ctcLink Production Environment – Server Maintenance

System Environments

ctcLink Support Page (includes Planned Service Outages)

• PCD Data Refreshes normally take place on the first Monday of every month.  We anticipate that the next PCD data refresh will be Monday, April 7.
• HCX Versions.  We are currently on Version 24.2.1, deployed November 2024.  Our next adoption will be all versions through HCX 25.2 in October 2025.  HighPoint 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.  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.  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. 

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.

New Duplicate EMPLID Service Indicator (SDI) Assignment Jobset Coming March 13

On Thursday, March 13, the internal duplicate EMPLID process will be updated to include automating the copying of the SDI service indicator placed by SBCTC CS Core Support staff to all colleges. This new automated jobset will keep SDI service indicators synchronized across the colleges.

Which service indicators are included?

The only service indicator included in this new jobset is the existing SDI (SBCTC Use Only: Duplicate) service indicator. The SDI service indicator has been in use for years, and it is manually assigned by SBCTC CS Core Support staff to retiring EMPLIDs when a duplicate EMPLID has been reported by a college and is used to prevent data changes on the retiring EMPLID while the ticket is being processed.

SDI service indicators are manually assigned by SBCTC CS Core Support to all colleges that the student is directly associated with; the jobset then copies this service indicator across all colleges to prevent new activity under the EMPLID at other institutions.

What does the SDI service indicator do?

The SDI service indicator is configured in the same way for all colleges. It is not configured to display to students. It includes all functionally possible impacts:

• All enrollment activity (enrollments, drops, swaps, etc.) is blocked
• Enrollment verifications cannot be requested
• Changes cannot be made to grades
• Transcripts cannot be generated.
• Financial Aid impacts prevent disbursement, packaging, and refunds
• Student Financial impacts prevent refunds, payment plans, checks, and Self-Service payments

Changes have not been made to how the SDI service indicator has been configured for the colleges. The only change is that it will now be assigned automatically for all 33 colleges to retiring EMPLIDs.

Can I/ should I make changes to how the SDI service indicator has been configured?

No. The SDI service indicator is managed exclusively by SBCTC. Do not make changes to the SDI service indicator configuration.

Will the service impacts of an SDI indicator affect all colleges?

Yes, since SDI indicators will now be copied to all colleges, the service indicator impacts will apply to all colleges. This is to ensure that data associated with a retiring EMPLID is not changed. As always, the SDI service indicator is assigned to retiring EMPLIDs by SBCTC CS Core Support staff; the SDI service indicator should never be assigned or removed by a college staff person. Colleges should continue to direct their students to use the kept (retained) EMPLID moving forward, which will not have an SDI service indicator.

How can I tell the difference between an indicator placed manually by CS Core Support staff and one copied by the new jobset?

• In ctcLink, navigate to Campus Community > Service Indicators > Person > Manage Service Indicators
• Search for the student
• Click on the link for the service indicator you are reviewing
• Toward the bottom of this Service Indicator Data page, you will find a Comments section and the User ID that placed the indicator. For indicators copied from another college, the User ID will be JOBS_CS_CORE and the Comments section will include the following note: “This EMPLID has been identified as a duplicate EMPLID. To ensure data integrity, do not add additional data to or perform additional transactions with this EMPLID. Please submit a ticket to the SBCTC CS Core Support team if you have any questions.”

How will this impact the student experience?

Preventing data changes and new activity is essential to duplicate EMPLID clean up, so no adjustments have been made to how the SDI service indicator functions.

This means, as usual, that students will be unable to perform most CS enrollment, financial aid, or student financial transactions under EMPLIDs with the SDI service indicator. Students will receive the usual error messages when an Self Service transaction is blocked by the SDI service indicator.

Will this have any impact on local business processes? (Will I be expected to do something different or new?)

This has no impact on local college business processes. You may now notice more SDI service indicators while reviewing retiring student records. SDI service indicators are assigned by SBCTC CS Core Support staff only; colleges should not assign SDI service indicators nor release or override an SDI service indicator that has been assigned. As always, please report duplicate EMPLIDs to SBCTC CS Core Support. All data movement will be overseen by SBCTC Support teams.

Where can I find more information about how duplicate EMPLIDs are reported and processed?

See the Duplicate EMPLIDs for Same Person Quick Reference Guide (QRG) in the ctcLink Reference Center.

Questions?

Please reach out to the CS Support team if you have questions about this new jobset.

Online Admissions Application Portal (OAAP) Demographics Collection Changes

Demographics collection changes are being made to the OAAP.

Compliance review under the Keep Washington Working Act led to the removal of citizenship questions from the admissions application. Residency determination will be based on affidavit and supplementary questions.

The changes are currently in a code freeze due to a PeopleTools update and are expected to be implemented with PeopleTools update on April 26, 2025.

They are working on determining what to do with the data already collected, with a focus on removing it to have consistent data. The team is also considering the potential impact on financial aid and 1098-T tax forms, as well as the need to mitigate confusion for students.

What’s changing?

The following development changes are being implemented to ensure compliance with the Keep Washington Working (KWW) Act and to enhance the OAAP:

• Dynamic Residency Questions: Updating the residency questions to display dynamically using the Residency Affidavit.
• Removal of Citizenship/Visa Information: Removing citizenship and visa information from the application, including from in-progress applications.

Implementation Timeline

• Official communication about the removal of citizenship question from the admissions application will be shared within the next 1-2 weeks.
• Awaiting final legal approval.
• Colleges will conduct user acceptance testing (UAT) on the revised admissions application with citizenship question removed in April 2025.

CS Support Updates

New Coding for Undergraduate Research Experience

New coding is available to identify courses which include undergraduate research experience (URE). The WA Consortium for Undergraduate Research and Equity (WASURE) will work with faculty on the use of the new course attribute. 

What’s changing?

Beginning Spring 2025, any course incorporating an undergraduate research experience must be coded with a Course Attribute code of SURE. A supporting query to validate coding is available:  QCS_AC_CLASS_BY_ATTR 

This is a way to track student outcomes related to this high-impact practice within and across colleges. See the SBCTC Student & Course Coding Manual for more information.

As a reminder, the Report Catalog has supporting program queries and reports.

Background

For this coding, we define an URE as a research project that is included in the course curriculum, expanding research opportunities to all students.  Research experience can occur across the curriculum including, but not limited to, those in introductory (survey) and specialized research courses.

UREs often include some or all of the following characteristics:

• Research is embedded into the course curriculum.
• All students engage in the research project for a significant amount of time.
• Students are engaged in hands-on, active learning and discovery.
• Students have some ownership and autonomy to make decisions within the research experience.
• Students work collaboratively on the project.
• Students engage in iteration (building on prior knowledge, repeating experiments, or using multiple approaches to address the research question)
• Students utilize the research methodology of the discipline and get experience investigating authentic and relevant questions in the discipline. 
• Students communicate their research outcomes in some manner that replicates professional norms (i.e., presentations, publications, research posters, etc.).

Questions?

For questions regarding the coding, contact Lou Sager, Data Warehouse Associate Director. For questions about the Undergraduate Research Experience, contact Irene Shaver, Climate Solutions Program Administrator.

Update to CS Pillar Population Selection File Map Access

To enhance system security and protect data integrity, the ability to create or update file maps has been restricted in the Campus Solutions (CS) pillar.

College users still have access to upload files and can view and select from existing reusable public and private file maps; however, the creation of new file mappings is restricted to SBCTC.

Why this change?

• Helps prevent the creation of excessive or incorrect file maps which can impact system performance and data accuracy.
• Prevents users from editing global file maps and disrupting those in use by other colleges.

Questions?

Almost all CS processes already have public file maps available for use by users uploading .csv files.

If you encounter a process that does not have a public file map available for your use, or if you have a case for creating an additional file map, please review the new Population Selection File Maps QRG for more information on how to submit a ticket to request a file map.

Please email the CS Support team if you have any questions.

Admissions: Start off Strong!

We’re pleased to announce a new quick reference guide QRG: Maintaining Applications: Program/Plan & Admit Term Updates Before Matriculation.

This new QRG provides a step-by-step guide for making any data changes needed to an Application for Admission that has not yet been matriculated. The QRG covers how to make changes for applications in the current term as well those involving a future term.

It also touches on some options for tracking those changes (comments, actions reasons).

Shared SSNs

Have you reviewed the Duplicate SSN by Term – More Than One EMPLID QARS report recently? 

This returns EMPLIDs that are using an SSN found on another EMPLID.  Sometimes this is a duplicate EMPLID situation, sometimes not.  Either way, it WILL cause reporting issues if it’s not fixed! 

Please review this report for your college and see if there’s a duplicate that needs to be reported or just bad SSN data that needs to be updated. If you have determined that the wrong SSN has been assigned to an individual who is not a student at your institution, please submit a verified SSN ticket and CS Core Support will remove the SSN and document it’s removal on your behalf.

CS Core Learning Opportunities

Cross-Pillar (CS/HCM/SF) End-to-End Class Building Workshops

• Tuesday, March 25, Class Building Workshop Day 1
  • 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.: Course Catalog Management & Class Building
  • 12 to 1 p.m.: Lunch break
  • 1 to 3 p.m.: Class Instructor Assignment & Faculty Workload Processing
• Thursday, March 27, Class Building Workshop Day 2
  • 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.: Adding Course & Class Fees
  • 12 to 1 p.m.: Lunch break
  • 1 to 3 p.m.: Open Q & A for CS Core, HCM, and SF college users

This session is for everyone who builds any classes.  Whether you are new to class building or someone who could benefit from a refresher on how the puzzle pieces fit together, this workshop is for you! 

During the workshop, we will provide an overview of the basics, go over some common mistakes to avoid, and engage users in a session full of “aha!” moments that help you feel connected and supported in the work you do.

In addition to your regular class builder(s), please extend this invitation to those on your campus who build classes as one of many tasks.  Our goal is to engage staff in those departments that provide comprehensive service to a specific population or area (e.g., ABE, DOC, CE), who also build classes and who may not generally be included in opportunities such as this one. 

College users are welcome to attend all workshop sessions or only the session(s) relevant to your work. There is no sign-up or session preparation required; simply add the meeting invite to your calendar and we look forward to seeing you there!

Questions? Contact CS Support.

CS Core and HCM Cross-Pillar Training: Search/Match: Your Frontline Defense Against Duplicate IDs

Wednesday, March 26, 8:30 to 10 a.m., Learn more and join the session

In this session, we will explore practical strategies to prevent duplicate records. We will discuss best practices for Search/Match and review appropriate actions when duplicates are identified. We look forward to your participation and insights.

When adding a new individual to PeopleSoft, the process should always begin with Search/Match to prevent duplicate records and unnecessary new EMPL IDs. The Search/Match functionality reviews existing records to determine if the individual is already in the system. This may be true if they are current or former employees, current or former students at your institution, or students at another ctcLink institution.



In the new hire business process, Search/Match is essential for verifying that an EMPL ID or SSN does not already exist within the HCM or Campus Solutions environments before proceeding with a hire. Skipping this step can result in multiple EMPL IDs for a single employee, creating administrative challenges and data inconsistencies. Since personal data is not visible for verification until the hiring process is complete, conducting this search early is vital for maintaining data integrity.



Duplicate EMPL IDs often arise when new biographical and demographic (bio/demo) information entered into PeopleSoft differs slightly from existing data. Although the system issues warnings when potential duplicates are detected, users sometimes disregard these alerts, leading to duplicate records.


FA/SF/FIN Cross-Pillar Training: End-to-End Reconciliation

Monday, May 5, 1-3 p.m., Learn more and join the session

Join functional trainers from the SBCTC Financial Aid, Student Financials, and Finance teams in this knowledge-sharing session and gain valuable reconciliation resources and tips.

Presenters: Kelly Forsberg, Financial Aid; Alec Risk, Student Financials; Karen Ebert, Finance.

Questions? Contact Alec Risk

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: 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 generally held the first Thursday of each month, from 1 to 3 p.m., but may be offered on an alternative schedule (e.g., to accommodate holidays).

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

Coming up next!

Join us for CS Core Work Session:  ctcLink Student Alert on Thursday, April 3.

The Advising and Retention team at Bates Technical College has implemented and successfully engages faculty, staff, and students in the utilization of a student alert system.

We are excited to share their current Student Alert Process, including the research and methods used to develop a responsive alert system that is regularly utilized and accessible by faculty and staff, empowering them to connect our diverse student body with resources to support their success and wellbeing.

Our goal for this session is to provide a foundation for the research-based establishment of an early alert system, strategies for faculty training and engagement, and to discuss strengths and opportunities for growth with the Student Alert Process.

College Community Share Questions (optional college participation)

• What are some barriers or concerns your college is experiencing around engagement with a student alert system?
• Keeping in mind your goals and intentions for your college's student alert system, what would successful implementation and/or utilization look like for your college?
• What are the three most prominent student success and wellbeing concerns that your college is planning to address through the student alert system?

Questions? Contact CS Core Support.

FIN Updates

Is Your Journal Import Template Working for You?

Anyone who uses the journal import knows how fussy it can be. Now’s the time to think about how your Journal Import Template works for you.

Many of you only use Journal Import towards the end of the year, but if you test now that will give support team a head start on getting yours to work properly.

Just some quick things to consider:

• Be sure you have the latest download from the Journal Spreadsheet Template QRG
• Remember, never open the macro portion or it will be corrupted.
• Save all three files to a folder ALL by themselves – and as few levels as possible (never combine with prior saves of the template files).
• Do not save your files to OneDrive (the macro will not play nice).
• For now (because of a bug) we can only do Import Now, so make sure you DO NOT check mark “Budget Check Journals” in the set-up.

If you are having password issues, be sure to speak with your IT about syncing your passwords.

If you need a short video on how to load this, send a request to Brandy Eismon, SBCTC Functional Analyst. If all else fails, submit a ticket and Brandy will be happy to assist.

FIN Learning Opportunities

FA/SF/FIN Cross-Pillar Training: End-to-End Reconciliation

Monday, May 5, 1-3 p.m., Learn more and join the session

Join functional trainers from the SBCTC Financial Aid, Student Financials, and Finance teams in this knowledge-sharing session and gain valuable reconciliation resources and tips.

Presenters: Kelly Forsberg, Financial Aid; Alec Risk, Student Financials; Karen Ebert, Finance.

Questions? Contact Alec Risk

Travel and Expenses Q&A Drop-In

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.

FA Support Updates

Helpful Reconciliation Reminders

• The Direct Loan 23/24 close out deadline is Friday, July 31, 2025: Direct Loan Closeout Information for 2023–24 Program Year | Knowledge Center
• It is (always) time to load your pgas files!  Pgas files are the Pell Electronic Statement of Accounts which you should be using to reconcile the Federal Pell Grant program.  Note, you may receive multiple pgas files each month to aid you with tracking Net Accepted and Posted Disbursements.

From the FSA Handbook, Vol 4, Ch 5 – Reconciliation in the Pell Grant and Campus-Based Programs, on or around pg 6:

Pell Grant electronic statement of account (ESOA) - The ESOA summarizes the status of a school’s current funding level (CFL) versus the net drawdown for that award year. In addition, the ESOA provides (for the current processing day only) the YTD unduplicated recipient count, the YTD total accepted and posted disbursements, the YTD total administrative cost allowance (ACA) paid to schools, and the net drawdown payments in G6 up to the current processing day. That is, it provides the sum of school-initiated drawdowns, direct payments for obligate/pay accounts, adjustments (+/–) less refunds, and returns.

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 Learning Opportunities

Financial Aid Training

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).

Fin Aid Training: Intermediate Reconciliation Queries Review

Tuesday, April 8, 2025, 9 to 11 a.m., Learn more and join the session

This intermediate level session is a review of the reconciliation queries found in the Fund Management Business Processing Guide.

Objectives

• Understand how to work examples in the reconciliation queries in the Fund Management Business Processing Guide
• Understand how often these should be worked and impacts to not running them in a timely manner 

Audience:  FA Staff responsible for account reconciliation.

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

Fin Aid Training: Intermediate WCG Interim Error Report Review

Tuesday, April 22, 2025, 9 to 11 a.m., Learn more and join the session

This Fin Aid Training Session is an intermediate review on the Washington College Grant (WCG) Interim Error Report, from examples found in the FA206 Intermediate FA Reporting Canvas course and the Troubleshooting section in the WCG Interim Business Processing Guide.

Objectives: Understand how to work error examples in the WCG Interim Error Report

Audience:   FA Staff responsible for account WCG Reporting and reconciliation.

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

Fin Aid Training for Header Colleges Only: Loan Set Up for Schema 5.0c and 25/26 Loan Processing

Tuesday, June 17, 2025, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., Learn more and join the session

Join this hands-on workshop to set up/adjust your Run Controls for the 2025-2026 AY in preparation for sending out your Direct Loan files for the Summer Term. 

Audience:  Header College Financial Aid Staff responsible for Direct Loan Origination and Outbounding

Agenda

• Updating/checking Loan Fee Set Up
• Updating/checking Loan Fee in Item Types Set Up
• Updating/checking the Loan Fee in Create Loan Types pg
• Updating the Process Loans Run Control ID parameters to 2025 AY
• 10:30 to 10:45 a.m.: Break
• Updating the EY Summer Include & Summer Exclude Run Control ID parameters to 2025/2026 dates and AY.
• Updating the EY Process Loan Dates Run Control ID to 2025 AY.
• Updating the Schema to 5.0b on the EY Generate Direct Loan Data pg.
• Updating and/or creating EY Run Control IDs for your Direct Loan Reports

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

Financial Aid Work Sessions

Aid Year Rollover (AYRO) Activities Winding Down

The last four colleges are scheduled for their AYRO sessions.

All colleges are expected to complete AYRO Part 1 on their own. All the detailed documentation and “how to” is included in your meeting invite for AYRO. Should you have any questions while completing AYRO Part 1, please submit a ticket under ctcLink Support > Financial Aid > FA AYRO.

The goal is for each college to complete AYRO Part 1 before attending the AYRO Part 2 Work Session. Please be sure to submit tickets related to AYRO Part 1 no later than one week before your scheduled AYRO Part 2 Work Session.

Aid Year Rollover Financial Aid Support Sessions

All colleges' schedules are listed at the SBCTC Calendar.

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).

FA/SF/FIN Cross-Pillar Work Session Reconciliation Show & Tell

Thursday, June 5, 2025, 1-3 p.m., Learn more and join the session

Join us for a cross-pillar work session as SBCTC hosts esteemed colleagues from Bellevue College in a Webex on the hot topic of reconciliation!

Guest speakers Christine Taylor, Financial Aid Director; Jennifer Fetters, Associate Director of Student Center-Financial Aid; and Jennifer McMillan, Finance Manager, will walk through their local business process on reconciliation for Pell, Direct Loan, and state funds. 

This session emphasizes the importance of interdepartmental communication during monthly reconciliation processes and reviews key steps unique to Bellevue College in their local reconciliation business process.

Audience:  FA, SF and FIN staff responsible for reconciling federal and state funding

HCM Learning Opportunities

Cross-Pillar (CS/HCM/SF) End-to-End Class Building Workshops

• Tuesday, March 25, Class Building Workshop Day 1
  • 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.: Course Catalog Management & Class Building
  • 12 to 1 p.m.: Lunch break
  • 1 to 3 p.m.: Class Instructor Assignment & Faculty Workload Processing
• Thursday, March 27, Class Building Workshop Day 2
  • 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.: Adding Course & Class Fees
  • 12 to 1 p.m.: Lunch break
  • 1 to 3 p.m.: Open Q & A for CS Core, HCM, and SF college users

This session is for everyone who builds any classes.  Whether you are new to class building or someone who could benefit from a refresher on how the puzzle pieces fit together, this workshop is for you! 

During the workshop, we will provide an overview of the basics, go over some common mistakes to avoid, and engage users in a session full of “aha!” moments that help you feel connected and supported in the work you do.

In addition to your regular class builder(s), please extend this invitation to those on your campus who build classes as one of many tasks.  Our goal is to engage staff in those departments that provide comprehensive service to a specific population or area (e.g., ABE, DOC, CE), who also build classes and who may not generally be included in opportunities such as this one. 

College users are welcome to attend all workshop sessions or only the session(s) relevant to your work. There is no sign-up or session preparation required; simply add the meeting invite to your calendar and we look forward to seeing you there!

Questions? Contact CS Support.

HCM Training

CS Core and HCM Cross-Pillar Training: Search/Match: Your Frontline Defense Against Duplicate IDs

Wednesday, March 26, 8:30 to 10 a.m., Learn more and join the session

In this session, we will explore practical strategies to prevent duplicate records. We will discuss best practices for Search/Match and review appropriate actions when duplicates are identified. We look forward to your participation and insights.

When adding a new individual to PeopleSoft, the process should always begin with Search/Match to prevent duplicate records and unnecessary new EMPL IDs. The Search/Match functionality reviews existing records to determine if the individual is already in the system. This may be true if they are current or former employees, current or former students at your institution, or students at another ctcLink institution.



In the new hire business process, Search/Match is essential for verifying that an EMPL ID or SSN does not already exist within the HCM or Campus Solutions environments before proceeding with a hire. Skipping this step can result in multiple EMPL IDs for a single employee, creating administrative challenges and data inconsistencies. Since personal data is not visible for verification until the hiring process is complete, conducting this search early is vital for maintaining data integrity.



Duplicate EMPL IDs often arise when new biographical and demographic (bio/demo) information entered into PeopleSoft differs slightly from existing data. Although the system issues warnings when potential duplicates are detected, users sometimes disregard these alerts, leading to duplicate records.


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.

 

SF Support Updates

Student Financial Responsibility Agreement (SFRA) UAT Update

General Student Communication Template

A draft student communication outlining the SFRA template and sample text for a local SFRA webpage has been added to the SFRA QRG resources for your institution’s consideration. To access it, visit SFRA QRG > Resources > Student SFRA Communications Template/Info.

SFRA Start Adjustment

Based on college feedback and internal discussions, the SFRA year will now begin in the summer term instead of the fall term. This change will be implemented in the production environment, so please consider its impact when testing in PCD.

SFRA Excluded Populations

In accordance with the Revised Code of Washington (RCWs) and the federal regulations encompassed by the Student Financial Responsibility Agreement (SFRA), SBCTC affirms that only specific student populations are excluded from the SFRA requirements. The current exclusion list includes:

• Students under the age of 18
• Running Start students
• Students enrolled 100% in Basic Education for Adults (BEdA) programs
• Open Doors students
• Department of Corrections (DOC) students
• Continuing Education (CNED) students

As outlined in the applicable regulations, the SFRA extends beyond tuition and fees to encompass all charges that a student may incur at their institution. It is the responsibility of the student to acknowledge and accept financial responsibility for all potential charges as part of their enrollment. SBCTC will conduct an annual review of the SFRA structure and exclusion list to ensure alignment with evolving system changes, policies, and regulatory updates.

Refinements to Excluded Populations

Based on feedback from UAT sessions, the SFA mass assign job will be updated to improve the accuracy of excluded populations:

• BEdA – The TS program plan stack has been added to ensure broader inclusion.
• Open Door Students – SHS2, SHS3, SHS4 student groups have been added.

QRG Updates

In addition to templates and background information, the SFRA Resources QRG includes:

• UAT Q&A: The March 3 session document is now available for review.
• UAT Survey: The survey will be sent in the coming weeks and will include questions on process understanding, language and configuration validation, go-live term/date selection, and a section for specific comments or concerns.
• Recording Links: Presentation video recordings are now available under Resources > Presentation Video Recordings in the QRG.
• Mass Assigning Service Indicators: By request, we have added information on mass assigning service indicators under the Resources section of the SFRA. A link to the QRG can be found under the Mass Assign Service Indicators dropdown.

We appreciate your continued engagement and feedback throughout this process.

Please reach out to SFSUPPORT@SBCTC.EDU with any questions or concerns during testing.

SF Learning Opportunities

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

• The Student Financials Learning Opportunities Recordings QRG is a comprehensive list of all previous SF-related recordings.
• Previous SF DL Blasts can be found within Student Financials Resources.

Cross-Pillar (CS/HCM/SF) End-to-End Class Building Workshops

• Tuesday, March 25, Class Building Workshop Day 1
  • 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.: Course Catalog Management & Class Building
  • 12 to 1 p.m.: Lunch break
  • 1 to 3 p.m.: Class Instructor Assignment & Faculty Workload Processing
• Thursday, March 27, Class Building Workshop Day 2
  • 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.: Adding Course & Class Fees
  • 12 to 1 p.m.: Lunch break
  • 1 to 3 p.m.: Open Q & A for CS Core, HCM, and SF college users

This session is for everyone who builds any classes.  Whether you are new to class building or someone who could benefit from a refresher on how the puzzle pieces fit together, this workshop is for you! 

During the workshop, we will provide an overview of the basics, go over some common mistakes to avoid, and engage users in a session full of “aha!” moments that help you feel connected and supported in the work you do.

In addition to your regular class builder(s), please extend this invitation to those on your campus who build classes as one of many tasks.  Our goal is to engage staff in those departments that provide comprehensive service to a specific population or area (e.g., ABE, DOC, CE), who also build classes and who may not generally be included in opportunities such as this one. 

College users are welcome to attend all workshop sessions or only the session(s) relevant to your work. There is no sign-up or session preparation required; simply add the meeting invite to your calendar and we look forward to seeing you there!

Questions? Contact CS Support.

FA/SF/FIN Cross-Pillar Training: End-to-End Reconciliation

Monday, May 5, 1-3 p.m., Learn more and join the session

Join functional trainers from the SBCTC Financial Aid, Student Financials, and Finance teams in this knowledge-sharing session and gain valuable reconciliation resources and tips.

Presenters: Kelly Forsberg, Financial Aid; Alec Risk, Student Financials; Karen Ebert, Finance.

Questions? Contact Alec Risk

SF Training

SF Training: Item Types 101

Monday, April 14, 2025, 1 to 3 p.m., Learn more and join the session

This is an introduction-level class to Item Types and Student Financials Configuration. This training is designed for new employees and individuals who would like a refresher on Item Type basics. We will discuss the foundational aspects of Item Types including configuration and flow.

In this session, we may cover:

• Item Type Numbering and Configuration
• Refund Indicators
• Priority - Charge Priority List/Payment Priorities/ Overall Priority
• How to create new Item Types

Primary Audience: College staff who deal with Student accounts and want a better understanding of how Item Types work.

Related QRG: Understanding Item Types

Prerequisite Course: SF100 - Student Financials Fundamentals

SF Training: Item Types 102

Monday, April 21, 2025, 1 to 3 p.m., Learn more and join session

This is a moderate-level class for Item Types and Student Financials Configuration. This training is designed for new employees and individuals who would like a refresher on Item Type basics. We will discuss the practical application of Item Types.

In this session, we may cover:

• Understanding View Customer Accounts
• Tuition Calculation
• Term Fees
• Posting a Charge

Primary Audience: College Staff who deal with Student accounts and want a better understanding of how Item Types work.

Related QRG: Understanding Item Types

Prerequisite Course: SF100 - Student Financials Fundamentals

Presenter/Facilitator: Alec Risk, SBCTC Student Financials Functional Trainer

SF Work Sessions

2024 1098-T Processing

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.

New Coding for Undergraduate Research Experience

New coding is available to identify courses which include undergraduate research experience (URE). The WA Consortium for Undergraduate Research and Equity (WASURE) will work with faculty on the use of the new course attribute. 

What’s changing?

Beginning Spring 2025, any course incorporating an undergraduate research experience must be coded with a Course Attribute code of SURE. A supporting query to validate coding is available:  QCS_AC_CLASS_BY_ATTR 

This is a way to track student outcomes related to this high-impact practice within and across colleges. See the SBCTC Student & Course Coding Manual for more information.

As a reminder, the Report Catalog has supporting program queries and reports.

Background

For this coding, we define an URE as a research project that is included in the course curriculum, expanding research opportunities to all students.  Research experience can occur across the curriculum including, but not limited to, those in introductory (survey) and specialized research courses.

UREs often include some or all of the following characteristics:

• Research is embedded into the course curriculum.
• All students engage in the research project for a significant amount of time.
• Students are engaged in hands-on, active learning and discovery.
• Students have some ownership and autonomy to make decisions within the research experience.
• Students work collaboratively on the project.
• Students engage in iteration (building on prior knowledge, repeating experiments, or using multiple approaches to address the research question)
• Students utilize the research methodology of the discipline and get experience investigating authentic and relevant questions in the discipline. 
• Students communicate their research outcomes in some manner that replicates professional norms (i.e., presentations, publications, research posters, etc.).

Questions?

For questions regarding the coding, contact Lou Sager, Data Warehouse Associate Director. For questions about the Undergraduate Research Experience, contact Irene Shaver, Climate Solutions Program Administrator.

Downtime Notice: Scheduled Firewall Hardware Upgrade for dataLink

Friday, March 14, 2025, 5 to 11 p.m.

As part of Stage 2 of the refresh program, firewall hardware supporting your college’s Datalink connection will be upgraded. This enhancement will increase bandwidth for inbound and outbound traffic while adding an extra layer of security to protect our network from external threats.

• Impact: During this time, dataLink connections will be unavailable.
• No action required: This upgrade does not require changes to your local configuration.

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to the SBCTC Network team.

Query Developer Learning Opportunities

How to Enroll in Query Developer Courses

It’s easy to enroll in Query Developer Courses.

• Visit the ctcLink Training Registrationpage,
• Select the class(es) from the Designated Query Developer Training section,
• Follow the sign-up process.

More for PeopleSoft Query Developers

Find more ctcLink PeopleSoft Query Development resources including forms, documentation, and tools at the ctcLink PeopleSoft Reporting web page.

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, April 8, 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.

Offboarding Automation is Live

We are pleased to announce that the Security Administration System Improvement (SASI) Work Package #0 – Offboarding Automation went into production on the evening of March 5, 2025. This will help reduce the time it takes Local Security Administrators to offboard personnel as they leave. It will also help standardize procedures and ensure audit compliance.

We appreciate those who participated in UAT testing and worked with us to address a few additional items. Special thanks to the SASI College Advisory Group members and the LSA Community for dedicating your efforts to ensuring the functionality in this new feature is well validated before considering Production release.

The list of potential items to address in Phase Two items will be posted in the SASI Project Information Guide.

Security Updates

The ctcLink Security team has been supporting all Pillars in the PeopleTools update, Insights work, Book to Bank Testing, Finance Masking Testing, and hosted the monthly Security Admin meeting this week.

Looking ahead, the team will develop Phase 2 Changes for Automated Offboarding following the PeopleTools release and is focusing on Work Package 2 - Reporting Changes and ER 289 Reset User Functionality Changes.

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 single day.

Completed/Wins

• Development deployed to production this week
• Data fixes and bug fixes in HCM, CS, and FSCM
• ER 242 Automated offboarding went live!
• ER 203 - PTF LTD Report went to production and passed Confidence Testing. Ticket 164932.
• Tax update 25-A passed confidence testing.
• Worked on restoring integrations for external applications in production.
• Runner Tech Clean Address Fix Deployment - 3/6
• Offboarding Go-Live
• ER-266 Student Financial Responsibility Agreement Second Q & A Sessions with College Users
• PT 8.61 Test Plan Created in TestLink

In Progress

• In Development, SIT, UAT, and Completed
• Add new leave codes to CTC_ABSBL_AE and Crosswalk. Ticket 193709. HCM-1538. Development complete. Will begin SIT once 8.61 completes SIT.
• App Engine for Yearly Updates to CS and ST Salary Plans. Ticket 207571. We are developing an app engine to automate a complex process that the HCM functional has had to do manually every year with Excel to CI. Development is in progress.
• On 3/5/2025, Robert completed archiving HR_ACCTG_LINE through Pay End Date 12/31/2018. This archived 9,240,416 rows. The rows in HR_ACCTG_LINE are down from 119,810,348 to 110,569,932. Working with Data Services team on testing query performance after archiving in PCD.
• Automatically Resubmit Asynchronous IB Errors. Ticket 200430. In progress.
• 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.
• Coordinate and establish CampusCE and ctcLink connections in PTS for PTools upgrade Testing.
• Create ER-266 Student Financial Responsibility Agreement Survey
• Enhancement FWL Employee Record Look Up. Ticket 148615. Waiting for 8.61 SIT to complete.
• 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. We met on 3/7 to discuss design specifics.
• ER 219 - Automation of adjustments to vacation / sick time donations for Shared Leave. Ticket 168718. Currently in development.
• ER 232 - Adding Custom Self-Service Questions in Campus Solutions. Back to redev. Waiting for requirements based on the survey results.
• ER 253 - Make a Payment Page Classic to Fluid. Development is complete. Ticket 181828. Will resume SIT once 8.61 passes SIT.
• ER 285 - Purchase of EPM tool from Oracle for use to do Book to Bank reconciliation. Progress presented at the Strategic Technology Advisory Committee Meeting on 2/13/2025. The group agreed that ER 285 should be canceled and brought through governance again. The new submission will exclude the requirement of purchasing the EPM tool and instead just have the requirements without being prescriptive in the specific solution. We will be continuing development of the customization once that's been approved.
• ER-171 TAM Enhancements. Ticket 163606 and HCM-1292. Waiting for 8.61 SIT to complete
• ER-266 Student Financial Responsibility Agreement College User Review
• HCM Image 50: Preferred Name Issue in Update Dependent/Beneficiary Page. Ticket 203133. Oracle development completed fix and it will come with image 51.
• Open Search server index sizing, disc space increasing
• PeopleTools 8.61 SIT in progress. Responding to tickets as they are opened.
• Prep for New Test Coordinators
• PT 8.61 System Integration Testing
• SFTP Server Report Permission Changes 8.61
• Support inquiries for GLBA Audit.
• Support PeopleTools Update project.
• Support testing for 199915 and 198623 CampusCE fixes.
• Support tickets related to integrations.
• Update - Proxy Server / Integration Broker Issue (global, non-prod / prod)
• Work on resolving IB issues in PQA and PDV,
• Working with Nelnet, the CS SF team, and Managed Services for the Nelnet SBCTC Campus Solution Connector Install upgrade project. In UAT now. Ticket 195128. CS-2181 and CS-2182.

Upcoming

• ER 232 Self Service questions, phase II and additional accessibility updates.
• ER 245 - Extension for Student Group Mass Assign. Ticket 178457. Carmen would like development to begin in April 2025.
• ER 999 - OAAP Work Package 1 - Residency and Citizenship UAT - TBD
• ERP Support Page Update
• Nelnet PeopleSoft Connector Upgrade Project Go-Live - scheduled for 6/17
• PCD Refresh - 4/7
• PQA Refresh and PT 8.61 Upgrade - 4/4
• Quest Stat Troubleshooting and Updates
• Review and analyze web apps usage feedback.
• Staff Training Participation Release Go-Live - scheduled for 3/12
• Support and monitor 3rd party integrations.
• Support OAAP, CampusCE, HCX and OKTA integration enhancements, bug fixes.
• Support tickets related to PS integrations
• Understand and document OIC capabilities for future integrations.