ctcLink Learning Opportunities & Support Roundup: Sept. 11, 2024

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).

Date	Time	Event
Sep 12	9am	SF Training: Intermediate Cashiering
Sep 17	9am	*NEW SESSION* Fin Aid Training: FLF Process w/ the New Enrollment Intensity Queries
Sep 17	11am	FIN Work Session: Asset Mgmt Q&A Drop-In
Sep 17	2pm	FIN Work Session: FSCM Prod Support Meeting
Sep 18	8:30am	CS Core Refresher: Enrollment Appointments
Sep 18	1pm	HCM Training: Employee Self Service (ESS)
Sep 19	1pm	SF Work Session: Refunding Part 1 - The Why/When/Who prior to!
Sep 24	9am	PS Query Training 401 Expert- Part 1
Sep 24	2pm	FIN Work Session: FSCM Prod Support Meeting (DYK on Dashboards)
Sep 25	9am	PS Query Training 401 Expert- Part 2
Sep 25	1pm	HCM Work Session: Payroll Processing - Checklist Steps 1 - 5
Oct 1	9am	Fin Aid Training: Census Refresher
Oct 1	1pm	Save the Date! CS Core Reexamining Dynamic Dates
Oct 1	2pm	FIN Work Session: FSCM Prod Support Meeting
Oct 3	1pm	CS Core Work Session: Caring for Your Core Processes
Oct 3	2pm	FIN Training: Intermediate General Ledger - Journals (Part 1of2)
Oct 8	9am	*NEW SESSION* Advanced Fin Aid Training: Reviewing the View COD Data page
Oct 8	2pm	FIN Work Session: FSCM Prod Support Meeting
Oct 9	2pm	ctcLink Accounting Team: SF/GL Open Forum Meeting
Oct 10	9am	SF Training: Intermediate Refunds
Oct 14	11am	FIN Work Session: Grants/Projects Q&A Drop-In
Oct 14	1pm	SF Work Session: Refunding Part 2
Oct 15	11am	FIN Work Session: Asset Mgmt Q&A Drop-In
Oct 15	2pm	FIN Work Session: FSCM Prod Support Meeting
Oct 16	1pm	HCM Work Session: HR Core - Overview
Oct 22	2pm	FIN Work Session: FSCM Prod Support Meeting
Oct 23	1pm	HCM Training: Manager Self Service (MSS)
Oct 24	2pm	FIN Training: Intermediate General Ledger - Importing Journals (Part 2of2)
Oct 28	1pm	SF Work Session: 2024 1098-T Processing (1 of 5)
Oct 29	2pm	FIN Work Session: FSCM Prod Support Meeting
Oct 30	1pm	HCM Work Session: HR Core - HR Administration

Resource	Description
ctcLink Training Quick Reference Guides	The ctcLink Training Quick Reference Guides (QRGs) in the ctcLink Reference Center lists and links to recordings of sessions delivered by the Training Team.
Work Sessions in Canvas	The Work Session Canvas Course lists and links to recordings of sessions, including CS Core-offered Work Sessions. Register for the course(s) at ctcLink Training & Learning Opportunities Registration.
ctcLink Security Documentation & Training	Find ctcLink Security-related training materials, documentation, Quick Reference Guides (QRGs), useful queries, and more on the ctcLink Security Documentation & Training page.
Accessibility and ctcLink Open Forums	SBCTC hosts monthly Accessibility and ctcLink Open Forums to engage Washington's community and technical college system in discussions around ctcLink accessibility and technology. Find materials and recordings from past ctcLink Accessibility Forums on the website.

 

NEW! Professional & Personal Development Suite Workshops Available for All

Professional and Personal Development workshops are now open to all Washington state community and technical college employees, whether faculty, staff, or administrators.

Background

This series of soft-skill workshops was initially developed to support SBCTC IT staff. Once the workshops were discovered on the agency calendar by other SBCTC and college employees, they asked if they, too, might participate on a case-by-case basis. 

After piloting outside participation and receiving positive feedback and requests, Corinne Taylor, ctcLink Professional/Personal Development Trainer, sought leadership support to work across SBCTC departments to present to a systemwide audience.

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

The workshops are cross-linked from the SBCTC Professional Development page and the ctcLink Training & Learning Opportunities page under “Grow Your Skills.”

Current offerings include

Professional Development Suite

• Positive Communication Strategies
• Leadership
• Top Tier Customer Experience
• Teams/Team Bonding
• Dependable Strengths Articulation Process (DSAP)
• Time Management

Personal Development Suite

• Managing Stress Part 1 & Part 2
• Mental Health: Awareness & Support
• Vicarious Trauma
• Psychological Safety in the Workplace
• Mind Frame: Turn Negative Thoughts into Positive Actions
• Emotional Quotient (EQ)

Questions?

Reach out to Corinne Taylor, Professional/Personal Development Trainer.

ctcLink Production Environment – HCM Image 49 Update

This notice is for all users of the ctcLink production environment. SBCTC will be performing maintenance on ctcLink to deploy HCM Image 49.

When: Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

What’s impacted?

• The Human Capital Management (HCM) pillar will be unavailable during the maintenance period.
• The Portal, Campus Solutions (CS), and Finance pillars will remain online during the maintenance period.
• Admissions (OAAP) and HighPoint HCX mobile pages will remain online during the maintenance period.
• Integration between CampusCE and ctcLink will remain online during the maintenance period.
• Canvas will not be impacted. 

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:

• In Flight
• Next Up
• Future Work

Enhancement Request Details

If you need more detailed information, downloadable spreadsheets with multiple tabs allow you to review and sort the data you need:

• In Flight Enhancement Requests

• Next Up Enhancement Requests

• Future Enhancement Requests

• Deployed Enhancement Requests

• No Action Taken - Canceled or Denied Enhancement Requests

Enhancement Requests (ER) Deployed

• ER 293 – (FYI) New Journal Source Needed (SF) - Deployed Sept. 5, 2024

ER Work Underway (In Flight)

• ER 232 (FYI) Adding Custom Self-Service Questions - Development work is in progress.
• OAAP ERs #178, 184,169, 183, 212, and 237 approved by Working Group. Work is underway for Priority 1 (Residency & Citizenship) which includes some crossover between ERs 169, 184, and 237. The development work is currently being reviewed by CS and feedback is being collected to provide to the vendor.
• Finance ER 285 - Purchase of EPM tool from Oracle for use to do Book to Bank reconciliation – in review with the technical, functional and Business Operations staff for solutions internal to ctcLink versus purchasing a third-party solution.
• ER 242 - Offboarding Automation is under development. Offboarding staff will become a mostly automated process in all three pillars. This will save staff hours of manual work.
• ER 266 - A Student Financial Responsibility Agreement – Electronic Signature is in development. Working with Education Division and AAG to develop SFRA functionality in ctcLink to assist the colleges in meeting several newer RCW’s and U.S Bankruptcy code.
• ER 122 - Charge Benefit Expense to Primary Job development is in progress. Presently the benefit expense gets split between all the budgets a person is being paid from on a particular payroll, rather than only charging to their primary job. This will change the way the benefits expense - HCA Avg Cost - gets split between budgets and charge it only to the Primary Job. The Primary Job's Combo code needs to be charged for the HCA Avg. Costs. The other charges (benefits or otherwise) should get charged to the job(s) being paid.

ERs Currently in Testing

• ER 294 - (FYI) Positive Pay File CEMLI Update to include escheated check as cancelled check – SIT Testing
• ER 289 (FYI) - Enable Advising Notes for student use in HighPoint Campus Experience (HCX). Functional testing in progress

CS Quick Updates

• Academic Advisement Report (AAR) workshop planning for fall quarter is underway. Sessions are tentatively scheduled for Nov. 13 and 14, 2024. Stay tuned for more information!
• Feeling lighter in your AARs? That’s because Karen Erickson successfully completed the AAR Purge for ALL COLLEGES for the 2024 calendar year! AAR Purge processes will begin again in 2025.

OAAP Security Access - Audit and Procedure Changes

The Campus Solutions Core (CS Core) functional support team is updating security request procedures for the Online Admissions Application Portal (OAAP).

This week, and continuing through Sept. 20, colleges are auditing their list of users and reporting changes.

What is Changing

Previously, any college staff member could be designated as an OAAP security access approver by either the ctcLink College Leader or someone already authorized to request OAAP access changes. These designated individuals were able to request OAAP access changes for other college users.

To align OAAP security procedures with ctcLink security protocols, going forward, all OAAP security access changes must be requested by a college's local security administrator (LSA). This update will also support the Security Team's efforts in collaborating with LSAs to introduce shell roles in ctcLink for third-party access, which will help streamline college onboarding and offboarding processes. For further details on third party shell roles, please refer to ER 290:  ER 290 - SASI WP 6 - Okta Shell Roles for Third Party Access Notices .docx.

OAAP Security Access Freeze & College Audit

To facilitate the upcoming OAAP security access changes, CS Support and the Security Teams are requesting colleges to conduct an audit of their current list of users. To ensure accuracy and provide colleges with sufficient time for this audit, we will be temporarily freezing OAAP access changes for approximately three weeks. During this period, CS Core will be creating a ticket for each college with a list of users and their respective OAAP access levels for review. This ticket must be assigned to either the ctcLink College Leader or a college LSA. Please review the timeline and action items below for the key dates associated with each activity.

SBCTC will add and maintain a new OAAP Security Access Log section to the Security Approver/Admins Google Sheet in the ctcLink PeopleSoft Customer Support Google Drive, where the college LSAs and PoCs have view access for auditing purposes. 

Audit Timeline

Date(s)	Activity
Due 8/30/2024	College completes this spreadsheet to designate which client SBCTC should assign the OAAP audit ticket to
9/3/2024	Freeze begins for OAAP security access changes
9/3 - 9/6/2024	SBCTC creates OAAP audit ticket for each college
9/9 - 9/20/2024	Colleges audit their list of users and report changes in the ticket
9/23/2024	SBCTC updates OAAP security access
9/24/2024	Freeze ends for OAAP security access changes

OAAP Security Access Procedures

Following completion of the OAAP security audit and freeze, colleges will follow the below procedures for requesting OAAP security access changes:

• Utilize the  Security Approver/Admins Google Sheet - OAAP Security Access Log section for viewing college access.
• To add or remove OAAP access for college users, a college LSA will need to submit a ticket (ctcLink Support > Security Issue > OAAP Security) with the following information:
• First name
• Last name
• EMPLID
• OAAP Security Level

Related QRG: OAAP Security Access

If you have any questions, please reach out to Dani Bundy (dbundy@sbctc.edu),  Roger Curry (rcurry@sbctc.edu) , Kyrsten Catlin (kcatlin@sbctc.edu), and Shelia Sloan (sloan@sbctc.edu).

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 trainings. 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 OpportunitiesRecordings for a list of previous recordings.

NEW! CS Core Refresher: Enrollment Appointments

Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, 8:30 – 10 a.m., Read more and join the session

This session will include the following topics:

• Student Program Plan Discontinuation
• Batch Term Activation
• Enrollment Appointments
• Define Student Appointment Blocks
• Create the Enrollment Appointment Table
• Assign Enrollment Appointments in Batch

The term activation batch job runs more efficiently with fewer active program/plan stacks and fewer term-activated students' tuition calculations. Additionally, it prevents accidental term activations. Develop criteria for when a student must reapply to your institution and submit a ticket to discontinue ineligible students.

Next, we will walk through Batch Term Activation. Before enrolling, students must be term-activated; the local business process will determine the number of previous terms to include. Then, we will create Student Appointment Blocks using Student Groups and Cumulative Units. Student Blocks are One-Time Setups. Once you have set up your Student Appointment Blocks, you do not need to recreate them every term. After creating Student Appointment Blocks, we will set dates and times on the Appointment Table. Finally, we will assign appointments in Batch.

Save the Date! CS Core Reexamining Dynamic Dates

Tuesday, Oct. 1, 1 p.m., Read more and join the session

Stay tuned for more details about this important session.

CS Core Work Sessions

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

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

Core Sessions: College System & SBCTC Calendar

CS COREterly Open Q&A Sessions

CS Core invites you to attend its quarterly Open Q&A sessions! While these sessions are for learning and problem-solving, and community building.

• Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, 1-3 p.m., Learn more and join the session

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.

Getting Repeat Ready

Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, Learn more and join the session

We’ve spent a lot of time talking about the Repeat Rule and the State Repeat Policy.  In this session, Cielito Lane, Bates Technical College, won’t cover ANY of that!  Nope, not at all!  This is not about the Rule.  It is not about the Policy.  So what is it about?  This session is about DOING it.  Because that’s what time it is. Time to DO IT.

Our focus is getting repeat-ready, so this session will benefit those colleges who haven’t felt quite brave enough to run the Repeat Checking Process.  Getting repeat-ready means preparing by cleaning up your Course Catalog and using queries to make sure everything IS clean.  It also means making some business decisions around how you will process students who had enrollment in both Legacy and ctcLink, specifically around the REP grading basis and REXP repeat codes.  You’ll leave this session feeling confident and ready to tackle repeat checking!

Caring for Your Core Processes

Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, 1-3 p.m., Read more and join the session

Come learn about the best practices, common issues and frequently asked questions related to scheduling and job sets!  We’ll talk about run controls and process recurrences as we demonstrate how to use the process monitor and how to review resulting success/error files.  Shelia will join us to explain the purpose of the college jobs account and related expectations and responsibilities.  Note, this content will be specific to CS Core modules (admissions, advisement, enrollment, curriculum management, etc.).

Module: PeopleTools

Primary Audience: Process Schedulers

Facilitator/s: Maria Sultan and Marissa Baker, with Shelia Sloan

Reference materials: Process Scheduler/Process Monitor

CS Core Work Session: [Students] Got Bills; They’re Multiplying!

Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, 1-3 p.m., Read more and join the session

Does looking at the student account make you feel like you’re loooooosing control?  Well, you better shape up, to help you better understand (la la la), that this session is for you.  This is the-one-you-want (do-do-do).  This session is for those of you who work outside of Student Financials who may need to view the student account and understand what you are seeing.  Today we’ll get you a few key words and concepts that will help you better navigate, translate and make sense of Student Financials. 

We’ll start with a high-level overview of different tuition groups and tuition calculation.  Then, a basic understanding of how to read the student account and where to find information about payments, refunds and more. We will also review the account from the student’s perspective so you can help your students navigate what they see in Self-Service. GREASE up those minds, this session will be ELECTRIFYING.

Module: Student Financials

Primary Audience: Student Financials-Adjacent staff

Facilitator: Jill Hammitt, Highline College

Reference materials

• What I Owe (HCX) QRG
• Highline Canvas:  Tuition/Fees Account Balances (Student Homepage)
• Highline Canvas:  Tuition/Fees and Account Balances (Mobile)

NEW! CS Core Work Session: Get on the sCOREboard

Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, 1-3 p.m., Read more and join the session

As the year ends, it’s once again time to celebrate the progress we've made as a system in ctcLink! All that hard work deserves a break so let’s take some time for some fun and games! Your CS Core team will host this light-hearted trivia-esque experience. The winning college not only gets bragging rights but ALSO gets to work with us to ensure that one of their most desired topics is addressed in a 2025 work session. This is your opportunity for you to show off that you’ve been scouring your bulletins, attending our work sessions, and bookmarking your QRGs/Canvas courses.

We may even throw in some random college and Washington state facts just to keep everyone on their toes and even the playing field!

FIN Learning Opportunities

FIN Training: Intermediate General Ledger - Journals (Part 1 of 2)

Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, 2 p.m., Learn more and join the session

Ready for a deeper dive into General Ledger Journals? Join us for Part 1 of 2 sessions on GL Journals.

This intermediate training will cover more complex journal processes such as reversals and unposting Journals in the General Ledger. Don't forget to save the date for Part 2 on Oct 24 that is all about the Journal Import Processes. All end users at any level are welcome to join in and gain perspective. Some of the topics that will be covered are:

• Creating and submitting Journal Reversals 
• Unposting Journal Process
• Correcting Complex Journal Errors
• and more TBD!

Primary Audience: Finance/Admin/Staff Managers

Related QRGs: General Ledger section of the ctcLink Reference Center

Prerequisite Course(s): GL100 General Ledger Basics, GL200 Intermediate General Ledger

Presenter/Facilitators: Karen Ebert, SBCTC Functional Finance Trainer, and Brandy Eismon, SBCTC Functional Analyst

Questions? Contact Karen Ebert for more information.

FIN Training: Intermediate General Ledger - Importing Journals (Part 2 of 2)

Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2 p.m., Read more and join the session

Ready for a deeper dive into the GL Import Journal Processes? Join us for Part 2 of 2 sessions on GL Journals.

This intermediate training will cover more complex journal processes such as the processes of importing and uploading Excel journal spreadsheets into the General Ledger. Spreadsheet Journal Import uses a front-end interface that provides you with an easy-to-follow menu for entering data, specifying defaults, and importing journals. All end users are welcome to join in and gain perspective. Some of the topics that will be covered are:

• Excel Spreadsheet Import Process: JRNL1_WS
• Customizing a Journal Spreadsheet Template
• Import a Journal Spreadsheet (Import Now) Process
• Uploading a Journal Spreadsheet as a Text File (Write to File) Process.

Module(s): General Ledger

Primary Audience: Finance/Admin/Staff Managers

Related QRGs: Journals: Create & Import

Prerequisite Course(s)  GL100 General Ledger Basics, GL200 Intermediate General Ledger

Presenters: Karen Ebert, SBCTC Functional Finance Trainer, and Brandy Eismon, SBCTC Functional Analyst

Contact: Karen Ebert - SBCTC Functional Finance Trainer

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

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

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

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

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

DATE/TIME	EVENT/TOPIC
Monday, Oct. 14, 11 a.m.	FIN Work Session: Grants/Projects Q&A Drop-In
Monday, Nov. 18,  11 a.m.	FIN Work Session: Grants/Projects Q&A Drop-In *DATE CHANGE due to Veterans Day holiday*
Monday, Dec. 9, 11 a.m.	FIN Work Session: Grants/Projects Q&A Drop-In

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

DATE/TIME	EVENT/TOPIC
Tuesday, Sept. 17, 11 a.m.	FIN Work Session: Asset Management Q&A Drop-In
Tuesday, Oct. 15, 11 a.m.	FIN Work Session: Asset Management Q&A Drop-In
Tuesday, Nov. 19, 11 a.m.	FIN Work Session: Asset Management Q&A Drop-In
Tuesday, Dec. 17, 11 a.m.	FIN Work Session: Asset Management Q&A Drop-In

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.

DATE/TIME	EVENT/TOPIC
Tuesday, Sept. 3	FIN Work Session: FSCM Prod Support Meeting *CANCELLED*
Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2 p.m.	FIN Work Session: FSCM Prod Support Meeting
Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2 p.m.	FIN Work Session: FSCM Prod Support Meeting
Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2 p.m.	FIN Work Session: FSCM Prod Support Meeting – (DYK on Dashboards)
Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2 p.m.	FIN Work Session: FSCM Prod Support Meeting
Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2 p.m.	FIN Work Session: FSCM Prod Support Meeting
Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2 p.m.	FIN Work Session: FSCM Prod Support Meeting
Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2 p.m.	FIN Work Session: FSCM Prod Support Meeting
Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2 p.m.	FIN Work Session: FSCM Prod Support Meeting

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.

DATE/TIME	EVENT/TOPIC
Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2 p.m.	ctcLink Accounting Team: SF/GL Open Forum Meeting
Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2 p.m.	ctcLink Accounting Team: SF/GL Open Forum Meeting
Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2 p.m.	Canceled due to Veterans Day holiday
Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2 p.m.	ctcLink Accounting Team: SF/GL Open Forum Meeting

Financial Aid Award Processing Update

Overall Numbers as of Monday, Sept. 9, 2024

Despite the FAFSA delays, staffing shortages, and the continued need for workarounds, during what has been arguably the most challenging aid year launch ever, college financial aid teams are doing stellar work.

As of Monday, 14,275 students have been awarded for the summer term, and 34,502 students have been awarded for the fall term of the 2024-2025 academic year.

In comparison, as of this date last year, 12,090 students were awarded for the summer term (up by 2,185), and 28,615 students were awarded for the fall term of the 2023-2024 academic year (up by 5,887).

Additionally, as of Sept. 9, colleges have loaded a total of 5,370 WASFA applications into the system to date, compared to 4,100 last year (up by 4,104).

SBCTC FAFSA Resources Webpage

Visit the 2024-25 FAFSA Resources web page for regularly updated information for college employees and includes updated FAQ templates including a Q&A center.

FAFSA Simplification Q&A center (for colleges)

Submit questions and ideas about FAFSA simplification efforts to the SBCTC FAFSA Response Team 

FAFSA in the News

• Keep up with the latest news from the NASFAA FAFSA Simplification Web Center

FA Learning Opportunities

Financial Aid Training

NEW! Fin Aid Training: FLF Process with the New Enrollment Intensity Queries

Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, 9 a.m., Learn more and join the session

This session will cover the steps in the FLF Process using the new Enrollment Intensity Queries.

Module(s): Canvas Course: FA103 Authorizing and Disbursing Financial Aid

Primary Audience: Financial Aid staff responsible for authorizing and disbursing Financial Aid

Related Queries:

• QCS_FA_ASSIGN_PKG_VARS_EI
• QCS_FA_ENROLL_INT_FLF_ADD
• QCS_FA_ENROLL_INT_FLF_REMOVE
• QCS_FA_PACK_VARIABLE_LTFT_LIST

Prerequisite Course(s): Canvas Course:  FA103 Authorizing and Disbursing Financial Aid

Presenter/Facilitator: Kelly Forsberg, ctcLink Functional Trainer (Financial Aid)

NEW! Fin Aid Training: Census Refresher

Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, 9 a.m., Learn more and join the session

Objectives:

• Understand the steps on the Census Process
• Update the Run Equation with AY and term
• Update the AY and terms on the Build FA Term page Run Controls for Census
• Update the AY and terms on the Census Run Equation
• Understand how to update the Census JobSet
• Understand which Census Queries are available

Module(s) Authorizing and Disbursing Financial Aid

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

Prerequisite Course: FA103 Authorizing and Disbursing Financial Aid

Contact Kelly Forsberg, ctcLink Functional Trainer (Financial Aid)

NEW! Advanced FA Training: Reviewing the View COD Data page

Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, 9 - 10:30 a.m., Learn more and join the session

This Fin Aid Session is an advanced training on one of the ctcLink Fin Aid pages that will aid you in your direct loan troubleshooting and reconciliation needs.

Objectives:

• Understand how to do in-depth reading and interpreting the values on the View COD Data page
• Understand how to search for Entrance Counseling and MPN info by SSN
• Understand how to troubleshoot Direct Loan errors using the View COD Data page
• Understand where the link to the Doc ID lives on the Manage Pell Payment page and how that can be found/used in View COD Data
• Understand how to read the Doc ID on a raw CRAA and CRDL file

Audience: Financial Aid staff responsible for Direct Loan processing and troubleshooting

Financial Aid (FA) Work Sessions

Financial Aid (FA) Work Session meetings are on the fourth Thursdays, from 1 to 3 p.m.

The FA Functional Support team facilitates alternating between functional team delivered content and college user delivered content with the support of the FA functional team. The end of each meeting is open for colleges to ask questions about the topic presented. These sessions are open to ALL end users.

Find the latest information, including notices of cancellation or schedule changes, on the ctcLink Training page or on the SBCTC meetings and events calendar (apply filters).

ctcLink Production Environment – HCM Image 49 Update

This notice is for all users of the ctcLink production environment. SBCTC will be performing maintenance on ctcLink to deploy HCM Image 49.

When: Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

What’s impacted?

• The Human Capital Management (HCM) pillar will be unavailable during the maintenance period.
• The Portal, Campus Solutions (CS), and Finance pillars will remain online during the maintenance period.
• Admissions (OAAP) and HighPoint HCX mobile pages will remain online during the maintenance period.
• Integration between CampusCE and ctcLink will remain online during the maintenance period.
• Canvas will not be impacted.

HCM Learning Opportunities

HCM Training

NEW!  HCM Training: Employee Self-Service

Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, 1 – 3 p.m., Learn more and join the session

Employee Self Service  (ESS) training is intended for new hires added to the ctcLink system. Topics covered reflect the transactions available to all employees through the ESS Homepage tiles.

NEW!  HCM Training: Manager Self-Service

Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, 1 – 3pm, Learn more and join the session

This work training covers the Manage Self-Service (MSS) homepage and all the transactions available to managers. More details will be available soon.

HCM Work Session Meetings

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.

• Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, 1 to 3 p.m., Payroll Processing Checklist Steps 1-5
• Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, 1 to 3 p.m., HCM Work Session: HR Core - Overview
• Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, 1 to 3 p.m., HCM Work Session: HR Core - HR Administration

Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, 1 to 3 p.m., Data Prep for Year-End Reporting W-2 Forms - Part 2

SF Quick Updates

• The new 2024 1098-T Business Processing Guide is now available in the ctcLink Reference Center.
• Student Financial Responsibility Agreement (SFRA) enhancement
  • The state Attorney General's Office (AGO) has evaluated and submitted edits to the Education Division’s policy staff for final analysis/update. This ER is expected to be deployed to production prior to the Spring 2025 term.
  • An SFRA outlines and informs students of the financial obligations and responsibilities associated with enrolling for classes at higher education institutions and explains the potential consequences that may be taken if a student fails to meet those obligations. It has become a useful tool for institutions to share and disseminate billing, payment, refund and responsibility information to students and families.

SF Learning Opportunities

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

SF Training

SF Training: Intermediate Cashiering

Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, 9-11 a.m., Learn more and join the session

In this session, we may cover:

• Set-up
• Reconciliation
• Corrections
• View Customer Account page
• Select Charges to Pay (Student View)

Primary Audience: Student Financials

Related QRGs: SF - Cashiering

Prerequisite Courses:

• SF100 - Tuition Calculation
• SF101 - Cashiering
• SF106 - Term Roll/Item Types/GL

Contact Alec Risk, SBCTC Student Financials Functional Trainer, with any questions.

SF Training: Intermediate Refunds          

Monday, Oct. 10, 2024, 9-11 a.m., Learn more and join the session

In this session, we may cover:

• Reversals
• Service Indicators
• Sponsor Refunds

Primary Audience: Student Financials and Financial Aid Refund Processors

Related QRG: SF - Refunds

Prerequisite Courses: SF101 – Cashiering, SF102 - Refunds

Contact Alec Risk, SBCTC Student Financials Functional Trainer, with any questions.

SF Work Sessions

SF Work Session: Refunding Part 1 - The Why/When/Who Prior To!

Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, 1 p.m., Learn more and join the session

Primary Audience: Student Financials

Questions? Contact SF Support for more information.

SF Work Session: Refunding Part 2

Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, 1 to 3 p.m., Learn more and join the session

In this session, we may cover FARP/FARC Processing and Financial Aid Reconciliation.

Primary Audience: Student Financials and Financial Aid Refund Processors

Related QRGs: SF - Refunds

Contact Email: SFSupport@sbctc.edu

SF Work Session: 2024 1098-T Processing (1 of 5)

Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, 1 to 3 p.m., Learn more and join the session

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.

DATE/TIME	EVENT/TOPIC
Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2 p.m.	ctcLink Accounting Team: SF/GL Open Forum Meeting
Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2 p.m.	ctcLink Accounting Team: SF/GL Open Forum Meeting
Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2 p.m.	ctcLink Accounting Team: SF/GL Open Forum Meeting

Query Developer Learning Opportunities

Instructor-Led Query Development Training

The ctcLink Training Calendar has been updated with next quarter’s instructor led query development training schedule. Have a look at their fresh offerings.

Step Up your Query Game

Learn more about the Designated Query Developer Training series and start your journey to becoming your college’s very own query guru! Or query wizard, if you prefer. Or maestro. Maybe a goddess, crackerjack, wizard, or maven. It’s up to you!

Upcoming courses include:

• Tuesday, Sept. 24, 9 a.m., PS Query Training 401 Expert- Part 1
• Wednesday, Sept. 25, 9 a.m., PS Query Training 401 Expert- Part 2

Plan ahead for 2024

The ctcLink Training Calendar has been updated with 2024 instructor-led query-related training. To clear filter settings, select None. Then select ctcLink Learning Opportunities > Reporting Training.

How to for Query Developer Courses

The process to enroll in Query Developer Canvas courses has been streamlined. Now, instead of emailing Data Services, simply:

• 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.

While You Were Sleeping

In a ctcLink world populated with acronyms and 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.

Complete

• HCM 49 passed UAT and is a go for Sept. 14 deployment.
• Dealt with more fallout from the halted archive process in HCPRD with ticket 199651 and HCM-1360.
• ctcLink Accessibility forum was successful.
• HCX Refresh Action Configuration for TRB
• Financial Aid PeopleSoft Release Patchset (PRP) 3.1 went live Aug. 29

In Progress

• Performance and archiving
  • After HCM-1360 is run in production for ticket 199651, Dhilip will need to run the three rollback processes, and then we will run the SQL for ticket 19926 in production. Once all of that is done, the fallout from the halted archive process will be resolved.
• Book to Bank enhancement development is continuing.
• ER 122 - Charge Benefit Expense to Primary Job development is in progress. Updates to PAYGL01 SQR. 1-2 weeks estimated completion.
• ER 242: Offboarding Automation. 1-2 weeks estimated completion.
• ER 232 - Adding Custom Self-Service Questions in Campus Solutions. Development continues.
• CS 32 SIT support
• HCX 24.2.1 SIT support
• HCX config migration from TRB to PDV and then PTS.
• CS 32 and HCM 24.2 Accessibility IOVD
• FS 50 accessibility IOVD
• Update Positive Pay file CEMLI. Ticket 196848. Development complete, currently in SIT.
• Stat Email Approvals, Workflow Changes, compare report errors
• Updating E200 CEMLI for pre-Okta configuration post non-production refresh
• CS Image 32 and HCX System Integration Testing SIT in progress
• LegacyLink+FAM Testing Support
• Legacy Transcript Testing Support
• FIN Image 50 Testing Support
• OpenSearch Dashboard and Insights Testing Support
• Nelnet PeopleSoft Connector Upgrade Project Testing Support
• HCM Image 49 Sanity Testing Support
• SASI Work Package #1 Testing Planning
• SASI Work Package #3 Planning

Upcoming

• ER 253 - Make a Payment Page Classic to Fluid
• ER-264 Overview during HCM Image 49 Q & A sessions
• HCM Image 49 Q & A sessions scheduled for 9/11 and 9/12
• TRD Refresh, 9/13
• HCM Image 49 Production Maintenance, 9/14
• Oracle CPU production maintenance, 10/12

Security Updates

• Held a three-hour work session with college Local Security Administrators (LSAs), pillar leads, and subject matter experts for SASI to collaborate on Work Package 3 (User Access Request/Workflow). The group vetted the current proposed solution, gathered feedback, and generated ideas.
• Work continues on Finance Image support, new Fluid Homepages and Tiles, CS and HCM Image Support, working with Data Services on Insights in HCM, as well as security audits.

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.

The next ctcLink Accessibility Open Forum will be Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, at 11 a.m. All are welcome to attend via Zoom.

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