ctcLink Learning Opportunities & Support Roundup: April 22, 2026

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

• The SBCTC meetings and events calendar (apply ctcLink Learning Opportunities 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

Employee Onboarding & Offboarding (EO&O) Task Force to Present Next Set of Recommendations May 13

The ctcLink Process Alignment Workgroup (PAW) Employee Onboarding & Offboarding (EO&O) Task Force has been working hard on behalf of all 34 colleges to review on- and offboarding-related ctcLink business practices to streamline processes and improve our use of ctcLink as a system.

Based on lessons learned from the first task force, the EO&O team wants to present recommendations in easier-to-digest portions rather than wait until the end to present 20-plus changes.

On Wednesday, May 13, systemwide HR staff, HCM subject matter experts, and Local Security Administrators are invited to attend the ctclink College Collaboration Group (cCCG) meeting for a preview of EO&O Task Force’s second set of recommendations focused on best practices related to employee emails during onboarding and offboarding.

Watch your in-box next week for an invitation from Sindie Howland, Employee Onboarding & Offboarding Process Alignment Task Force Lead.

Learn more about the PAW Project

• PAW Project Information
• Employee Onboarding/Offboarding PAW

Questions?

Please reach out to Sindie Howland, Employee Onboarding & Offboarding Process Alignment Task Force Lead & Everett Community College Associate Director for Change Management and Process Improvement, if you have any questions or concerns about EO&O Process Alignment activities.

Travel & Expense (T&E) Organizational Change Management (OCM) Tools & Alignment Support Activities

The SBCTC Project Management Office (PMO) and PAW are working together in many ways to help colleges move toward alignment in T&E processes:

• Building and maintaining Change Assessment Worksheetsfor colleges to evaluate their progress toward alignment
• Offering individual work sessions for college Points of Contact and Travel & Expense administrators to "jump start" their change assessment analysis
• Partnering with SBCTC Training and Support teams to hold Mini-Training Workshopson Travel & Expense alignment topics every two weeks through May 2026
• Providing template slide decks for colleges to modify for their own local use
• Compiling/updating Travel & Expense Training Resourcesand T&E Organizational Change Management Resources

Where to Learn More

Travel and Expenses Q&A & Mini Trainings and OCM T&E sessions

Join the Process Alignment Workgroup – Organizational Change Management (OCM) Subgroup for focused discussions on completing the Change Assessment Worksheet and developing Change Action Plans to integrate the Travel & Expense Task Force recommendations into your college’s regular business practices.

Colleges who have already implemented some of these changes are encouraged to participate and share their experiences supporting travelers and travel administrators in adopting the new processes.

ctcLink College Collaboration Group (cCCG)

The PAW OCM subgroup will continue to check in on this process during the biweekly ctcLink College Collaboration Group meetings to help ctcLink College Leaders stay on goal.

Regular meetings are held on the second and fourth Wednesdays at 10 a.m. unless otherwise noted.

Questions?

If you need clarification, please reach out to the Project Management Office (PMO) team at PMOteam@sbctc.edu and they will guide your question to the right party for response.

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

Monday, May 4, 2026, 1 to 3 p.m., Learn more and join the session

This Cross-Pillar Training Session is a high-level overview of the end-to-end reconciliation process as it begins in Financial Aid, passes through Student Financials, and ends in Finance. The Functional Trainers will share tips and tricks needed for successful reconciliation for the 2026 Academic Year.

Objectives

• FA/SF/FIN - Understand the high-level flow of the cross-pillar (FA/SF/FIN) end-to-end reconciliation process
• FA – Understand the need to have reconciliation worksheets(s) to track expenses, revenue, and variances
• FA - Understand the available reports and queries in the Fund Management Guide that should be run on weekly, semi-monthly, and monthly basis
• FA - Understand the high-level process in FA concerning what queries and reports to run for varying funding sources
• FA - Understand the timing in which SAS files are available to use for FA/COD reconciliation
• SF - Understand how the GL is sent to FIN via SF/Cashier journals
• SF - Understand the available SF queries and how to reconcile them
• FIN - Review of GL Account Guidance / Resources
• FIN - Understand How SF Data Processes into Finance
• FIN - Review SF/GL Reconciliation Queries
• FIN - Reimbursement/Drawdown Best Practices

Presenters/Facilitators: Kelly Forsberg, Financial Aid Functional Trainer; Pauline Smith, Student Financials Functional Trainer; Alec Risk, Finance Functional Trainer

Audience: Newer FA, SF, and FIN staff responsible for reconciliation and staff needing a refresher

New to ctcLink or Ready to Upskill? Make a ctcLink Training Plan

The ctcLink Customer Support Training team developed tools to assist colleges with employee onboarding in response to recommendations and requests.

Although learning a new software system can be challenging, these documents provide new staff with the information needed to locate, understand, and participate in the various training and learning opportunities available from the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC). 

• The Staff Training Participation (STP) application helps supervisors track ctcLink Canvas course training progress for staff and assign ctcLink Canvas courses for staff enrollment. Learn more about the Staff Training Participation Application
• Onboarding Training Manuals assist new college staff in their training journey through ctcLink (PeopleSoft). Learn more about the ctcLink Onboarding Training Manuals

About the Onboarding Training Manuals 

Onboarding Training Manuals can be found in the ctcLink Reference Center “Welcome to ctcLink – Start Here” section. Manuals are available for users in all PeopleSoft pillars, as well as for general staff:

• General Staff Onboarding Training Manual
• Campus Solutions Core Onboarding Training Manual
• Finance Onboarding Training Manual
• Financial Aid Onboarding Training Manual
• Human Capital Management Onboarding Training Manual
• Student Financials Onboarding Training Manual

Each manual is divided into sections highlighting specific topics and information necessary to become more comfortable with our ctcLink system. Section topics may include: 

• Onboarding checklist 
• Welcome to ctcLink Training 
• Each pillar’s place in ctcLink 
• Prerequisite ctcLink courses 
• Role-based training content and requirements (i.e., required and recommended ctcLink self-paced training courses) 
• Additional onboarding resources

How to use the onboarding manuals

The intent is for supervisors to work with staff to provide clarity around staff roles and functions of their job based on the onboarding manual. 

Each ctcLink module lists required and recommended self-paced ctcLink Canvas training courses which directly align to roles and functions performed at the colleges. For example, each staff member is required to complete general prerequisite courses to introduce them to the ctcLink system.

The checklist included allows supervisors to identify which required and recommended courses should be completed by each staff member. Additional training resources are provided to assist new staff in their onboarding activities. 

The ctcLink Training and Support teams look forward to partnering with the colleges and SBCTC agency staff to provide enhanced onboarding and training experiences for new and current employees. 

Please reach out to ctcLink Training Management if you have questions or concerns. 

Get Connected: Join ctcLink Support eLists

ctcLink Customer Support sends updates, outage notices, changes to configuration, training and workshop opportunities, global and cross-pillar communications to colleges via Mailman eLists (often referred to as listservs, which is a registered trademark).

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. 

When you join, do NOT select the Digest option or you might miss out on time-sensitive messages.

Find your lists

• ctcLink Support eLists – Lists geared toward ctcLink end-users, including reporting, queries, and dataLink.
• In addition, each ctcLink pillar area suggests related lists to join under their “Get Connected to” menus.
  • Campus Solutions (CS) Core
  • Financial Aid (FA)
  • Finance (FIN)
  • Human Capital Management (HCM)
  • Student Financials (SF)
• Mailman eLists – See the complete list of Mailman lists available to the community and technical colleges.

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.

Each college chooses who to include, but typically colleges include their local ctcLink leadership, local ctcLink committee or task force members, key subject matter experts, IT, Help Desk, and PIO.

Restock Your Resiliency Toolkit

Take some time to take care of yourself! Professional and Personal Development Suite workshops are open to all Washington state community and technical college employees, whether faculty, staff, or exempt.

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.

Since piloting outside participation and receiving positive feedback and requests, we sought agency leadership and support to work across SBCTC departments to present to a systemwide audience. 

2026 Offerings

Professional Development Suite

• Effective Communication Strategies 
• Generational & Learning Preferences - NEW 
• Leadership 
• Presentation Tips & Tricks - NEW 
• Teams/Team Bonding 
• Time Management 
• Top Tier Customer Experience 

Personal Development Suite 

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

Teaming Suite 

• Effective Communication Strategies
• Psychological Safety in the Workplace
• Teams/Team Bonding

Learn More and Sign up

Learn more about how to register, badging opportunities, college requests for group training, 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.

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

How to Check the Status of an Enhancement Request

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

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

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

High-Level Summary At-a-Glance

The Full Enhancement Request List is sorted by status.

CS Core Updates

Invitation: UAT for OAAP Fraudulent Security Controls (Phase 1)

We are excited to announce the User Acceptance Testing (UAT) activity for the Online Admissions Application Portal (OAAP) Fraudulent Security Controls Enhancement (Phase 1) May 11 to 19.

During UAT, participants will review and test new functionality to confirm it performs as intended. Pending successful testing, this enhancement will go live into production in late May.

OAAP Fraudulent Security Controls Kickoff (Phase 1) Kickoff Session

Monday, May 11, 2026, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Join Session

SBCTC will provide testing guidance following the UAT kickoff.

Note: The presentation portion will be recorded and shared for continued reference.

Testing Timeline

• May 12: Testing begins
• May 19: Testing ends. Any issues or concerns must be submitted by this date via a service desk ticket.
• May 20–26: Redevelopment and retest (as needed)

Overview of Changes

Phase 1 focuses on identifying and flagging suspicious applications. Flags can be reviewed in two locations:

• The OAAP Admin site
• ctcLink, within the comments section of a new SOF Service Indicator applied to accounts in near real-time

Phase 1 requirements were determined collaboratively by SBCTC and college stakeholder representatives, with the goal of delivering timely, practical improvements to help identify and flag suspicious criteria. After implementation, there will be an assessment period to evaluate results and determine any needed adjustments for future phases.

Phase 1 Details

• ER 328- (FYI) OAAP Statewide Security Controls for Fraudulent Detection and Prevention
• Meeting recording of the vendor’s demo for the OAAP Fraudulent Security Controls Workgroup, April 13
• List of Phase 1 Requirements

College Action Needed: Submit College Tester Information

Each college’s ctcLink College Leader has been asked to provide the names and email addresses of participating users (OAAP College Admins and/or staff involved in fraudulent account review to Sarah Whetzel, ctcLink Test Coordinator, by Wednesday, May 6.

This will help ensure that testers receive all necessary UAT information after the kickoff session. No EMPLIDs are needed for this UAT.

Required Tester Preparation

• Each tester should bring real, unique email addresses to create OAAP test accounts. Testers must be able to access these email accounts during testing. All test data will be deleted after UAT concludes.
• Each college will receive a shared test account (credentials provided after kickoff) to support the following:
  • Accessing OAAP Admin features and reviewing flagged applications
  • Viewing submitted applications and Service Indicator details in the ctcLink PQA test environment

Out of Scope

Testers will not log into the ctcLink PQA environment directly or use EMPLIDs to access OAAP during this UAT.

Questions?

Reach out to Sarah Whetzel, ctcLink Test Coordinator.

View Student Questionnaire (Staff) Page in Campus Solutions

We are pleased to announce a new View Student Questionnaire page for staff will be deployed to ctcLink production on Thursday, April 23, 2026.

This page provides staff with the ability to view a student's complete history of Student Questionnaire responses across multiple academic years. A new Quick Reference Guide (QRG) has been created to support this new page: View Student Questionnaire (Staff page).

Additionally, the Student Questionnaire for the 2026-2027 academic year will be made available to students on Tuesday, April 28.

Please note that active questionnaires can be displayed to students one-at-a-time only. As a result, any new or updated questionnaire responses for the 2025-2026 academic year must be entered by staff before the end of the spring term.

For guidance on entering responses on behalf of students, please refer to the Student Questionnaire (Staff) - Entering Responses on Behalf of Students QRG.

Questions? Contact the CS Core Support Team.

Campus Solutions (CS) Core Pillar Support Web Page

Visit the Campus Solutions (CS) Core pillar support web page at ctcLink Support for all things CS Core-related:

• ctcLink Reference Center Quick Links
• ctcLink Onboarding Training Manual
• Learning Opportunities & Training
• Lists and groups
• Pillar newsletter
• Oracle and PeopleSoft resources

Running Start Series

SBCTC Dual Credit presents monthly virtual sessions for college Running Start staff. Each session includes SBCTC/OSPI updates and time for Running Start college staff to come together and connect. Participants cover a wide range of topics, including Campus Solutions - Student Financials.

The presentation portion is recorded and posted to the SBCTC Dual Credit YouTube playlist.

Feel free to contact Stephanie Wahl, SBCTC Student Services & K12 Alignment Policy Associate, with any questions.

CS Core Learning Opportunities

You can find details about upcoming CS Training and Work Sessions on the SBCTC Calendar, CS Core Weeklyish COREspondence, and CS Core eList.

For a list of previous recordings, please visit the Campus Solutions Learning Opportunities Recordings QRG.

CS Core ctcLinkUp: Well Done - Grade Rosters to Grade Posting

While grading season may never rival a summer barbecue, with the right tools and a little preparation, it doesn’t have to feel like you’re getting grilled at every turn. With the right setup, you might even relish it. Sear-iously.

• Training Session: May 6, 2026, 8:30-9:30 a.m.
  • The Training Session will walk through the full recipe for success: opening grade rosters, entering grades, posting rosters, and making grade changes.
• Work Session: May 20, 2026, 8:30-9:30 a.m.
  • During the Work Session, we’ll fire up the grill. We'll get hands-on with best practices, key considerations, and practical strategies for handling access issues, roster discrepancies, and missing grades. For a little extra sauce, we’ll cover grade lapsing. Bring your questions and we’ll do our best to serve up some solutions.

CS Core ctcLinkUps are planned with purpose and each session is designed to stand alone. While content is related, sessions are independent and each has a distinct scope and a different purpose. Training Sessions review functionality. These are intentionally followed by Work Sessions that explore usage. You may choose to attend either session alone or both as a set.

FIN Updates

FIN Fiscal Year-End 2026 Information and Resources

The time has come to prepare for Fiscal Year-End. The SBCTC Finance and Accounting teams want to ensure you have all the resources necessary to prepare for and deliver Year-End Processing.

Check it out and mark your calendar

You’ll find information about upcoming sessions and additional resources for each FIN module, as well as FIN Sessions presented by the SBCTC Accounting team at the Finance ctcLink Customer Support Year-End Information and Sessions document.

Recordings

Year-end recordings and background information will be in the ctcLink Learning Opportunities Information course in Canvas.

Within the course, select the Modules link. Year-end content is in the Finance Learning Opportunities section with a subsection of FYE26: FISCAL YEAR END. If you do not have access to the course, you can register through the ctcLink Training Registration Form.

You may also find all sessions on the College System & SBCTC Calendar.

Questions?

Reach out to Alec Risk, MBA, MSML, Functional Trainer – Finance.

Travel & Expense Process Alignment: Tools and Training Ready for Use

The systemwide Process Alignment Workgroup (PAW) has concluded its inaugural travel and expense process alignment task force and passed the baton to the ctcLink Support and Training teams.

Recommendations and best practices for alignment are regularly updated and incorporated into ctcLink reference and training materials.

Colleges and SBCTC staff are encouraged to dive in to explore and take advantage of Travel and Expenses Training Resources, including:

• Self-Paced Travel & Expense Training Courses
• Travel & Expense Learning Opportunities - Instructor-led sessions designed for staff who have successfully completed the self-paced Travel & Expense Canvas course trainings. Sessions are delivered on a cyclical basis — monthly, quarterly, or yearly — with the goal of strengthening participant skillsets.
  • Travel and Expenses Q&A & Mini Trainings - Every last Monday of the month, 11 a.m. See schedule below. The PAW Organizational Change Management (OCM) subgroup will attend these standing meetings. Collaboration and future topic schedules will be discussed, so travel subject matter experts and ctcLink College Leaders are encouraged to attend.
• Recurring FIN Work Session: Travel and Expenses Mini Training & Workshop
• Fluid vs Classic: The Travel & Expense Task Force has recommended using the Fluid interface going forward, as Oracle is no longer providing updates to “Classic” pages. Training materials are being updated to reflect Fluid pages, while maintaining the instructions for “Classic” to allow colleges time to make the transition. Also, Fluid better meets accessibility requirements and is responsive to device size.
• Reference Center Resources: detailed user guides and step-by-step instructions for creating, submitting, approval, and managing travel authorizations, cash advances, and expense reports, as well as delegation workflows, troubleshooting errors, budget exceptions, and administrative maintenance tasks.

Feel free to reach out to Gretchen Fulmer, Associate Director of Training, if you have any questions.

Finance Pillar Support Web Page

Visit the Finance (FIN) pillar support web page at ctcLink Support for all things FIN-related:

• ctcLink Reference Center Quick Links
• ctcLink Onboarding Training Manual
• Learning Opportunities & Training
• Lists and groups
• Oracle and PeopleSoft resources

FIN Learning Opportunities

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

Monday, May 4, 2026, 1 to 3 p.m., Learn more and join the session

This Cross-Pillar Training Session is a high-level overview of the end-to-end reconciliation process as it begins in Financial Aid, passes through Student Financials, and ends in Finance. The Functional Trainers will share tips and tricks needed for successful reconciliation for the 2026 Academic Year.

Objectives

• FA/SF/FIN - Understand the high-level flow of the cross-pillar (FA/SF/FIN) end-to-end reconciliation process
• FA – Understand the need to have reconciliation worksheets(s) to track expenses, revenue, and variances
• FA - Understand the available reports and queries in the Fund Management Guide that should be run on weekly, semi-monthly, and monthly basis
• FA - Understand the high-level process in FA concerning what queries and reports to run for varying funding sources
• FA - Understand the timing in which SAS files are available to use for FA/COD reconciliation
• SF - Understand how the GL is sent to FIN via SF/Cashier journals
• SF - Understand the available SF queries and how to reconcile them
• FIN - Review of GL Account Guidance / Resources
• FIN - Understand How SF Data Processes into Finance
• FIN - Review SF/GL Reconciliation Queries
• FIN - Reimbursement/Drawdown Best Practices

Presenters/Facilitators: Kelly Forsberg, Financial Aid Functional Trainer; Pauline Smith, Student Financials Functional Trainer; Alec Risk, Finance Functional Trainer

Audience: Newer FA, SF, and FIN staff responsible for reconciliation and staff needing a refresher

FIN Training: FY27 Capital Projects Creation to Finalization and Maintenance

Wednesday, June 3, 2026, 1 – 3 p.m., Learn more and join the session

July is the beginning of a new fiscal year, which may include adding new Capital Projects to ctcLink PeopleSoft.  

Finance/Grants staff and capital project budget managers are encouraged to join Alec Risk, ctcLink Functional Trainer, and Michele Rockwell, MSML, ctcLink Finance Functional Analyst, and Susan Locke, SBCTC Capital Budget Analyst, to walk through the creation to activation process for a Capital Project.

They will also review the basics on maintaining a Capital Project plus tips and tricks throughout the setup process.

• Create a Capital Project
• Create and Finalize a Capital Project Budget
• Maintaining Capital Projects
• Time for Q&A

Module: Project Costing

Related QRGs:

• Capital Projects section of the ctcLink Reference Center
• Grants and Projects Checklist & Process Steps Guide
• Create and Finalize a Capital Project

Prerequisite Course: PC100 - Project Costing

FIN Training: FY27 Grant Awards Creation to Activation [CRC & FPC]

Thursday, June 4, 2026, 1 – 3 p.m., Learn more and join the session

July is the beginning of a new fiscal year [FY27]. Finance/Grants staff and supervisors responsible for creating, maintaining, and/or monitoring grants are encouraged to join Alec Risk, ctcLink Functional Trainer, and Michele Rockwell, MSML, ctcLink Finance Functional Analyst, for this information-packed session.

• 1-2 p.m.: Cost Reimbursable Contract (CRC) Award creation to activation process
• 2-3 p.m.: Fixed Price Contract (FPC) Award creation and activation. We will follow the basic steps for each Grant Type:
  • Award Prep: Gather your info.
  • Create and Submit a Proposal.
  • Generate an Award.
  • Manage the Award: Adding Terms, Project Type, and Finalize the Budget.
  • Finalize and Activate the Award.
  • Communicate valid ChartStrings for Payroll Combo Codes & Tuition-related Item Types.

Modules: Grants and Contracts Module; Project Costing

Related QRGs:

• Grants and Projects Checklist & Process Steps Guide
• Reimbursable Grant - Creation to Activation
• Fixed Price Grant - Creation to Activation

Prerequisite Courses:          

• GR100 Grants and Contracts
• GR200 Intermediate Grants
• PC100 Project Costing
• BI100 Billing

Travel and Expenses Q&A & Mini Training

Recurring every last Monday of the month, 11 a.m. to noon, join us for a collaborative, interactive and troubleshooting drop-in support session on everything Travel and Expenses. This session may be partially recorded.

• 11 – 11:30 a.m. Training: The first half of the meeting is typically a short training focused on a particular topic/process in Travel and Expenses. This portion of the meeting is usually recorded. The recording and associated QRGs are posted to the ctcLink Pillar Work Session Information Canvas Course. End-users are welcome to listen in and learn something new.
• 11:30 a.m. - 12 p.m., Q&A: Second half of the meeting will not be recorded. Please come with your questions or issues and be ready to share your screen.

This open time is for college end users to collaborate with functional support and other Travel and Expense staff/supervisors to troubleshoot issues, discuss workflow or process questions, and/or even share your screen. Some examples of topics:

• Canceling EX Payments
• Initial Setup and the Importance of updating Expenses Profiles
• Applying Cash Advances to an Expense Report
• Cash Advance Reconciliation
• On & Off-boarding Employees for Expenses
• Why your Approved Expense Report Won't Stage for Payment

Module: Expenses / Travel & Expense

Primary Audience: Staff, Travelers, Travel Admins/Staff

Related QRGs: FIN - Expenses section of the ctcLink Reference Center

Prerequisite Courses: EX100, EX101 and/or EX102

Contact Alec Risk, ctcLink Functional Trainer.

Mark your calendar for the upcoming Travel and Expenses Q&A & Mini Trainings and OCM T&E sessions! The PAW OCM subgroup will attend the FIN standing meetings (as well as the extra OCM sessions) to help guide the colleges. Travel subject matter experts and ctcLink College Leaders are encouraged to attend.

FIN Work Session: Grants/Projects Mini Training and Open Q&A

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

Michele Rockwell, MSML, ctcLink Finance Functional Analyst, facilitates.

• 11 – 11:30 a.m., Training: First half of the meeting will typically be a short training focused on a particular topic/process in Grants and Projects. This portion of the meeting is usually recorded. The recording will be posted to the ctcLink Learning Opportunities Information Canvas Course.
• 11:30 a.m. – 12 p.m., Q&A: Second half of the meeting will not be recorded. You are invited to drop in with any questions related to grants and projects at the open Q&A sessions. This open time is for college end-users to collaborate with functional support and other Grants and Projects staff/supervisors to troubleshoot issues, discuss workflow or process questions, and/or even share your screen. Some examples of topics:
  • Grant Billing
  • Modify Grant Award or Capital Project Budgets
  • Amending Awards
  • Project-related Budget/Commitment Control Errors
  • Grant-related Combo Codes
  • Grant-related Item Types

Related QRG: FIN - Grants/Contracts section of the ctcLink Reference Center

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

Finance College Users Production Support Meetings

Meetings are held every other Tuesday, from 2 to 3 p.m. These sessions are open to ALL Finance (FIN) 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.

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 Financials/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.

Accounts Receivable (AR) and Billing (BI) Open Q&A

Every other Thursday, these recurring Accounts Receivable and Billing work sessions aim to provide accounting support and guidance regarding, but not limited to, the various reconciliation topics and processes.

Bring your AR and BI questions and get functional support or listen in and collaborate with your community college peers.

The recorded sessions will be posted to the ctcLink Learning Opportunities Information Canvas Course located under Modules > Finance Learning Opportunities > Accounts Receivable and Billing Work Sessions.

Module(s): FIN [AR and BI]

Primary Audience: Accounts Receivable and Billing Staff

Related QRG: FIN - Accounts Receivable, FIN - Billing

ctcLink Accounting Team Presents

Every third Thursday, these recurring work sessions aim to provide accounting support and guidance regarding, but not limited to, the various reconciliation topics and processes. Each session covers a specific topic(s) and then moves to open Q&A.

FIN Work Session: Asset Management Q&A

Every second Thursday from 11 a.m. to noon (except where noted) 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

FIN & Accounting Work Session: GL Fiscal Year-End Open Q&A

Tuesday and Thursdays, June 30 to August 4, 2026, 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.

These drop-in sessions are specific to help resolve General Ledger Journal troubleshooting for Fiscal Year-End 2026. This includes lifting rules, activating accounts and appropriations, and answering or assisting with journal errors.

Refer to the “SBCTC ctcLink Accounting Team Presents” Q&A sessions for general accounting questions and concerns.

FA Support Updates

FA Weeklyish Bulletin

Trying to recall that important thing you read in the ctcLink Financial Aid eList, FA Weeklyish Bulletin? Don’t miss a thing! Revisit past editions in the FA Weeklyish Bulletin Archive at the ctcLink Reference Center.

Financial Aid (FA) Pillar Support Web Page

Visit the Financial Aid (FA) pillar support web page at ctcLink Support for all things FA-related:

• ctcLink Reference Center Quick Links
• ctcLink Onboarding Training Manual
• Learning Opportunities & Training
• Lists and groups
• Pillar newsletter
• Oracle and PeopleSoft resources

FA Learning Opportunities

Advanced FA Work Session: Search Party! A Key Words FA Query Review

Thursday, April 30, 2026, 1 p.m., Learn more and join the session

This FA Work Session is an advanced walk through on Item Type Key Words.

The purpose of this search party/work session involves running a Financial Aid query (QCS_FA_IPEDS_KEYWORD_REV) to:

• Find Item Types at your institution that may be missing important Key Words related to IPEDs for annual reporting, and
• What to do if Key Word information is missing/blank

More information on IPEDs Reporting can be found on the SBCTC website: Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Reporting

Audience: FA staff responsible for submitting and approving Item Types

Related QRGs: Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Reporting

Session Presenter: Kelly Forsberg, ctcLink FA Functional Trainer

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

Monday, May 4, 2026, 1 to 3 p.m., Learn more and join the session

This Cross-Pillar Training Session is a high-level overview of the end-to-end reconciliation process as it begins in Financial Aid, passes through Student Financials, and ends in Finance. The Functional Trainers will share tips and tricks needed for successful reconciliation for the 2026 Academic Year.

Objectives

• FA/SF/FIN - Understand the high-level flow of the cross-pillar (FA/SF/FIN) end-to-end reconciliation process
• FA – Understand the need to have reconciliation worksheets(s) to track expenses, revenue, and variances
• FA - Understand the available reports and queries in the Fund Management Guide that should be run on weekly, semi-monthly, and monthly basis
• FA - Understand the high-level process in FA concerning what queries and reports to run for varying funding sources
• FA - Understand the timing in which SAS files are available to use for FA/COD reconciliation
• SF - Understand how the GL is sent to FIN via SF/Cashier journals
• SF - Understand the available SF queries and how to reconcile them
• FIN - Review of GL Account Guidance / Resources
• FIN - Understand How SF Data Processes into Finance
• FIN - Review SF/GL Reconciliation Queries
• FIN - Reimbursement/Drawdown Best Practices

Presenters/Facilitators: Kelly Forsberg, Financial Aid Functional Trainer; Pauline Smith, Student Financials Functional Trainer; Alec Risk, Finance Functional Trainer

Audience: Newer FA, SF, and FIN staff responsible for reconciliation and staff needing a refresher

Advanced FA Training: The Rules-olution to Item Type Awarding Rules

Tuesday, May 5, 2026, 9 to 10:30 a.m., Learn more and join the session

Join us for an advanced review on the awarding rules we all know and love: Financial Aid Item Types > FA Item Type 2 Tab in ctcLink.

Objectives

• Understand how the available Meet Need/Cost Awarding Rules function against Financial Need and COA:
  • Conditional
  • Cost Only
  • Need Only
  • No Effect
  • Special Need/Cost
  • Straight Need/Cost
• Understand how adjusting Meet Need/Cost Awarding Rules impact awarding selection criteria

Audience: FA staff responsible for awarding financial aid

Prerequisite Course(s): Canvas Course FA103 Awarding Financial Aid & SAP

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

Advanced FA Training: New AY Pre-Processing Review of FA Eligible Plans

Tuesday, May 12, 2026, 9-10 a.m., Learn more and join the session

Join us for an advanced review of FA-eligible Academic Plans as they relate to the COD Credential Cross Reference Table and the Academic Plan Table in ctcLink.

The purpose of the session is to show FA users how to review any Academic Plans that may need to be removed or added to the COD Credential Cross Reference Table before new year Federal Financial Aid processing begins.

Objectives

• Understand how to review the Academic Plan Table > Taxonomy for varying Academic Plans
  • Understand which plans are FA-eligible and which are not FA-eligible
  • Understand which plans are Active vs Inactive
• Understand how the Academic Plan Table and COD Credential Cross Reference Table impacts Federal Financial Aid processing
• Understand how to work with the data from the QCS_FA_ACADEMIC_PLAN_TABLE query Excel results, reviewing for FA eligible plans
• Understand how to extract the COD Credential Cross Reference Table plans into Excel
• Understand how to compare the data in the QCS_FA_ACADEMIC_PLAN_TABLE query to the COD Credential Cross Reference Table data
• Understand how to identify new FA eligible plans to update on the COD Credential Cross Reference Table before Federal Aid processing begins in the New Year (2027)

Audience: FA staff responsible for managing Federal Financial Aid programs, FA staff Direct Loan and Pell processors

Related QRGs: Direct Loan Troubleshooting Guide, Pell Troubleshooting Guide

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

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

Advanced FA Training: New AY Pre-Processing Review of FA Eligible Plans

Tuesday, May 12, 2026, 9-10 a.m., Learn more and join the session

Join us for an advanced review of FA-eligible Academic Plans as they relate to the COD Credential Cross Reference Table and the Academic Plan Table in ctcLink.

The purpose of the session is to show FA users how to review any Academic Plans that may need to be removed or added to the COD Credential Cross Reference Table before new year Federal Financial Aid processing begins.

Objectives

• Understand how to review the Academic Plan Table > Taxonomy for varying Academic Plans
  • Understand which plans are FA-eligible and which are not FA-eligible
  • Understand which plans are Active vs Inactive
• Understand how the Academic Plan Table and COD Credential Cross Reference Table impacts Federal Financial Aid processing
• Understand how to work with the data from the QCS_FA_ACADEMIC_PLAN_TABLE query Excel results, reviewing for FA eligible plans
• Understand how to extract the COD Credential Cross Reference Table plans into Excel
• Understand how to compare the data in the QCS_FA_ACADEMIC_PLAN_TABLE query to the COD Credential Cross Reference Table data
• Understand how to identify new FA eligible plans to update on the COD Credential Cross Reference Table before Federal Aid processing begins in the New Year (2027)

Audience: FA staff responsible for managing Federal Financial Aid programs, FA staff Direct Loan and Pell processors

Related QRGs: Direct Loan Troubleshooting Guide, Pell Troubleshooting Guide

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

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

2026 FA Drop-in Support Sessions

Need help troubleshooting or want to learn something new? Join these casual drop-in sessions to connect with colleagues, share insights, and solve challenges together.

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

HCM Support Updates

HCM Users Group Spring 2026 Quarter Meeting

Thursday, May 7, and Friday, May 8 (half day), 2026 at Walla Walla Community College.

Watch for details at the HCM Users Group web page and on the HCM Subject Matter Expert eList (ctcLinkSME-HCM).

ESD Employer Newsletter

If you haven’t already done so, your friends at SBCTC Central Payroll recommend you subscribe to the Employer Newsletter from the Employment Security Department (ESD). The April 2026, Issue 74 edition includes:

• Q1 2026 reports are due by April 30
• WA Cares annual reports now available to workers
• Paid Leave statements to be mailed in May.
• Three state and three county employment reports out this month
• BizFair coming to Spokane in May; Puyallup in September

Share and Subscribe

The monthly “Employer Newsletter” contains information important to Washington employers.

• Subscribe to the ESD Employer Newsletter to receive the newsletters as soon as they are available
• Find past issues in the archive on the Employment Security website

Refresh your HCMemory

HCM Work Sessions are recorded and stored in the ctcLink Learning Opportunities Information Canvas course (formerly Pillar Work Session Info) for future reference.

More about how to access the Training Recordings Archive.

HCM Monthly Newsletter

Subscribe to the ctcLinkSME-HCM list to receive the latest edition of the HCM Monthly Roundup, featuring HCM hot topics, training, and how-to tips.

To subscribe

• Visit ctcLinkSME-HCM – Human Capital Management (HCM) and follow the screen prompts.
• Contact: HCM Customer Support

Human Capital Management (HCM) Pillar Support Web Page

Visit the Human Capital Management (HCM) pillar support web page at ctcLink Support for all things HCM-related:

• ctcLink Reference Center Quick Links
• ctcLink Onboarding Training Manual
• Learning Opportunities & Training
• Lists and groups
• Pillar newsletter
• Oracle and PeopleSoft resources

HCM Learning Opportunities

HCM Work Sessions

Recurring every other Wednesday, 1 to 3 p.m., HCM Work Sessions offer deeper dives into PeopleSoft functionality, focusing on skills enhancement in specific HCM functions (e.g., payroll, benefits, manager self-service).

• Visit the Schedule of Human Capital Management pillar for the latest offerings.
• Find past trainings and sessions at ctcLink Pillar Work Session Information.

SF Updates

1098-T Statements  

Annual Survey

We kindly ask that each college submit at least one response to this year’s survey: 2025 1098-T Survey Link 

The survey consists of just eight questions and will help us confirm each college’s primary contact for this important annual process, as well as identify opportunities for improvement. 

Reprint 

• Please see messages sent to elists on 4/3/2026 about a DES printing issue potentially impacting certain 1098-T statements. 
• We appreciate the work performed by DES to investigate and correct the issue and have established a plan for shared proofing of future print batches.  
• We can confirm that this was not the result of any college or state board processing. 

CyberSource  

“Secure Acceptance End of Life Notification...”

• The State Board Team is continuing to analyze the impact of CyberSource’s requirement to move to a new Unified Checkout
• This update will necessitate configuration changes for our system.   
• Currently, we anticipate changes to college configuration beginning early August and completed by the end of August with heavy consideration of avoiding local tuition payment deadlines. 
• Additional details regarding this update to be provided before the end of this month. 

Payment and Receipt Issue from Monday 4/13 

• This past Saturday, the State Board implemented a technical update unrelated to Student Financials or payment processing. The change was intended to resolve a production stability issue involving file copying on application servers. 
• Although the update was tested in a non-production environment, an issue was not identified during testing. As a result, the update did not perform as expected in production, and some required application files were inadvertently removed from the servers which is what caused payment posting/receipt issues. 
• The issue has been resolved, thank you for providing swift/detailed responses so that we could work to solve this issue. 

Running Start updates 

Note that the “Home Schooled” check box has been added onto the ctcLink page found at: Student Financials > Tuition and Fees > CTC Custom > Student Running Start 

Per the new 2026/2027 Running Start legislation, the maximum units have been updated in both the production & testing (PCD) environments to Fall term forward. 

Waivers allowed to waive tuition and fees 

To support cleaner SMARTer error reporting, we’re updating how certain waivers are structured. Beginning in Fall (2267), each of the waivers listed below will be split into two item types—one dedicated to tuition and one dedicated to fees.

This update simply helps us organize waiver activity more cleanly behind the scenes while keeping the student and staff experience the same. Nothing will change in how the waivers are assigned. All existing eligibility rules and criteria will continue to work exactly as they do today. 

• You’ll see these new waiver codes follow a simple naming pattern: 
  • WxxTUT for tuition-related waivers 
  • WxxFEE for fee-related waivers 
• Waivers included in this update: 
  • W70: Eligible Veterans or National Guard Waiver 
  • W71: Other Military/Naval Veterans Not Qualified as “Eligible” 
  • W72: Children/Spouse/Domestic Partner of a Totally Disabled or POW/MIA/Deceased Eligible Veteran 
  • W84: Wrongfully Convicted Person 
• The CS/SF query QCS_SF_ACCTNG_LN_W_PROMPTS_SJS has been changed as follows and is available in production as of Friday, April 10, 2026.
  • The output will now show both item type number and item type description (e.g. 911000000000 Federal Pell Grant) 
  • The prompt for item type number will allow for wild cards (e.g. 911% or 92%) 
  • The prompt for period has been corrected and is now functional 

SFRA (Student Financial Responsibility Agreement) 

All colleges are now live with the 2026-2027 SFRA jobs in ctcLink. 

Most colleges went live on March 16, 2026, while the second group was delayed to 4/13/2026 because of using date-based AENR configuration. 

For additional details, please refer to the SFRA QRG in the ctcLink Reference Center. 

QCS_SF_COLLECT_AGREE_PYMNT_RCN

Now looks at collection agreements made under the payment plan page. Or more precisely returns for all non-calculated payment plans and has an option to prompt for active or not. 

SF Resource Updates 

If you come across a Quick Reference Guide (QRG) that needs updating or have an idea for a new one, we’d love your input! Please submit a request in SolarWinds by navigating to: ctcLink Support → Training → Reference Center → SF – Reference Center. 

Updated QRGs

• Student Financial Responsibility Agreement Exemptions– New QRG on applying exemptions to students for the SFRA.
• Create or Copy Third Party Contract - Added alert box with information on Nodes that should not be used when creating a TPC.
• Process Student Write Offs- added new videos for mass select transactions and quick post.
• Reverse a Corporate Payment/Charge- added info box on reducing an amount or issuing refund.
• Assign and Cancel a Student from a Third-Party Contact- added Tip box on how to use Assign/cancel.
• Review and Close a Cashier's Office- Updated Warning box on processing order for closing session.
• Understanding Item Types-Added Item Type Range table.
• Maintain/Update BEdA Course Lists and Course List Fees-added tip box regarding term-based, effective dated rows.
• Generate Student Statements- Added info regarding Student Statement Report.
• Create/Update an Adjustment Calendar-updated the tip box under step 12 and updated language regarding using calendar days.
• Third Party Contract Invoice Query- added info for Use Legal Name prompt and updated video.
• Added warning box with info on TPC/Waiver timing:
  • Assign a Waiver for an Individual Student
  • Apply/Update Student Waivers Through Equation Variables and Student Groups
  • Create or Copy a Third-Party Contract
  • Calculate and view Tuition for an Individual Student
• Process Running Start-added the new home-schooled checkbox to the steps (updated video coming soon).  
• Add/Update/Delete a Cashier Configuration-updated QRG to include steps on deleting a cashier and deleting valid tender key cashiers.
• Miscellaneous Charges– NEW Student QRG on how to pay for miscellaneous charges via Student Portal.
• SFRA 3Cs Communications- Updated event ID info and added tip box.
• Review and Close a Cashier's Office- updated section titles for easier navigation.
• Assign a Senior Audit Waiver-New QRG on applying senior audit waivers.
• Assigning a Batch of Students to a Payment Plan-New QRG on steps to batch assign students to a payment plan.
• Financial Aid Refund Adjustments- Updated file mapping information.
• Assigning a Batch of Students to a Third-Party Contract- updated file mapping information.

SF DL Blast Newsletter

See previous editions of the Student Financials Distribution List Blast: SF DL Blasts.

Subscribe to the ctcLinkSME_StuFin list to receive the latest editions of the SF DL (Student Financials Distribution List) Blast featuring SF hot topics, training tips, and tricks.

Student Financials (SF) Pillar Support Web Page

Visit the Student Financials (SF) pillar support web page at ctcLink Support for all things HCM-related:

• ctcLink Reference Center Quick Links
• ctcLink Onboarding Training Manual
• Learning Opportunities & Training
• Lists and groups
• Pillar newsletter
• Oracle and PeopleSoft resources

SF eList subscriptions

Please note the ctcLink Support eList and SBCTC e-list sign up pages, especially these three:

• Main Student Financials eList: ctcLinkSME_StuFin
• 1098-T Statements eList: ctcLink-1098T
• BAR (Budget, Accounting, and Reporting Council) eList: BAR

Remember, besides receiving notes from our team, these resources are an easy way to ask questions of your systemwide SF colleagues.

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.

SF Work Session: Understanding Item Type Queries

Thursday, April 16, 2026 2-3 p.m., Learn more and join the session

Don’t miss this one-hour work session as we explore helpful Item Type Queries and how to use them.

Primary Audience: Student Financials Staff

Presenter: Charles Sapien, ctcLink SF Functional Analyst, and Pauline Smith, ctcLink SF Functional Trainer

SF Work Session: SFRA Year-in-Review and Updates

Monday, April 20, 2026 1-2:30 p.m., Learn more and join the session

Join us as we reflect on the past year’s Student Financial Responsibility Agreement (SFRA) process and explore the latest updates and improvements.

Primary Audience: Any staff that work with SFRA

Related QRGs: Student Financial Responsibility Agreement

Presenter/Facilitator: SBCTC SF Support Team

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

Monday, May 4, 2026, 1 to 3 p.m., Learn more and join the session

This Cross-Pillar Training Session is a high-level overview of the end-to-end reconciliation process as it begins in Financial Aid, passes through Student Financials, and ends in Finance. The Functional Trainers will share tips and tricks needed for successful reconciliation for the 2026 Academic Year.

Objectives

• FA/SF/FIN - Understand the high-level flow of the cross-pillar (FA/SF/FIN) end-to-end reconciliation process
• FA – Understand the need to have reconciliation worksheets(s) to track expenses, revenue, and variances
• FA - Understand the available reports and queries in the Fund Management Guide that should be run on weekly, semi-monthly, and monthly basis
• FA - Understand the high-level process in FA concerning what queries and reports to run for varying funding sources
• FA - Understand the timing in which SAS files are available to use for FA/COD reconciliation
• SF - Understand how the GL is sent to FIN via SF/Cashier journals
• SF - Understand the available SF queries and how to reconcile them
• FIN - Review of GL Account Guidance / Resources
• FIN - Understand How SF Data Processes into Finance
• FIN - Review SF/GL Reconciliation Queries
• FIN - Reimbursement/Drawdown Best Practices

Presenters/Facilitators: Kelly Forsberg, Financial Aid Functional Trainer; Pauline Smith, Student Financials Functional Trainer; Alec Risk, Finance Functional Trainer

Audience: Newer FA, SF, and FIN staff responsible for reconciliation and staff needing a refresher

SF Work Session: WWSFD (What Would Student Financials Do?) AR Series

Join  our three-part series and jump into Accounts Receivable with a fresh twist. Please come prepared with questions—we look forward to interactive discussions!

Primary Audience: Student Financials Staff

Related QRGs: SF - Collections

Presenter/Facilitator: Pauline Smith, ctcLink SF Functional Trainer and SF Team

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 Financials/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.

Reporting, Data & Query Updates

New Combined “Prompt and Secure Tables to Use by Pillar”

Something new for all you query developers!

The “Query Prompt Tables to Use by Pillar” and the “Query Secure Tables to Use by Pillar” have been combined into a single document: Query Prompt and Secure Tables to Use by Pillar.

This document is available at the Data Services website in the ctcLink PeopleSoft Reporting section, as well as the ctcLink Reference Center in ctcLink PeopleSoft Query and Reporting Documentation.

Both stand-alone documents are still available; however, they will be phased out in the future and replaced with this single document.

if you have any questions or if you find a link to the stand-alone prompt or secure documents, please reach out to Paula McDaniel, Data Analytics Learning and Education Instructor.

PCD DEV Queries Cleanup Reminder

You have until end of business on Friday, April 24, 2026, to review your DEV queries and save those you need as private.

The identified queries will be permanently deleted on Monday, April 27, 2026.

Use the following queries to identify which DEV queries created by you are candidates for deletion.

• QCS_DS_3YO_PCD_DEVQRIES_CLNUP  - For CS
• QHC_DS_3YO_PCD_DEVQRIES_CLNUP  - For HCM
• QFS_DS_3YO_PCD_DEVQRIES_CLNUP  - For FIN
• Use the following prompt values: 12/31/2022 and your ctcLink ID

How to rename a private query

DEV + 3-digit-college-nbr + initials + underscore + rest of query name

Example:   DEV123AB_rest_of_query_name

How to make a query private

1. In Query Manager, open your DEV query.
2. Click the "Save As" link.
3. Replace DEV with your Institution number and your initials
4. The ‘Owner’ field should be PRIVATE
5. Once ready, click ‘Ok’ to save.
6. Example:  DEV_SF_CLASS_FEES_BY_TERM  →   DEV220AB_SF_CLASS_FEES_BY_TERM

Questions?

Reach out to Lucía Rojas-Caldelas, Reporting and BI Solutions Analyst for ctcLink Data Services.

PCD Refresh and Your Queries: Get Ready!

The PCD (Production College Development) environment will be refreshed from PRD on Monday, May 4, 2025. Beginning Friday, May 1, at noon, PCD will not be available for query development until after the PCD is refreshed.

What you need to do

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

Standard Queries

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

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

BI Publisher, Pivot Grid, and nVision Queries

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

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

What to expect

• The queries in the backup will be imported back to PCD after the refresh is complete and a notice is received from Application Services.
• Data Services will send a message to you once our work is complete.
• Please do not log back into PCD after Friday, April 3, at noon but wait until you receive a notification from Data Services.

Queries that do not follow these naming conventions will be lost

Remember! Naming convention for queries

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

Why you need to do it

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

Query Developer Learning Opportunities

Query Fundamentals Lab

Every Monday, 10-11 a.m., Join the Webex session

Query fundamentals labs are held weekly giving all Query Developers the chance to practice their query development skills. Different topics/skills are covered each week. Past lab exercises and recordings are available in Canvas.

How to Enroll in Self-Paced 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 Forum April Meeting Highlights

The April 2026 meeting was facilitated by Christopher Soran and Monica Olsson and offered the following updates to ctcLink and related product accessibility.

PeopleTools 8.61.17

We will have the accessibility IOVD for the upcoming PeopleTools update ready next month.

Calendar Button

In Firefox the calendar button gets read as "Button" and not as "Calendar Button". This issue is fixed in PT 8.61.17.

Okta

Okta accepted three of our reported issues and has fixed them. They are in preview right now and will be coming to production. No ETA at this time.

1. Lack of keyboard focus visuals for Okta Verify on Windows. There are blue focus indicators now.
2. Unclear disabled fields in End user settings > Personal information. The end user settings UIs were reworked and the non-editable user information has its own section.
3. In End user settings > Personal information, Edit button disappears but focus remains on it. The focus no longer remains on the Edit button that disappears. The button also properly stays hidden during edit mode.

Service Desk Tickets / Oracle Service Requests

No updates this month. Waiting for Oracle support to deliver some bug fixes in development. We continue to open new SRs and advocate for quick resolution of any issues.

Campus Solutions

• Mark-up for ‘Add’ button incorrect creating WCAG violation — Oracle has accepted this as a bug and development is working on it now.
• While Using Screen Reader Mode ‘Enter Key’ After Submitting Search Criterion Behavior Not Correct — Use Firefox as a workaround. Fix should come in PeopleTools 8.63.

Human Capital Management

• In Firefox — Calendar button gets read as "Button" and not as "Calendar Button.” Oracle blamed Firefox as the problem and closed the ticket. We pushed back and requested the WCAG violation be fixed. Waiting for development response if they will fix it.
• Accessibility Bug Fix delivered in HCM Image 53 did not fix the issue: Bug 37949705 — Benefit summary horizontal scroll bar missing in small form factor.

Finance

Cash Advance Screen Reading Order is Incorrect — The reading order has been corrected, but User Default, Import ATM Advances, View Printable Version, Notes, and Attachment items are read twice by the screen reader. Service request opened with Oracle. A defect has been submitted to the engineering team for review.

All Pillars

• Combo Box drop down displays one blank row and list items order is not top to bottom — The PeopleTools development team has taken this issue as an enhancement request, and we are waiting for the fix. KB599915.
• Incorrect instructions and missing “* for required” key/legend on all search Prompt pages — Started working with Oracle in a service request on this.

Third Party Vendors

Online Admissions Application Portal (OAAP)

For OAAP SSN entry, to be accessible there should be clear instructions on the format desired so you’d ask something like “Birthdate (mm/dd/yyyy)” or in the case of social security number it should say something like “###-##-####” but on having those dashes it seemed to get rejected. On putting the number in as ######### it then took it and let them proceed.

This issue was brought to our attention, and we will be working with Kastech on this.

ctcLink Accessibility Monthly Open Forum

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.

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

Please join us for the next ctcLink Accessibility Open Forum on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, at 11 a.m. All are welcome to attend via Zoom.

• Participants are encouraged to submit ideas for future meetings via an online form.
• Zoom meeting link: ctcLink Accessibility Open Forum 2025 and beyond

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

Keeping the Lights On

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

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