ctcLink Implementation at Seattle Colleges: A Comprehensive Overview

Seattle Colleges (North Seattle College, Seattle Central College, and South Seattle College) transitioned to ctcLink on Monday, February 22, 2021, replacing decades-old legacy systems. This move was part of a statewide rollout across all 34 community and technical colleges in Washington, overseen by the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC). ctcLink is a PeopleSoft enterprise resource planning system that integrates data across Seattle Colleges and the state's community and technical college system. The estimated $100 million ctcLink program is one of the largest IT projects in the state.

What is ctcLink?

ctcLink is a districtwide, fully-integrated online management platform for faculty, staff, and students. It represents a significant shift from older systems, aiming to streamline processes and improve data management. ctcLink is how SBCTC has purchased and configured Oracle’s PeopleSoft Campus Solutions, Finance, and Human Capital Management pillars to work together.

Key Features and Functionalities

ctcLink encompasses various functionalities, including:

Employee Self-Service: Allows employees to manage personal information, request absences, report time worked, and view paychecks.
Finance: Manages financial documents, travel authorizations, and budget information.
Faculty Center: Enables instructors to submit grades, view class rosters, and manage course information.
Student Self-Service: Facilitates class registration, accessing student messages, and reporting COVID-19 vaccination status.

ctcLink Implementation Details

Pre-Implementation Phase

Before the launch, required training was offered for new employees in positions with “update data” security privileges in ctcLink. This training was not required for employees whose roles do not require them to have additional security privileges to access or write to the ctcLink system (e.g., faculty, hourly employees, employees who do not enter data directly into ctcLink).

Post-Implementation Phase

The ctcLink deployment team continues to meet weekly with the ctcLink Operations Group (including members from all campuses) to monitor the pulse of our campuses regarding ctcLink, discuss and address emergent issues, and troubleshoot and share solutions.

Read also: ctcLink Guide

ctcLink Login and Account Activation

The ctcLink login icon is located on the Employees web page for each college: Employees Page Login: North | Central | South. You may also login to ctcLink directly:ctcLink Login: gateway.ctclink.us. First-time users click an "Activate Account" link at the bottom of the login screen. When activating your account, you are asked to create a new password. A new ctcLInk employee ID number is generated.

The new employee ID number is called “EMPLID” and serves as your ctcLink ID. If you previously had a "900 number," your ctcLink ID number replaces your old SID. Employees should anticipate having a unique password for the ctcLink system. To login, use your ctcLink ID number (EMPLID) and a password. The EMPLID replaces the old "900 numbers." If you have already received a ctcLink ID number from another Seattle Colleges campus or another college, you do not need to activate your account or receive a new number. The ctcLink ID number you already have is what you will use.

Human Resources does most of the set-up for new employees before their first day, but employees themselves must enter key pieces of information (including selecting a password and setting security questions) to activate their ctcLink accounts.

Data Conversion and Validation

In ctcLink implementation, conversion and validation refers to the process of loading data from legacy systems to PeopleSoft. The conversion process involved identifying the data that must be brought to the new system, mapping the data to PeopleSoft fields, translating old codes into PeopleSoft codes, and finally loading the clean, compatible data into PeopleSoft/ctcLink.

Challenges and Issues

The implementation of ctcLink has not been without its challenges. Students, faculty, and staff have reported a range of problems, including:

Read also: Neurodivergent Students

Registration Difficulties: Problems searching for required courses or incorrect prerequisite information.
Course Management Issues: Faculty unable to make quick corrections to course descriptions and meeting times.
Payment Errors: Students mistakenly dropped from courses for nonpayment.
Enrollment Declines: Concerns that ctcLink has contributed to significant declines in enrollment.

Critics claim the problems have contributed to significant declines in enrollment at Seattle Colleges - which include South Seattle, North Seattle, and Seattle Central colleges - since ctcLink's launch there in February. They say the lower enrollment has led to course cancellations and has cost faculty members their jobs.

Specific Issues Reported

On Wednesday, May 18, updates to ctcLink’s identification and security system (known as OKTA) caused an unexpected and unintended issue with some accounts. The situation affected ctcLink users who had not previously set up a login security question. Confusion arose when these users attempted to log in and were asked to set a security question and answer before they could continue.
In a June article in the student newspaper, The Seattle Collegian, staff writer Lolita Kim wrote that within just a few months of the software's launch, "there are so many unexpected controversies rising up [as to] whether it is actually effective and helpful for students." Among the early problems Kim highlighted were an extra $300 fee the system mistakenly charged a student and obstacles interfacing with health insurance.

Responses to Challenges

Administrators have acknowledged some of the issues but have been slow to respond with clear action, according to people who've helped organize faculty and staff around the issue. More than 185 faculty have signed a petition calling for a stop to course cancellations until ctcLink's issues can be addressed.

Laura McDowell, communications director for SBCTC said the board does "not believe there are deep issues with the software itself."

Resources and Support

To assist users, a variety of resources and support systems have been developed:

ctcLink Resource Hub: Contains detailed reference information, how-to guides, and related resources for staff working with and supporting ctcLink processes. The ctcLink Resource Hub is available online.
ctcLink Resources for Students Page: Offers step-by-step help guides for ctcLink functions.
Registration Tips for ctcLink Page: Guides users though the look and layout of the HCX mobile interface and offers tips for class search using filter options.
SBCTC's ctcLink Reference Center: Offers additional in-depth help with specific topics for employees working with the various pillars (Campus Solutions, Finance, and Human Capital Management) as well as self service.
New Employee Training: Starting February 21, 2023, required training was offered for new employees in positions with “update data” security privileges in ctcLink.

Employee Self-Service Tutorials and Help Resources

This web page was designed to help guide employees in completing essential tasks based on their role and department. These resources help answer the questions that start with "How do I…?" In the sections below, click on the accordion box under the appropriate category for step-by-step instructions for some commonly used tasks in ctcLink. Note: we will continue to add and refine information as it is developed.

Finance Delegation

As someone responsible for approving finance documents (Requisitions, Travel, AP Vouchers) it is important that you set a delegation if you are going to be out of the office so that approvals and payments do not stall. This is particularly important now as we are trying to get everything accomplished for our June 30th year-end and as we start implementing furloughs and working through staff absences due to vacations. Setting a Finance delegation is slightly different than setting your HCM delegation for time approvals.

To set a Finance delegation:

Log into the Finance area of ctcLink.
On your homepage, you should see a Delegations tile.
Select the Create Delegation Request tile.
Enter the Start Date, End Date, and a Comment to explain why you need to delegate. Then click the Next button.
Click the Add Delegate tab, and then click the magnifying glass to open the Lookup screen.
Click the down arrow to open the Search Criteria section. If you don't know the User ID, you can search by name. To search by last name, start with a % sign.
After clicking the Search button, you can select the person you want to delegate to by clicking the name of the person and then the Done button.
When you are done selecting your delegate, click the Next button.
Select the type of transactions that your delegate can approve then click the Next button. Note: Your delegate must have the related approval roles in order to approve on your behalf.
Review your delegation request.

Faculty Resources

As we approach the grading period for Fall Quarter, faculty members are reminded of the resources developed to help guide them through the process in ctcLink. The Grade Roster in ctcLink’s Faculty Center application enables instructors to submit end-of-quarter final course grades. A step-by-step video guide and PDF are available on the ctcLink Training and Resources for Faculty web page in the Grade Roster accordion section.

ctcLink Security

ctcLink security is significantly more complex than the previous student information system. To facilitate the process, for staff working in the Campus Solutions (CS) pillar, supervisors should select one of the pre-approved security templates based upon the office and position of the staff for whom the request is being made. Note: The pre-approved templates are not comprehensive; therefore, a supervisor may need to request additional roles. The core security roles templates are available on the ctcLink Resource Hub.

Reporting Tools

ctcLink includes two built-in reporting tools for staff: PS Query and BI Publisher. Both tools have a statewide library of queries, and most users are not able to edit or create their own queries.

Important Reminders and Tips for Employees

Emergency Contact: ctcLink includes built-in tools for employees to add and update their emergency contact.
Ethnicity Information: ctcLink allows employees to directly update their own ethnicity information. The format of the self-identification and the categories available are maintained by SBCTC.
Absence Requests: ctcLink Self-Service has a built-in process for faculty to request absences in advance, and to report absences.
Time Reporting: Hourly and Student employees need to use ctcLink to report their time worked so they can get paid. Do not enter zeroes. Entering zeros on day you didn't work will create an error and ctcLink doesn't warn you when this has occurred. Make sure you enter the correct number of hours you work for the day. Overtime (OT) is automatically calculated for you. Do not enter the OVT-Premium. Let ctcLink do all the work.
Paychecks: Human Resources has developed a standard operating procedure to assist employees in understanding their paycheck.
Procurement Cards: There is an option to use procurement cards for small purchases of goods and services. It is important to note that late submission of purchase requests for this fiscal year may end up committing funds for the next fiscal year, 2022-23. Please plan early and send your requests to avoid that risk. In the same manner, procurement card purchases may be charged to fiscal year 2022-23 budgets if not processed early by merchants.
Student Data Privacy: As an employee, you will be asked to attest that you agree to keep data private and use it only in the course of your job duties.

ctcLink and Other Existing Information Systems

Systems Replaced by ctcLink: A Guide

ctcLink replaced our decades-old student data, employee, and business systems.

Systems used for supporting students: A Guide

eLearning will offer virtual orientation sessions for students via Zoom during the first week of April.

Upcoming ctcLink Service Disruptions

There are several upcoming dates when ctcLink will be offline. These dates are set by the State Board and affect all colleges currently using ctcLink. These outages allow other colleges to be brought onto the ctcLink system and for software updates and upgrades to be made.

tags: #ctclink #seattle #colleges #implementation