Please review the below important updates from your friendly State Board Student Financials Team!

Reminders:

• Item Type Approver/Signers
  • Please remember to notify the State Board SF Team of any changes to staff who approve and sign off on new (or edits) to item types. Send a note to [email protected].
  • The new item type form does not have a field within it for approvers/signers; we ask that approver/signer either submit the form or add a note to the ticket giving final authorization.
• Winter/Spring Term roll
  • Keep in mind that the Winter term is just around the corner - have you rolled your fees from fall…? Are your payment plans ready/set up? Don’t forget, the Reference Center has a Term Rollover Checklist!
  • Please submit a ticket to SF Team when Winter term is ready to be added to your nightly tuition calculation jobs!
• 2024-2025 Academic Year Tuition Rates
  • Tuition rates will be released from the State Board by the end of October, keep an eye out for additional information as to how the SF Team will assist with this update.
• Outside Vendors (NelNET, CyberSource, BankMobile)
  • When was the last time you checked that your vendor needs are up to date & ready for next term…? Please remember to keep a thumb on this task and confirm staff access/update ability and any upcoming needs.
• Duplicate Account Cleanup
  • If staff at your institution have changed for this task, please let us know who that person is so that we can connect with them as quickly as possible. Send a note to [email protected].

Upcoming Trainings - MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!

• October 16: Collections Basics
• October 23: 2023 1098T Work Session
  • If possible, please have representation at this training. We will be reviewing 1098T communications, statement processing, and training material updates.
• If you are not a part of the Student Financials distribution list, please make it a point to sign up for ours and for the BAR meeting lists.
  • These two list serves are the main avenue for important updates from our team.

New Queries:

QCS_SF_TUICALC_AUDIT

How To use/read document may be found here.

This query is aimed at showing colleges a holistic view of tuition calculation scenarios for a prompted term. The idea is that each row will provide a specific scenario of units, charges, and waivers then in the final column display EMPLIDs of students that fall into that exact tuition calculation scenario.

Please only run this in Schedule Mode - it is very large and takes time to complete.

• QCS_SF_WAIVER_CONFIG_REPORT
  • This configuration report was designed to give a clear view of important aspects of your waivers. Please check it out and confirm that the displayed waiver info is properly configured for your institution.

New Features:

Select Charges to Pay (in student self service)

Enhancement Request #235 was approved!

A big thank you to the Highline Team for submitting & documenting this new optional feature.

For more information, please review this 2-minute video.

If your institution is interested, we will turn on Select Charges to Pay in the PCD environment for your experience/testing. Submit a request ticket asking via ctcLink Support > Student Financials > SF: Charges and Payments

Please let us know of any questions or concerns.

-Your State Board Student Financials Team

Brandon Reed

Associate Dir. Campus Solutions - Student Financials

Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges

[email protected]

We appreciate you reviewing the entire document as many Student Financial topics are covered.

• Term Fee Updates
  • Early release of approved tuition rates for 2023/24 in May - awesome! Even better news is that each year going forward, the Legislature will release rates in October for the following Fall term…yes, that means in a few months, we will send out the 2024-25 rates.
  • The State Board SF Team has been diligently meeting with colleges to join in on the fun when updating ctcLink with these new fees. The meetings are going well, the rates are being efficiently entered, and we are reviewing/validating term fees to ensure that students will be charged properly.
  • WARNING -
    • The SF Term Fee Investigative Unit will be reviewing term fees for those CTCs who did not meet with us and we will be reaching out to those with fees that look suspect!
• Third Party Contracts (TPCs)
  • Please keep TPC payment/charge adjusting within the TPC menu in ctcLink. Do not use the Reverse Charge to adjust external organizations as this will break the process and require a long/complicated fix. In addition, if an adjustment is needed on the student’s account, use the Assign page to manipulate the dollar amount to change what’s awarded to the student.
• Alternative/Private Loans
  • The SF Team has met with all but two CTCs to bring Alternative (Private) Loans to being a global process. We enjoyed the meetings and appreciated all the open sharing of your business processes.
  • Per the State Board’s Education & Business Operations divisions, Alternative/Private Loans must be disbursed via the Financial Aid Office.
  • Please look for the upcoming Alternative Loan training session!
• Cybersource
  • REMINDER: Please take time to review/update the main point of contact & communications for all your 3^rd party vendors...especially ones that impact cash flow. In addition, make sure that any outstanding important dates are “calendared” and shared between more than 1 person as assurance. Consider adding more staff or a distribution list on 3^rd party software update/communication emails.
• Collections & Write-Offs
  • The SF  Collections reference center page has been updated/reorganized, please look!
  • Please pay particular attention to the Process Student Write-Offs QRG as it is hot off the press and ready to use in the PCD & Production environments.
• FARP/FARC (Financial Aid Revisions  SF Side)
  • Reminder, after the Financial Aid Office has adjusted a student’s award, if a financial aid refund is owed back to your institution, it is necessary to use the FARP (Financial Aid Revision Payment) item type to clear that balance owed and then create the proper balance again by using the FARC (Financial Aid Revision Charge) item type as the proper charge/receivable.
  • This FARP/FARC process should never be used to pay towards outstanding charges other than refunds. Only refund charges should be included with this process, any other fees outstanding after the revision should be left outstanding (allowing the GL to reflect such.)
  • As the Student Financial side of this process is 100% dependent on the Financial Aid Office adjusting a student’s award, it is crucial that the FARP/FARC process only happens after learning the adjustment is needed.
  • If you haven’t FARP/FARC’d a student’s account and that student asks to pay the refund owed, it is okay to use their payment to pay off that refund charge balance. However, it is college preference if the adjustment should happen for revision tracking in this scenario (we encourage FARP/FARC’s use when possible.)
• Second Journal Sets (Two happenings!)
  • 1  Second Journal Set processing is changing drastically. Instead of the State Board SF Team emailing files every week or beginning of the month, the files will now be daily for all. In addition, the job is no longer dependent on a State Board staff member manually kick off the process  the task is automated. Also, the file will no longer need to be manually loaded into the General Ledger  that task is also automated. Another new feature is that the “activity” field will be available to populate for each Second Journal Set item type. Lastly, this enhancement will automate the “analysis” type to be included.
  • 2  Second Journal Set item types will be edited and created by the State Board SF Team as of July 1. State Board Accounting/Business Services has asked that CTC’s review and update these item types by June 30^th.
• 1098T Tax Statements
  • It’s never too late to ask students to electronically consent to receiving the 1098T Statement instead of it being printed and mailed. The benchmark to beat is 108,000 printed statements from last year…imagine the cost and enviro savings!

Thank you all for doing such important work!

-Your State Board Student Financials Team

Afternoon!

I don’t know your thoughts about the month of May, but it tends to be a joyous time of year. We have May Day, we have Cinco de Mayo, and Graduation is right around the corner! Sorry Finance… End of Fiscal Year is right around the corner for you 1

Though I want to keep this short…please take extra note of this and several other communications you will be receiving over the coming weeks because there are lots of “irons in the fire” and we want to ensure you stay up to date on the latest information.

QRG Updates

• Note: We update QRG’s all the time and if you rely on printed copies of QRGs, please review the “Last Updated” date next to the print icon on the left side of the page.
• 9.2 Generate Student Statements
  • Produce multiple billing statements at once
    • Everyone for a term
    • 25 accounts at a time
• 9.2 Term Rollover Checklist
  • The Total Tuition Schedule has been OFFICIALLY REMOVED! You should not be populating the Total Tuition Schedule any longer.
• 9.2 Assign a Waiver for an Individual Student
  • Updated screenshots and steps addressing the Override section.
• 9.2 BankMobile Student Data
  • Updated images and steps to make it more comprehensive. Check it out!!!
• 9.2 Assign a State Employee Waiver (DG5+)
  • Updated information regarding the use of VAR CHAR 9 and 10. Also, information regarding credit bearing versus non-credit bearing class numbers. 

Upcoming SF Training/Work Sessions

• SF Work Session: Collections through Write-Off
  • May 17^th, 2023 from 1pm to 3pm.
    • The SF Team will review the primary ctcLink processes used to track past due student account balances.Next Training Session
• SF Training: TBA!!!
  • May 30^th from 9am to 11am
  • More information to come shortly!

Other Important Notes

• Environment Markers  Consider downloading and using environment markers in order to ensure that you are testing in the right place.
  • This extension is for the ribbon/environment marker
    • Chrome = https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/environment-marker/ahjhdebcnlgmojdmjnhikhakkghcchkk?hl=en
    • Firefox = https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/environment-marker/
  • This extension adds a color to the top of your browser, you can make it different for each environment.
    • Firefox = https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/envify/
• 9.2 Comments and Related Content
  • Please consider the use of this valuable resource if you haven’t already!
• Solar Winds/Ticket submissions
  • Please ensure that only one ticket is submitted for an issue.  
• CyberSource
  • Please remember that when personnel changes occur, contact SBCTC to ensure we have the most updated/accurate contact information for your institution. 

Bad Dad Joke

Our friend joe went on the Dolly Parton diet..... It made Joe Lean, Joe Lean, Joe Lean!

Spring is here?!?

The birds are chirping, the bees are buzzing, and the days are longer. Time to start prepping those gardens and spending hours at your local lawn and garden center!

With Spring comes excitement and end of the academic year prep. Our Enrollment folks are preparing for Graduation and our Finance colleagues are getting ready for Fiscal Year-End…remember to be patient and understanding as this time of year can be quite daunting!

As for us in SF (the Center of the Universe)…we are here to assist our peers with support and getting those Third Party Payments processed, collecting those Department Receipts, and getting accounts cleaned up for reconciliation.

Here are some items that the SBCTC team has been working on and some stuff for you to look forward to:

Item Type Security

• The most updated I.T. security configuration is now in PCD for your experience and practice.  We appreciate the questions and look forward to the Q&A on this topic on April 12^th at 1pm.
• A 3rd item type security configuration has been added for staff with the ZC_CM_CLASS_BUILDER role.  Staff with this role and none of the other SF roles listed will be given the Class Fees and Course Fees nodes.  If they also have SF roles, they will get both Course/Class nodes and the other SF nodes. BE AWARE  If you have staff that have current security role access to both Student Financial pages like quick post/group post & that staff also has the Financial Aid roles for Awarding  those staff members will have access to virtually all item types.
• Last week, we learned more about how the People Tools update will impact our PQA and PRD time frame.  We are looking to open the PQA environment for college UAT and configuration between April 28^th and May 9^th.  
• Please be on the lookout for additional emails on this topic.

Alternative/Private Loan

• You may have heard from us on a functional processing review for these types of financial aid. We’re looking to have a global standard process across the board and appreciate all the attention to this topic.
• Be on the lookout for the updated QRG soon!

QRG Updates

• New! 9.2 Create an Adjustment Calendar
  • This process shows how to create a new Adjustment Calendar. Check it out!
• 9.2 Item Type Security
  • We have added additional resources.
• 9.2 1098T Processing
  • We have added information regarding failed Validation Statuses and how to identify/resolve them.
• 9.2 1098T FAQs for ctcLink
  • We have added a Validation Status section to assist with understanding different Validation Statuses.
• 9.2 Post a Departmental Receipt
  • Updated steps and images to reflect appropriate processing.
• Third Party Contract Invoice Query
  • Suggested change to leave the Template as of Date blank instead of populated.

Upcoming SF Training/Work Sessions

• SF Work Session: 2022 1098-T Part V
  • March 29^th from 1pm to 3pm
• SF Work Session: Item Type Security Open Q&A
  • April 12^th from 1pm to 2pm
• FA/SF/FIN Cross-Pillar Training: End to End Process
  • April 24^th from 9am to 11am

Other Important Notes

• The State Board’s SF and Accounting/Business Services teams will be working to update chart string Fund #’s from 841 to 790.  The Item Type Working Group (from BAR) has a deadline for this task of fiscal year end.
• Final testing for the last few CTC’s to join the Running Start Enhancement is happening now.  Thank you all for working on this and letting us know your needs!

Bad Dad Joke

With spring coming, I may buy some windchimes. I hear it's a pretty sound investment.

Dear Reader (summoning my Lady Whistledown voice),

I will be honest…I am heading on vacation for the next two weeks so my brain is nearly on vacation mode. Part of it will be spent in Las Vegas.

I have so much to say, yet, this DL Blast has a BUNCH of important information for you to read over. Thusly, I am going to leave you with this…

Contrary to pop-culture belief…what happens in Vegas does not ALWAYS stay in Vegas….(ooooooh! Cliffhanger….)

Item Type Security

• Please find the slide deck and video link resources located in the ctcLink Pillar Work Session Information Canvas Course. The resources cover the benefits, function, and rollout of item security are contained.
• Item Type Security is Enhancement Request #159 for the Campus Solutions Pillar. This enhancement will impact any staff member who has page access that accepts item type as an input value…which we know is a significant number. Please forward, discuss, and prepare for this upcoming enhancement.

New Tuition Group

• The State Board Student Financials Team is rolling out a NOENRL tuition group that contains the population of students who are term activated but do not have any valid enrollment.
• Many of the CTC’s have tens of thousands of students within this group and each one has tuition calculation review the account.  As the student is not enrolled, we realized it could be a benefit to not waste tuition calculation’s time/resources just to confirm that they are indeed not enrolled.  
• The SF Team thanks the State Board CS CORE team for assisting with validating that this new group behaves properly in ctcLink.  Bellevue was the first to be created and we did notice a reduction in time that Tuition Calculation runs to completion (which was the confirmation we needed to move forward with the remaining CTC’s.)  
• As soon as a student is enrolled or moved off the waitlist, they will no longer be a part of the NOENRL tuition group and then always have tuition calculation take enrollment activity into account.  

Duplicate Cleanup Contacts

• If your institution is listed below, we do not have a contact for which we can communicate duplicate student account issues.  Please take a moment to send the name & email of the person(s) with this responsibility to [email protected].

QRG Updates

• New! 9.2 Comments - Mass Assign Student Comments
  • This process allows you to mass assign comments to students. Check it out!
• New! 9.2 Item Type Security
  • Forthcoming changes are being made to item type security. More information above.
• 9.2 Message Center  Tuition Due Reminder Notice
  • Formatting changes.
• Third Party Contract Invoice Query
  • More emphasis has been placed on updating the Template as of Date field.
• 9.2 Financial Aid Refund Adjustments
  • The addition of how to reverse the FARP/FARC from student accounts.

Upcoming SF Training/Work Sessions:

• SF Work Session: Item Type Security
  • March 8^th from 1pm-3pm
• SF Training: Third Party’s
  • March 20^th from 9am to 11am
• SF Training: Open Q&A  Third Party’s
  • March 27^th from 9am to 10:30am

Other Important Notes

• Item Type Approvers: Please be sure to update the State Board Student Financials Team with the names of those given either Finance or Financial Aid approver status.
• Just a reminder to submit tickets when you want SBCTC to add Spring quarter to Tuition Calculation jobs.
• Please refrain from adding spaces to Third Party Contract names as it causes issues with the processing.

Bad Dad Joke

What did the French groundhog see on February 2nd?

His chateau.

Did you miss me?? I sure missed you all!

I hope you all had a fantastic Holiday Season and beginning of the Winter Quarter!

The Holidays can be a difficult and stressful time for many reasons. Our thoughts and condolences are with anyone who lost a loved one, friend, mentor, role model, and/or colleague during the last few weeks. It certainly makes things harder during this time of year.

However, it is a new year and we have so much to look forward to! A new year and a new set of goals to strive towards (unless you are like me and those goals begin to start slacking after a couple weeks…)! What goals have you set for yourself both personally and professionally? Remember not to forget about yourself and your well-being!!

As always, let’s take a dive into what changes have occurred, things that are upcoming, and end without a meltdown:

1098-T’s

Congrats on getting 2022 printed 1098s behind you all! Between now and your FIRE upload, be sure to make any corrections/adjustments per our fourth (linked below) presentation.

• Use the 9.2 Comments and Related Content QRG for your 1098-T adjustments and notating.
• The SF Work Session: 1098-T’s Part IV (1/19/2023) is now available on the ctcLink Pillar Work Session Information Canvas Course.

QRG Updates

• 9.2 Comments and Related Content
  • NEW! Check it out!
• 9.2 Awarding and Processing Alternative Loans (FA-SF)
  • ***This QRG is actively being updated to provide enhanced guidance on processing Alternative Loans. Please stay tuned while we continue to work on this. There will be a separate email to update you once this is complete!!!
• CampusCE to PeopleSoft Fields
  • A Course/Class Fees in PeopleSoft section added which includes alerts about DYN and OEE sessions.
• 9.2 Individual Student Refund
  • The BankMobile Refund Interface Delivery steps have been added.
• 9.2 1098-T Checklist
  • Updated images.
• 9.2 1098-T Processing
  • Alerts and image updates.
• 9.2 View/Consent 1098-T
  • Due to student requests, an tip has been added to the top of the QRG.
• 9.2 1098-T Set Up and Sending Missing National ID (SSN) Communications
  • Updated images and inclusion of 1098-T Citizenship tab information.
• 9.2 Creating a Collection Agreement
  • Overall updates to steps and images.
• 9.2 D.O.C. Student Group Processing (NEW)
  • Overall updates to steps and images.
• 9.2 Assigning and Sending SF Collections Communications
  • Typos corrected and image updates.

Upcoming SF Training/Work Sessions

• SF/FA Cross Pillar Training: End to End Disbursement to Refunds
  • January 30^th from 9:00am-10:30am

Other Important Notes

• W51 (State Employee) Waiver Process: Did you know there is a new(er) process for this?? Check out the 9.2 Assign a State Employee Waiver (DG5+) QRG and submit a ticket to get more information/configured!!
• Third Party Contracts: Please make sure you are pushing the Last Date wayyy out when creating a Third Party Contract.

Bad Dad Joke

What do you call it when a snowman throws a temper tantrum?“A meltdown.”

Afternoon!

Well today is the last day before she officially comes out of hibernation…that’s right, y’all! Mariah can officially serenade us beginning tomorrow with that wonderful (is it, though?) holiday favorite that will play on repeat while we meander through the store aisles…unless you prematurely jumped the gun (yes, I am calling YOU out!) and have played it at least once so far. Be honest because we know who those eager folks are! I feel as though December 1^st should be considered a new Groundhog day…will Mariah see her shadow? What does that mean if she does or doesn’t? (This is meant with the utmost respect/appreciation and is a feeble attempt at humor…we love you, Mariah!)

On to another topic…the debate between Eggnog and Peppermint lingers as to which is the “go-to” holidays flavor. So far, Peppermint is winning. Some fascinating individual even brought up combining the two (yes, it was me….)! I feel sorry for the barista who I finally ask to do the deed….

What will the Holiday season bring us? Weight gain? Weight loss (somehow that happened to me this year)? ctcLink Trainings? An SF Holiday Party???

Let us read below to find out more of what is in store:

Winter Formal

• SBCTC SF Winter Formal
  • December 9^th, 2022, from 1pm to 3pm
• Agenda (More Information to Come!):
  • Welcome
  • Past
    • SBCTC Accomplishments
    • Ticket Stats
    • Fall 2022 Updates/Accomplishments from the Colleges
  • Outfit/Costume Contest (Not Recorded)
    • $50 Amazon Gift Card to the winner!
  • Present
    • SBCTC Currently Working on/Wrapping Up
    • PMO Enhancement Information
  • Future
    • Enhancements
    • GL Auditing and Standardization
    • SBCTC Requests/Reminders to Colleges
    • Upcoming SF Cyclical Trainings
    • College Requests to SBCTC

1098-T’s

• Get those Item Type files back to SBCTC (via ticket) with any updates needed on Item Type 1098-T configuration.
• ctcLink Pillar Work Session Information Canvas Course Resources
  • 2022 1098-T’s
• 1098-T Date Reminders:
  • Communications to Student Body
    • ASAP
      • Update Mailing Address
      • Electronically Receive 1098-T
      • Request SSN
  • 1098-T Testing (PCD) Deadline for Full Run of 1098-T Statements
    • January 1^st, 2023
  • 1098-T CTC Production Deadline for Submitting File to State Board
    • January 6^th, 2023
  • ABSOULTE DEADLINE for Submitting File to DES for Statement Printing
    • January 17^th, 2023
  • 1098-T Postmark Date Deadline
    • January 31^st, 2023
  • 1098-T File Upload to IRS Fire Account
    • February 23^rd, 2023

Upcoming SF Training/Work Sessions

• Beginning in January 2023! More to come!!

Other Important Notes

• Today is November 30^th! What a great day to run Aging/Credit History and Process Batch Collections!
  • 9.2 Process/Review Credit History
  • 9.2 Process Collections (Put Multiple Students in Collections)
  • 9.2 Assigning and Sending SF Collections Communications
• PCD Refresh on December 5^th, 2022.
• PLEASE ensure that you are not ‘Quick Posting’ (Post Student/Corporate Transactions) tuition, financial aid, or waivers.
• When Generating Cashiering Entries while closing your Cashier Office, the Journal Template that must be utilized is “CASHIER/GL (SF Departmental Receipts).” This has replaced the SFC Journal Template. If the incorrect Run Control or Template is utilized, it will require manual cleanup by your college.
• Any open Cashiers Offices must be closed by 9:45pm or those transactions will not get fund balanced or picked up until the next day.
• Waivers need to be configured on the TERM FEES tab within Tuition Groups.

Bad Dad Joke

"What sound does a dizzy turkey make?" "Wobble, wobble."

Good Morning!

Well, is it, though? Times are a-changin’. Out with the old (Pumpkin Spice) and in with the new (peppermint). That’s right…our beloved Pumpkin Spice will soon be replaced by PEPPERMINT! Some of us will happily accept the change (and be happy with me never saying the words Pumpkin Spice again).

Whether we like it or not, October finally arrived in dramatic fashion and it’s time to (finally) pull out our rain coats and mud boots.

With all this rain…I heard a rumor that Mariah Carey has begun defrosting…you know what that means!

Jokes aside, let’s dive in and see what we have going on.

Exciting News!

The State Board Student Financials Team is super excited to announce that Marjorie Facio has accepted a position with us as an analyst. We had quite a few extremely qualified applicants and the decision was difficult. If you don't know Marjorie, she is coming to us from 3 years of experience on the State Board Financial Aid team and 15+ years in higher education administration. She was instrumental in ctcLink Financial Aid deployment, provides exemplary problem-solving skills/service, has a wealth of knowledge with 3rd party applications, and is a joy to be around. Please join us in welcoming Marjorie to the team!

QRG Updates

Updated:

• 9.2 1098T Checklist
  • Updates have been made to reflect the most recent processing steps.
• Third Party Contract Invoice Query
  • An alert has been added to remind you that this process will not work unless the “Cross Reference Student Charge” is selected on the Create a Third Party Contract page.
• 9.2 Create a Third Party Contract
  • An alert has been added to ensure the “Cross Reference Student Charge” checkbox is selected.
• 9.2 Updating Second Journal Set General Ledger
  • “Jrnl Set #2” has been removed from screenshots because Journal Set #1 should only be populated.
• Running Start Special Funding
  • The 9.2 SF/FIN Split Payment for ESSER QRG has been linked within the QRG.
• ESSER Processing Checklist
  • The 9.2 SF/FIN Split Payment for ESSER QRG has been linked within the QRG.
• 9.2 Individual Student Refund
  • The incorrect security role has been removed from the top of the QRG.
• 9.2 Running and Reviewing Cashiering GL
  • The “SFC Journal Template” has been updated with the NEW “CASHIER/GL” template.
• 9.2 SF/FIN Split Payment
  • The “SFC Journal Template” has been updated with the NEW “CASHIER/GL” template.
• 9.2 Closing a Cashier's Office
  • The “SFC Journal Template” has been updated with the NEW “CASHIER/GL” template.
• 9.2 Post a Student Payment
  • The correct security roles have been adjusted on the top of the QRG.
• 9.2 Post a Corporate Payment (Cashier)
  • The correct security roles have been adjusted on the top of the QRG.
• 9.2 Post a Departmental Receipt
  • The correct security roles have been adjusted on the top of the QRG.
• 9.2 1098-T Set Up and Sending Missing National ID (SSN) Communications
  • Links have been added to 9.2 View/Consent 1098 - T and 9.2 Update Addresses.
• 9.2 Process/Review Credit History
  • The No Due Date query (QCS_SF_ITEM_CHARGE_NO_DUE_DATE) has been added as a tip.

Upcoming SF Training/Work Sessions:

• SF Training: Term Roll
  • November 7^th, 2022 from 9am to 11am
• SF Work Session: 1098-T’s Part II
  • November 10^th from 1pm to 3pm
• SF Training: Waivers
  • November 14^th from 9am to 11am
• SF Training: Tuition Calculation
  • November 21^st from 9am to 11am
• SF Training: Open Q&A  Term Roll/Waivers/Tuition Calculation
  • November 28^th from 9am to 11am
• SNEAK PEAK!: SBCTC SF WINTER FORMAL
  • December 9^th from 1pm to 3pm
  • Your formal invite and more details will be sent out soon via listerv!

Other Important Notes

• PLEASE ensure that you are not ‘Quick Posting’ (Post Student/Corporate Transactions) tuition, financial aid, or waivers.
• Any open Cashiers Offices must be closed by 9:45pm or those transactions will not get fund balanced or picked up until the next day...If there is ANYONE at all that might have a run control using the SFC/GL template to update it to CASHIER/GL or those transaction will get not get fund balanced and require intervention from technical support.
• PCD Refresh on November 7^th, 2022!!!
• When Generating Cashiering Entries while closing your Cashier Office, the Journal Template that must be utilized is “CASHIER/GL (SF Departmental Receipts).” This has replaced the SFC Journal Template.
• Anyone that oversees External Organizations Id’s need to have read only access to that page
• When moving from one college to another, please ensure that you are updating your run controls. Also ensure that your Business Unit security is updated.
• Queries now available in PRD:
  • QCS_SF_E215_ACCTG_LN_CSHR
  • QCS_SF_E215_ACCTG_LN_JGEN_CSHR
  • QCS_SF_E215_ACCTG_LN_JRNL_CSHR
  • QCS_SF_E215_FUND_BAL_CSHR
  • QCS_SF_E214_ACCTG_LN_CSHR
  • QCS_SF_E214_ACCTG_LN_CF_D_CSHR
  • QCS_SF_E214_ACCTG_LN_CF_S_CSHR
  • QCS_SF_E214_ACCTG_LN_JGEN_CSHR
  • QCS_SF_E214_ACCTG_LN_JRNL_CSHR
  • QCS_SF_E214_FUND_BAL_CSHR
  • QCS_SF_BDOC_GRP_ASSIGN_NT
  • QCS_SF_BDOC_GRP_DELETE_NT

Bad Dad Joke

Mickey's dog caused quite a stir at the Astronomers' Halloween party. Pluto dressed up as a planet.

Good Afternoon!

Do you smell that? Is it students? Is it the first rain of the Fall? No….I remember that smell….it’s Pumpkin Spice!!! Whether you accept it or not, it’s here! And if you have been hiding from it, it will find you inevitably….

Pumpkin spice aside, this is a very crazy and fun time of the year where our students have officially returned to our campuses and online. Hopefully you are hanging in there and you haven’t quite yet pulled out those hoodies and boots! In looking out my window, its warm and sunny so perhaps we aren’t there yet. However, pumpkin spice is out there waiting for you if you are cold and need that seasonal treat 12

With how many times I can bring up PUMPKIN SPICE (you’d think I was sponsored by them or something!), we have lots to look forward to this October. This DL BLAST is quite long so bear with me! We want you to know of all the upcoming trainings and work sessions to assist you this pumpkin spice season.

QRG Updates

Please note! All SF QRG’s should now have an alert section at the top of each QRG that address the security needed for each QRG. An example is below:

New:

• 9.2 BFET in ctcLink
  • Check this out for the new BFET end-to-end process. Training coming soon!
• 9.2 SF/FIN Split Payment for ESSER
  • This is an end-to-end process for how to split your ESSER payments in both the SF and FIN pillars.
• 9.2 SF/FIN Split Payment
  • This is an end-to-end process for how to split payments between both the SF and FIN pillars.

Updated:

• 9.2 Post a Corporate Payment (Non-Cashier)
  • Please take note!!! Changes have been made on how to process these payments to ensure the Corporate Account and your invoices are accurate.
• 9.2 Term Rollover Checklist
  • A warning was added to Billing and Due Calendar section.

1098-T Updates

Are you ready for 1098-T season? Well, we are here to help! We have some upcoming training sessions that will allow you to be better prepared for the upcoming 1098-T processing. The DG6 sessions are specific to their colleges and will be held two days. Both days will cover the same exact information so you can attend one or both days:

• DG6 Work Session: 1098-T Processing
  • October 4^th from 1pm to 3pm
  • DG6 colleges are participants and prior deployment colleges can be guests/viewers.
  • As this is the first year in ctcLink, we need to work with you on reviewing item types for inclusion/exclusion on this important student statement. There will be a few extra tasks to do this year, that will not be necessary next year. In addition, we will discuss how to validate your 1098T processes and show how much it is different than Legacy.  
• DG6 Work Session: 1098-T Processing
  • October 6^th from 1pm to 3pm
  • DG6 colleges are participants and prior deployment colleges can be guests/viewers.
  • As this is the first year in ctcLink, we need to work with you on reviewing item types for inclusion/exclusion on this important student statement. There will be a few extra tasks to do this year, that will not be necessary next year. In addition, we will discuss how to validate your 1098T processes and show how much it is different than Legacy.
• SF Work Session: 1098-T’s
  • October 14^th from 1pm to 3pm
  • This session will cover the preparation and processing of 1098-T’s.
• (Potential additional 1098-T training) SF Work Session: TBD
  • November 10^th from 1pm to 3pm
  • In the event additional training is needed to answer questions, we have this tentative date/time to cover 1098-T’s.

Other Important Notes:

• PLEASE ensure that you are not ‘Quick Posting’ (Post Student/Corporate Transactions) tuition, financial aid, or waivers. We are still running into issues with this so please avoid doing it.
• SF Training: Refunds
  • October 10^th from 9am to 11am
  • This is an introductory-level session on Refunds. This training is designed for new employees and individuals who would like a refresher on Refund basics.
• Special Policy/SF/FIN Session: ESSER RS Grant Q&A
  • October 13^th from 9am to 10am
  • We will be going over your questions relating to the Running Start ESSER grant. This is a policy-based meeting, however, we will be answering any of your ctcLink-related questions.
• SF/FIN (Cross Pillar) Training: Running Start
  • October 17^th from 9am to 11am
  • This is an introductory-level session on Running Start. This training is designed for new employees and individuals who would like a refresher on Running Start basics.
• SF Training: Collections
  • October 24^th from 9am to 11am
  • This is an introductory-level session on Collections. This training is designed for new employees and individuals who would like a refresher on Collections basics.
• Special Policy/SF/FIN Session: ESSER RS Grant Q&A
  • October 25^th from 10am to 11am
  • We will be going over your questions relating to the Running Start ESSER grant. This is a policy-based meeting, however, we will be answering any of your ctcLink-related questions.
• SF Training: Open Q&A - Refunds/Running Start/Collections
  • October 31^st from 9am to 11am
  • Please bring your Refunds, Running Start, and Collections questions and we will assist you in understanding, processing, and potential resolution of issues. All questions will be answered and if not enough time is allowed, we will provide follow-up to each question. There may be instances (for the sake of time) that will require the questions to be submitted via ticket.

Bad Dad Joke

What do you call a French man wearing sandals? Phillipe Phallope 12

Does anybody know what happened…? I blinked and we are a couple days shy of September! We all know what that means! Pumpkin Spice EVERYTHING is about to shoved into our faces! I don’t know about you…but I succumb to it.

What else does September bring? 20 mph speed zones, big yellow buses, and life comes back to our campuses! This is one of the most exciting (yet sad) times of the year because Summer has come to an end as we know it. It brings smiles from some kids while tears from others (that goes for us adults as well!).

All jokes aside, this is a busy and important time of year for us in Higher Education because it’s our first big quarter of the new academic year. We want to start the year off right and get everything prepared before the big rush of students.

With all of that said, here is some Student Financials updates to prepare you for the upcoming chaos :)

QRG Updates

New:

• 9.2 Course List Creation and Updates
• 9.2 Create Course List Fees

Updated:

• Running Start Special Funding
• ESSER Processing Checklist
• SF/FIN/Policy Running Start ESSER and State Summer Support Grants FAQ
• 9.2 Maintaining (Updating) BEdA Course Lists and Course List Fees

Other Important Notes:

• PLEASE ensure that you are not ‘Quick Posting’ (Post Student/Corporate Transactions) tuition, financial aid, or waivers. We are still running into issues with this so please avoid doing it.
• There is a new ESSER Running Start Query available in production! It includes high school, course, and grade information:
  • QCS_SR_RS_ESSER_HS_CLSSES_GRDS
• SF Training Session: Cashiering
  • August 29^th from 9am to 11am
  • This is an introductory-level session on Cashiering. Training is designed for new employees and individuals who would like a refresher on cashiering basics.
• CS Core and SF Training: Enrollment Cancellation
  • August 30^th from 9am to 11am
  • This meeting intends to walk through the Enrollment Cancellation functionality in ctcLink.
• SF Training Session: Third Party Contracts and Payment Plans
  • September 7^th from 9am to 11am
  • This is an introductory-level session on Third Party Contracts and Payment Plans. Training is designed for new employees and individuals who would like a refresher on Third Party Contracts and Payment Plan basics.
• SF Work Session: Wicked Waivers of the (North) West
  • September 9^th from 1pm to 3pm
  • We will be going over Waivers, specifically how they apply to a student account.
• SF Training Session: Open Q&A  Cashiering/Payment Plans/Third Party Contracts
  • September 12^th from 9am to 11am
  • In this session, we will be answering any and all questions regarding our previous two SF Training Sessions.

Bad Dad Joke

The bank keeps calling me to give me compliments. They say I have an “outstanding balance.”

As I write this…I am staring my daughter with a gleam in her eye. What has her attention? Summer sunshine! Hopefully everyone is enjoying the first real week of summer weather so far!

During this time of year, we tend to see a large reduction in students on campus (and even more so for those of us who work from home) 12 I know many of you accomplish projects, take vacation, and prepare for the influx of students for Fall quarter. During the sunnier months, we may dream of being outside instead of inside, however, the important work we do must continue! While we enjoy the quiet and sun, we have lots still going on.

With that said, below are some points of interest that we ask you take a peek at.

See you in August!!!

QRG Updates:

NEW:

• 9.2 Create and Post a Group Data Entry (Initial Financial Aid Post)

Updated:

• 9.2 Maintaining BEdA Course List Fees
• 9.2 Assigning and Sending SF Collections Communications
• 9.2 Updating Second Journal Set General Ledger
• 9.2 Enrollment Cancellation Report
• 9.2 Reverse, Re-post, and Re-process Conversion BankMobile Refunds
• 9.2 Financial Aid Refund Adjustments
• Running Start Special Funding

Other Important Notes:

• PLEASE ensure that you are not ‘Quick Posting’ (Post Student/Corporate Transactions) tuition, financial aid, or waivers.
• When moving from one college to another, please ensure that you are updating your run controls. Also ensure that your Business Unit security is updated.
• Due to all colleges now live in ctcLink, please be patient with second journal set. If you don’t see an email from us by noon, please feel free to ping us.
• SF Work Session: Course/Class Fee Consolidation - Aug 11th from 1-3pm
  • More information on the course is forthcoming soon! Be on the lookout for the invite!
• Item Types 101: Theory
  • August 15^th 9am to 11am
  • Exciting start to a series for helping you understand all things item types!
• Item Types 102: Practicum
  • August 22^nd 9am to 12pm

Bad Dad Joke Turned Rhymes ♫

♫♪ Can’t post this ♫♪

If you quick post financial aid, your students won’t get paid.

You will fall out of favor if you quick post a waiver.

You won’t be forgiven if you quick post tuition.

Good Morning!

Wow…what a year…

There were so many accomplishments over the last year to be proud of! We are all officially in ctcLink, students returned to in-person classes, Jeff Bezos wore a cowboy hat, and Russell Wilson went to Denver (is that an accomplishment? I will leave that up for debate 😊).

All those accomplishments were from the hard work and dedication of folks like you. We appreciate all your patience, understanding, and diligence on getting everyone to this point. Thank you!!!

With that said, it is time to reflect on the past month and give you some insight into upcoming training and support activities!

QRG Updates:

NEW:

Report Batch Refund QRG:

This has been added to all the batch refund QRGs and is a very useful tool when processing batch refunds. Check it out!

• 9.2 Report Batch Refunds

Updated:

• 9.2 BankMobile Batch Refunds
• 9.2 AP Batch Refunds
• 9.2 ePayments (CyberSource) Batch Refunds
• 9.2 Reverse a Student/Corporate Charge
• 9.2 Post a Student Transaction (Quick Post)
• 9.2 Mass Assign SF Indicators Based on Amount Past Due
• 9.2 Create and Post a Group Data Entry (Financial Aid Adjustments)

Other Important Notes:

1. Environment Extensions:
   • Chrome:
     • This extension is for the ribbon/environment marker
       • https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/environment-marker/ahjhdebcnlgmojdmjnhikhakkghcchkk?hl=en
   • Firefox:
     • This extension adds a color to the top of your browser, you can make it different for each environment.
       • https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/envify/
     • This extension is for the ribbon/environment marker
       • https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/environment-marker/
2. Important reminder! Do not use the “All Charges” tree node when creating Third Party Contracts. This will create lasting issues which require significant clean-up. Also, ensure that you are extending the “last Date” field on the Third Party Contract Tab when creating the contracts. We recommend putting the date out at least a year.
3. Update coming soon! When closing your cashier session, the SFC journal will have a new template Name - CASHIER/GL, Description - SF Departmental Receipts. Once this has been tested for success, it will be implemented and put into production.
4. Important reminder! The SBCTC Training Team has begun working on updating/creating our training resources pages and calendars. Linked is the ctcLink Training webpage. Please note that we are also using a calendar that houses all the upcoming SF trainings. Please keep a lookout for upcoming trainings opportunities within SF and other pillars! The URLs are below for each:
   • https://www.sbctc.edu/colleges-staff/it-support/erp-support/ctclink-training/default.aspx
   • https://www.sbctc.edu/calendar.aspx?trumbaEmbed=filterview%3DSFTraining
5. Running Start Work Session from 6/23/2022
   • ctcLink Pillar Work Session Information Canvas Course
6. Upcoming SF Work Session on July 14^th!!!
   • Work Session: DG5 and DG6 colleges are currently configured with the newest High/Low tuition calculation. This session will include what the newest High/Low tuition configuration consists of and how it works. This is a great opportunity to learn more about your High/Low processes or how they can be enhanced with the newest configuration.

Bad Dad Joke

What do you call a one-eyed deer? No eye-deer.

Good Morning!

If you weren’t aware, we thought it prudent to point out that all colleges are officially LIVE in ctcLink! What a momentous and exciting milestone for all stakeholders involved in this project! We appreciate everyone’s hard work and understanding over the last few years as we got to this exact moment in time. I know I can speak for the entire SF team when I say we are thrilled to have gotten to this point and cannot wait for the days ahead!!!

With that said, please welcome our newest and final colleges to go live: Bates Technical College, Yakima Valley College, and South Puget Sound Community College! We are happy to have you join us!

Go-Live Updates

• All colleges are now live in the system and the post-go live support for SF ends today.

QRG Updates

• Reminder, NEW DG6 Conversion QRG
  • https://ctclinkreferencecenter.ctclink.us/m/96102/l/1536440-dg6-conversion
• Reminder, NEW 9.2 Reversing/Re-posting Conversion BankMobile Refunds
  • https://ctclinkreferencecenter.ctclink.us/m/92558/l/1537539-9-2-reversing-re-posting-conversion-bankmobile-refunds
• Update: 9.2 Understanding Item Types
  • https://ctclinkreferencecenter.ctclink.us/m/92555/l/1168675-9-2-understanding-item-types
• Update: 9.2 Viewing/Updating Charge Priorities
  • https://ctclinkreferencecenter.ctclink.us/m/92555/l/928043-9-2-viewing-updating-charge-priorities
• Update: 9.2 Assign a Waiver for an Individual Student
  • https://ctclinkreferencecenter.ctclink.us/m/92560/l/1009585-9-2-assign-a-waiver-for-an-individual-student
• Update: 9.2 Assign a Waiver for Multiple Students
  • https://ctclinkreferencecenter.ctclink.us/m/92560/l/1009586-9-2-assign-a-waiver-for-multiple-students
• Update: 9.2 Updating Tuition Charges (Term Fees)
  • https://ctclinkreferencecenter.ctclink.us/m/92555/l/979061-9-2-updating-tuition-charges-term-fees

Other Important Notes

• Don’t forget to test everything in PCD first! If you are happy with the results, then complete in Production.
• We have a new External Organization Query in Production! There are many external organizations to select from when building a Third Party Contract. This new query will show you all possible organization options.  To use the new query, leave the input fields blank and select view results to see all external organizations or narrow down via the organization number or the Org Type (SFTP or SCHL.). Check it out:
  • QCS_SF_EXTERNAL_ORGS
• We also have a new No Due Date Query that is in Production! This will help your college determine which students have charges without due dates which will assist with Past Due Balance reconciliation and Collections processes. The input parameters are (Business) Unit and Term. The Term field is optional. Check it out:
  • QCS_SF_ITEM_CHARGE_NO_DUE_DATE
• DG6 ILT Sessions are coming up at the beginning of June. These will be recorded and posted to the appropriate SF Canvas courses.
• The SBCTC Training Team has begun working on updating/creating our training resources pages and calendars. Linked here is the ctcLink Training webpage. Please note that we are also using a calendar that houses all the upcoming SF trainings. Please keep a lookout for upcoming trainings opportunities within SF and other pillars! The URLs are below for each:
  • https://www.sbctc.edu/colleges-staff/it-support/erp-support/ctclink-training/default.aspx
  • https://www.sbctc.edu/calendar.aspx?trumbaEmbed=filterview%3DSFTraining
• You will also note some changes to the Pillar Work Session Schedule Information page linked here. There is a link on that page that will also take you to the upcoming schedule calendar referenced above.
  • https://www.sbctc.edu/colleges-staff/it-support/erp-support/worksessions.aspx
• Please note that CS Core is housing a Work Session on June 3^rd, 2022 from 1-3pm and will cover 3Cs vs Message Center. We encourage you to attend!
  • https://www.sbctc.edu/calendar.aspx?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D159588536
• Just a friendly reminder to follow the proper closing procedure of your cashier offices. The steps outlined in the 9.2 Closing a Cashier's Office QRG are very helpful and provide the appropriate steps for closing your cashier office.
  • https://ctclinkreferencecenter.ctclink.us/m/92555/l/1062105-9-2-closing-a-cashier-s-office

Bad Dad Joke

Did you hear about the crash on I-5 in Cali that caused a truck to spill avocados on the road...?

Don’t worry…. CHiPs were already there!

Welcome to Spring (aka Winter for those of you who got some snow this week!)

We only have a couple things of note for this month, but they are very important!

Go-Live Updates

• DG6B goes live beginning Friday, April 22^nd. Clover Park - Columbia Basin - Walla Walla
  • Please ensure that your cashier offices are closed by noon on April 22^nd
  • Please close reoccurring jobs by then as well. You can refer to the attached Word document.
  • You will have access to ctcLink on April 25^th.
• DG6C G-Live: May 9th, 2022
  • Bates
  • South Puget Sound
  • Yakima Valley

QRG Updates

• Reminder, NEW DG6 Conversion QRG
  • https://ctclinkreferencecenter.ctclink.us/m/96102/l/1536440-dg6-conversion
• NEW 9.2 Reversing/Re-posting Conversion BankMobile Refunds
  • https://ctclinkreferencecenter.ctclink.us/m/92558/l/1537539-9-2-reversing-re-posting-conversion-bankmobile-refunds
• Update to 9.2 High Low Tuition Calculation
  • This is to only be used for DG4. DG5 and DG6 do not need to run this process because of equations in the background.
• Update to 9.2 Cancel an Invoice (3^rd Party)
  • Tips/Alerts have been added for this process.

Other Important Notes

• We had out Intro to Collections  SF Pillar Work Session on April 8th, 2022. The link below takes you to the SF105 Canvas course.
  • https://sbctc.instructure.com/courses/1830319/pages/training-videos
• A new query has been added to PRD that shows charges by term without Due Dates by institution!
  • QCS_SF_ITEM_CHARGE_NO_DUE_DATE

Bad Dad Joke

What sounds does a bouncing plane make? Boeing! Boeing! Boeing!

Good Morning and Happy Spring (this Sunday)!

Go-Live Updates

• DG6A is now live!
  • Welcome to Shoreline, Renton, and Lake Washington!
• DG6B Go-Live: April 25th, 2022
  • Clover Park
  • Columbia Basin
  • Walla Walla
• DG6C G-Live: May 9th, 2022
  • Bates
  • South Puget Sound
  • Yakima Valley

During the DG6B/C Go-live, we will continue to monitor email and tickets, however, please bear with us as it may take longer than normal to get back to you. We sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding!

QRG Updates

• NEW DG6 Conversion QRG
  • https://ctclinkreferencecenter.ctclink.us/m/96102/l/1536440-dg6-conversion
• Update to RS High School Data Roll
  • Note: SF Term Roll process must be completed prior to rolling over RS HS data
  • https://ctclinkreferencecenter.ctclink.us/m/92560/l/1446147-9-2-process-running-start-new
• NEW Campus CE Refund QRG - Student
  • Refunding students through Cybersource and Accounts Payable (AP) are included
  • https://ctclinkreferencecenter.ctclink.us/m/92558/l/1531765-9-2-campus-ce-refunds
• Coming soon
  • Update to SF First Week/Month Activity Guide
    • Greater accessibility
    • https://ctclinkreferencecenter.ctclink.us/m/96102/l/1241099-student-financials-ctclink-first-week-first-month-activity-guide

Security Note

From the Security Team:

If your institution has the need to schedule Job Sets in ctcLink to run critical processes on a recurring basis, then we have created this new procedure for requesting a Controlled Shared Account for your institution to use. This will allow you to monitor the Job Set, Receive Group email notifications and be able to start/stop jobs as needed. These accounts will be tightly controlled and monitored. There will be no more than two of these per institution and SBCTC will be responsible for creating them upon request.

Local security administrators submit requests through the ticket system for a shared account to be created and send in the following information with each request. https://servicedesk.sbctc.edu

Detailed Business Requirements for what the Shared Account will be used for:

• Access the Account will need
• Name of Security Administrator Responsible for Shared Account
• Process by which you will monitor usage of shared account to include how often you will reset password
• Email Address you would like associated with this account for notification purposes

There will be one Local Security Admin that will be the point of contact and responsible party, so as you submit your requests, please provide as much detail as you can on the above.

Other Important Notes

• When adjusting student accounts through Create and Post a Group Data Entry (FA, especially for colleges still in dual processing), ensure that the first post contains the reduction in aid and then create a new post with the updated awards
• Don’t forget: Lots of new DG5/6 training videos posted in the respective Canvas courses
• Upcoming Pillar Work Session
  • 4/8/22- Intro to Collections
  • Invite coming soon
• Reminders:
  • Please do not post waivers or financial aid through the Post Student Transactions (quick-post) page
  • Summer/Fall Term Rates to be expected around June/July 2022
  • Item Type CPL Query
    • CTC_SF_VAL_CHRG_PRI_BI

Bad Dad Joke

Spring is here…I got so excited, I wet my plants!

Hello Fellow S.F.ers!

We hope your winter term has been full of happy students, laughter, good food, and ctcLink success!

The below message includes a word on our final deployment group, new trainings, and a little message on chart strings

• DG6
  • This weekend the State Board will turn on the production environment for the first of three groups in Deployment #6. Please welcome Lake Washington Institute of Technology, Renton Technical College, and Shoreline Community College!
  • We anticipate that the production environment should be available Monday morning, albeit a tad slow due to re-caching. The PCD environment should be up and running Tuesday, March 1^st. We will send out a note when it’s ready for your testing fun!
  • Although we will be neck deep in Go Live, never fear that your SF team is still here for you. Thank you for all the patience and understanding you’ve afforded us throughout this crazy project. We are almost there!
• New Training Videos (The below list is from Deployment Group 5 ILT’s  the links go to Canvas)
  • Tuition Calculation (2/2/2022)
  • Cashiering (2/4/2022)
  • Refunds (2/7/2022)
  • SF/FIN Round Table (2/8/2022)
  • Payment Plans (2/11/2022)
  • Third-Party Contracts (2/11/2022)
  • Collections (2/14/2022)
  • Item Types (2/16/2022)
  • Enrollment Cancellation (2/22/2022)
• SF Pillar Work Session
  • Item Types Round Table Discussion (2/11/2022)
    • During this 2-hour session, we first reviewed item type priority and then opened up to lots of interesting and valuable questions and answers.
• SF Bank Reconciliation
  • On 2/24, at the BAR meeting, we had an impressive presentation on SF to Bank Reconciliation Big Bend style. We urge you to take a look and learn about their SEMI Manual Reconciliation style. A big shout out to Angela for sharing this invaluable information  thanks Angela!
• We wanted to send along a new’ish chart that our State Board’s accounting team recently gave to SF Project for use when validating DG6 term fee chart strings. We thought it could serve everyone as a tool to help with tuition chart string review.

Why did the Cash Analyst become a pirate?

    Because they knew a lot about treasury 😆

Thank you all for everything you do!

-SF Team (Alec, Amanda, Amy, Brandon, Charles, Charles, Sopheth, Spencer, and Tamara)

Happy New Year from the Student Financials Team!

We are optimistic and hopeful about this new year and we’re very much looking forward to bringing on the final group of CTC’s into the ctcLink family.

To start the year, we have a few announcements for you.

1. We have a new member of the Student Financials team, Alec Risk is now the SF Trainer. Be on the lookout for DL Blasts coming from him and of course upcoming trainings!
2. 1098T season is upon us! Please stay on top of your “tax” ticket and don’t forget about the information we have on the reference center @ 1098T Tuition Statements
3. The Running Start page experienced a facelift.
   1. Please familiarize yourself with the newer QRG 9.2 Process Running Start (NEW)

Be on the lookout for additional DL messages coming out on even more updates to SF resource materials.

-State Board SF Support Team

PS - What did Chuck Norris tell his father when he left for college? “You’re the man of the house now.”

Hello to all the Student Financials Folks Out There!

Below you will find a few notes on new ctcLink materials. In addition are a few dates you may want to mark down as well, during Go-Live dates we will not have the quantity of available meeting times as usual. We are also VERY excited to announce that our ctcLink Project Team (Charles V, Charles S, & Spencer) have all agreed to stay on with the State Board after the project concludes  YAY!

In addition, a few months will pass by until the next SF Work session. If you missed out on Sopheth’s “Angst of Waivers” work session, be sure to listen in. Brian and Lou gave an interesting update regarding waiver reporting, Sopheth’s work session definitely helped to relieve a few anxieties.

• New Canvas Course materials
  • The following Canvas courses have new training videos from DG5 Key Concept trainings. Each title below is linked to the videos chapter
    • SF100 Tuition Calculation
    • SF101 Cashiering (2 new videos)
    • SF102 Refunds
    • SF103 Payment Plans
    • SF104 Third Party Contracts
    • SF105 Collections
    • SF106 Term Roll/Item Types/GL (3 new videos)
    • SF106: Item Types - Financial Aid item type charge priority list query (raw data) = CTC_SF_VAL_CHRG_PRI_BI
• QRG’s
  • Blocking FA Refunds Due to Withdrawals Business Process Guide
  • DL BLAST (prior DL resource updates)
  • 9.2 SF Training Course Query List
    • SF106 - CTC_SF_VAL_CHRG_PRI_BI  This helps to review charge priority lists, the item types within them, and the order for which they’re paid
• Work Sessions
  • New to Archives:
    • Tamara’s Term Roll archived
    • Sopheth’s Angst of Waivers (w/ Waiver Reporting updates from Brian & Lou)
  • Up and Coming:
    • 1/14 Communications a’la S.F.
• SF Support & Training Schedule Update
  • DG5 Go Live Dates
    • 10/11  10/22: DG5A (Green River, Skagit Valley)
    • 10/25  11/5:  DG5B (Big Bend, Bellingham Tech, Whatcom)
    • 11/8  11/22: DG5C (Bellevue, Everett, Grays Harbor)
  • DG6 UAT trainings:
    • 11/29  2/18
  • DG6 Go Live Dates
    • 2/28  3/11: DG6A
    • 4/25  5/6:  DG6B
    • 5/9  5/20:  DG6C
• ctcLink Training Registration web page
• Be on the lookout for:
  • New & Improved Running Start ctcLink page
  • New State Employee Waiver (W51) process

• Why did the sun skip college…? It already has a million degrees!!!

Thank you for being such amazing ctcLinkers!

• Amanda, Amy, Brandon, Sopheth, and Tamara

PS  I’m fiddling with the DL list to help ensure these links are displayed properly  if you get more than one of these messages, it’s because I’m adjusting DL parameters…sorry!

Greeting to our ctcLinkers Team!

This month, we begin DG5 Go Live activities.  The Go Live date for DG5A (Grays Harbor, Green River, and Skagit Valley) is October 11^th (August 2^nd is the beginning of Key Concepts training.)

Please review the below updates regarding Student Financial resource updates.

QRG & Canvas Updates

• 9.2 Running Start Billing & Payment Process in Finance
• The Tuition and Fees Waiver Configuration Report
• 9.2 Recalculate Third Party Contracts
• Report Catalog  document containing a list of useful cross pillar reports
• Item Types and the Tree Viewer with Olympic - SF106 Item Types Video
• Canvas ctcLink Training Registration Course Registration

Work Sessions

• Cashiering Intricacies Work Session, Canvas
• Come to Term with Term Fees, Canvas
• Enrollment Cancellation (aka Drop for Non-Payment)
• An Afternoon with Waivers Work, Canvas
• Mark your calendars with:
  • 8/12 To (Do) the Term Roll - 1:00pm
  • 9/10 The Angst of Waivers  1:00pm

-

Why are accountants always so calm, composed, and methodical?  

-  They have strong internal controls!

- Amanda, Amy, Brandon, Sopheth, and Tamara

Greetings All,

We hope this message finds you all cool minded and in happy spirits - the summer is starting off in a heated and sizzlin’ way!  

Schedule

Starting in July, the ramping up of assisting the next ctcLink deployment group (#5) will begin.  Just like last time  please know that scheduling meetings with Support will have additional constraints…this time, however, DG6 will follow up immediately. We have enjoyed a bit of time between DG4 and DG5, a period like this will not happen again until April of 2022.  Two thousand twenty-two; weird…sounds WAAAY in the future!?!

Note on submitting tickets in Solar Winds

PLEASE take time to review tickets prior to submitting in order to be 100% sure that the request and follow up comments are communicated in the clearest way possible. If we are unable to decipher a ticket due to anxious/hurried communication, all that accomplishes is to elongate the ticket time. Include attachments of screen shots if a ticket is difficult to explain and refer to the file name specifically. Make sure to review all the verbiage in the ticket to make sure it conveys the issue and to review the ctcLink Support Ticket User Guide.

New/Updated Resources

High/Low Tuition Calculation:

Colleges Prior to DG4 - Want to use the new fancy High/Low process?  Submit a ticket to support before August to get the configuration setup.  ACT NOW!  This offer will expire the beginning of September as we prepare for the next round of new colleges.

QRG’s

9.2 Updating Second Journal Set General Ledger

• New terminology added

9.2 Steps to Creating a New Financial Aid Item Type

• New QRG

9.2 Enrollment Cancellation Population

• New call out regarding the Academic Programs section
• New terminology on the Class by Class Within Term Cancellation Type
  • Thanks Jill!

9.2 Sponsor Refund Process

• New call out regarding sponsor creation

Third Party Contract Invoice Query

• New feature - Custom External Organization Address/Use of Third Party Contract Detail tab

9.2 Post a Corporate Payment (Non-Cashier)

• New call out regarding the use of the Reverse Payment/Reverse Charge pages

9.2 Post Corporate Payment (Cashiers)

• New call out regarding the use of the Reverse Payment/Reverse Charge pages

9.2 Refund a Third-Party Sponsor Payment

• New call out regarding the use of the Reverse Payment/Reverse Charge pages

Blocking FA Refunds Due to Withdrawals Business Process Guide

• New QRG (for SF)

Queries

QCS_SR_STUDENT_GROUP_DATA_VAL

• It was brought to our attention that some colleges were not seeing some of their students show up in the SAPR (Apprenticeship) Student Group for SF related processes (W91) in a given term because the effective date that was added for those students’ SAPR attribute was not in that term.

So, the SF team worked to change the SF related processes to use a college’s local student group (e.g., RAPR).  And, the Reporting Team developed a query to identify which students had this issue with their SAPR effective date.  The new query in PRD, QCS_SR_APPRENTICESHIP_DATA_VAL, has one required and one optional prompt for Student Group and, thus, can be run for up to two Student Groups.  Since this query is not hard-coded for SAPR or any other Apprenticeship group, the Reporting Team renamed it QCS_SR_STUDENT_GROUP_DATA_VAL.  

The intended users of QCS_SR_STUDENT_GROUP_DATA_VAL are colleges with post-census date registrations (Policy Manual 5.30.10) that need to be assigned to a student group for reporting purposes.

Howdy Everyone!

The Summer is creeping around the corner and we are ready for more partners in all of the fun that is ctcLink. Our next group of institutions (DG5) are the midst of training/testing and have Go Live beginning in October.

We would like to promote the Student Financials Distribution List.

Please know that use of the DL is not just confined to this periodic ctcLink resource message. Currently, the DL includes over 100 of our Student Financials team mates throughout the state. Consider using this list for questions and concerns as you feel is appropriate.

Of course, problems with processing could warrant a ticket…however, if you have a tip/trick to share on any process this list may should be utilized. If you know of anyone interested in being a part of this DL, please forward them this link.

Updated ctcLink Resources

QRG’s/Reference Center:

• Tuition Calculation
  • 9.2 High Low Tuition Calculation
    • New Query and terminology
  • 9.2 Updating Second Journal Set General Ledger
    • New images and emphasis on effective date usage
  • 9.2 Put an Individual Student in Collections
    • New page and new navigation added to checklist

Canvas (registration/sign up)

• SF100 Tuition Calculation
  • Terminology update on the Understand Tuition Calculation Page
  • Terminology update on the Running Start via Student Financials
  • HI/LO and Student Coding query process handout added (thanks Jill!)
• SF101 Cashiering
  • Added Bad Check Process to Understand the Process of Voiding a Receipt
• SF104 Third Party Contracts
  • Added recalculate terminology to Create a Billing Request

Work Sessions (VPN necessary for access)

The State Board is launching a renewed effort at providing client/analyst/trainer led work sessions for all departments/pillars…including Student Financials! Update your calendars with the below dates!

• 2021 SF Schedule
  • 6/11/2021
    • Come to Term with Term Fees: Discover the many ways tuition is calculated. How do enrollment credits turn into dollars displayed on the Customer Account page, what ctcLink pages are involved, and good ole’ fashioned hand tuition calc’ing will all be discussed.
  • 7/29/2021
    • Solving the Intricacies of Cashiering: Review the how/what of over/shorts and most importantly options on what to do. In addition, bring along your credit/debit card terminals and be ready to how they’re incorporated with ctcLink.
  • 8/12/2021
    • Do the Term Roll/Do the Hustle: When is it the best time to roll…what are the most important fields to consider??
  • 9/10/2021
    • The Angst of WAIVERS: A rundown of the many waiver processes and queries/reports as of right now. Let’s look at the A to Z process with fresh eyes and discuss what works for you.
• Archived SF Work Sessions (recent)
  • 4/30/2021
    • Refunds  Tips and Tricks
  • 5/14/2021
    • 3^rd Party Contract Group Payment Posting

Blast Joke

What’s the exchange rate between deer and corn…?

It’s a buck-an-ear!

We thank you for all that you do!

The SF State Board Team,

Amanda, Amy, Brandon, Sopheth, and Tamara

Greetings All,

We hope everyone’s Spring is going well. Hopefully, the warmer weather will sprout a few more students for everyone!

New/Updated ctcLink Resources

• 9.2 Financial Aid Refund Adjustments
  • This QRG contains a query to locate FA Revisions and 2 ways to post the revision.
• 1098T Tax Statements
  • This QRG was sent out last month, we had a few terminology updates.
  • A different 1098T checklist
• 9.2 Group Post a Corporate Payment (Third Party Contract)
  • This QRG shows how to upload a spreadsheet for posting payments per student to a external organization. May be a time saver - thanks again Katie @ Olympic!
• SF to GL Cross Pillar BPFG for DG6 (4/12/2021)
  • This video is the most recent SF to GL information session

>What’s a church missionary’s favorite car?

-A convertible

The SF Support Team

Amanda, Amy, Brandon, Sopheth, and Tamara

Brandon Reed

ctcLink Student Financials Trainer

Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges

[email protected]

Hello Everyone -

Please join us in welcoming DG4 Institutions to the ctcLink Family!

Over the past 4 ½ weeks - we worked with Centralia, Edmonds, Highline, Wenatchee Valley, North Seattle, South Seattle, Seattle Central, and the Seattle District in order to transition onto the official Washington State Community and Technical College database.

Although a vast majority of the Student Financials Support Team was consumed with trying to be as helpful as possible for Go Live, we do have a few updates to share regarding some of our SF QRG’s. Please notice that below this message are the previous DL Blast messages and if this is your first DL Blast, please take a moment to scan through our previous updates!

New/Updated Training Resources

QRG’s:

• 9.2 SF Refunds
  • 9.2 Sponsor Refund Process - Additional terminology added for refunding an External Organization to a student.
• 9.2 SF Student Financials Resources
  • Student Financials ctcLink First Week / First Month Activity Guide - All sorts of additions/adjustments while venturing through DG4 Go Live (helpful reports mostly)
  • DL Blast  Created a place to store our distribution list messages for easier access than searching through emails
• 9.2 SF Collections
  • 9.2 Assigning and Sending SF Collections Communications  Edits to terminology in Com Gen
  • 9.2 Creating a Collection Agreement Basically a 60% revamp to the whole QRG  terminology and image updates
• 9.2 Term Rollover & 1098T (we are reorganizing and adding detail to the 1098T processes)
  • 9.2 1098T FAQ’s for ctcLink
  • 9.2 1098T Set Up
  • 9.2 1098T Processing
  • 9.2 1098T Corrections

What do you call two birds stuck together? VelCrows!

• The SF Support Team

Amanda, Amy, Brandon, Sopheth, and Tamara

We hope your holidays were successful/relaxing and that you are as excited as we are that 2020 is over. All sorts of exciting things have happened in the world of student financials since our last DL message went out on 12/8/2020…below, we have colored this new stuff in red and updated stuff in green for your viewing pleasure!

New/Updated Training Resources

• Process Waivers/Adjustments (AVAILABLE AFTER DG4-A GO LIVE)
  • 9.2 High Low Tuition Calculation NEW PROCESS
• Collections Communications
  • 9.2 Message Center  Collections NEW QRG
  • 9.2 Assigning and Sending SF Collections Communications UPDATED TERMINOLOGY
• General Ledger Interface
  • 9.2 Student Financials to Finance GL Recon UPDATED FIN TERMINOLOGY
• 1098T
  • 9.2 Generating and Editing 1098-T UPDATED (more updates on the way…)
• Resources
  • 9.2 SF Training Course Query List (1/6/2021) NEW QRG LIST
• Third Party Invoice Process
  • Third Party Contract Invoice Query = This resource guide will build an invoice that has cost and student registration data. It also displays a single student per page. KINDA NEW
• 9.2 Maintaining BEdA Course List Fees  UPDATED QRG

• SF100  Tuition Calculation
  • Calculating High/Low Tuition UPDATED QRG
  • CS Workshop Recording on View Customer Accounts (12/11/2020  1 hour) NEW VIDEO*
• SF103  Payment Plans
  • Post Payment to Payment Plan (Reconcile Who Paid When) NEW QUERY
• SF104  Third Party Contracts
  • Post a Third-Party Contract Payment (Reconcile Third Party Payments) NEW QUERY
  • DG4 ILT Workshop on Third Party Contracts (12/11/2020  1.5 hour) NEW VIDEO*
• SF105 Collections (AVAILABLE 2/27/2021)
  • Collection Agreement Recon Query (QCS_SF_COLLECT_AGREE_PYMNT_RCN) NEW QUERY
• SF205 Intermediate Collections
  • SF Collections Letters to Message Center (4:00 minute video) NEW VIDEO
  • All Together Now (Collections Checklist #2) NEW PROCESS STEP LIST PDF

* = Located in Canvas > Additional Resources > Training Videos

SF Schedule/Calendar for January & February

1. Deployment Group 4-A (Centralia, Edmonds, Highline, & Wenatchee Valley) GO LIVE occurs on February 8^th.
   • SF Support will be assisting for 2 weeks through February 22^nd.
2. Deployment Group 4-B (North Seattle, South Seattle, Seattle Central) GO LIVE happens on February 22^nd.
   • SF Support will be assisting for 2 weeks through March 8^th.

During these GO LIVE and Support sessions, priority is given to assisting the needs of our newest ctcLink institutions. That does not mean, however, that ya’ll are on your own…it just means that we ask for a little more patience in replies and communication. Please continue to submit tickets the normal way and we will do what we can, when we can. We are excited that the ctcLink family is growing!

As always, we hope this message finds you happy and healthy!

• Amanda, Amy, Brandon, Sopheth, and Tamara

Brandon Reed

ctcLink Student Financials Trainer

Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges

PS  Elton John has bought his pet bunny a treadmill…It’s a little fit bunny!

PSS  Invite others to the DL

Greetings and Happy Holidays from the State Board Student Financials Crew!

We have a few QRG updates and many training video updates to share.

• Third Party Contract Invoice Query = This resource guide will build an invoice that has cost and student registration data. Prior to running the query, it is necessary to complete the “normal” invoicing process and you may need a new security role. Please check out the QRG and practice in PCD…it’s pretty good.
• 9.2 Request Student SSN and TIN (W-9S) = This guide has been revamped and updated so that communications first go out via email. It next produces a pdf that is snail mailed to those students without a valid email address. We can all utilize it except for Tacoma, Clark, Spokane, and Spokane Falls.

We are in the midst of assisting our DG4 institutions with UAT (and soon GO LIVE) activities. Additional types of workshops have been held and recorded. They are all stored within the appropriate Canvas module  if the below links don’t work, you may need to request access to the course via the SBCTC Training Request page.

By the way, this is not just with Student Financials, but across the board for all of the ctcLink pillars. Please feel free to spread the word about these new training resources.

The below videos have been recorded and may be viewed via the Canvas course links now:

1. SF100 Tuition Calculation
   1. Tuition Waiver Concepts/Pain Points Training Session 11/3/2020
   2. Enrollment & Enrollment Cancellation 11/10/2020
   3. Tuition Waivers, Running Start, Enrollment Cancellation 12/1/2020
2. SF 101 Cashiering
   1. Cashiering/Pain Points Training Session 11/4/2020
   2. AR Cashiering & CS/SF Cashiering 11/4/2020
   3. SF to GL 11/12/2020
   4. ILT Work Session on Cashiering 12/3/2020
3. SF102 Refunds
   1. Managing Refunds 11/18/2020
   2. DG4: ILT Refunds Workshop 12/8/2020
4. SF103 Payment Plans
   1. Payment Plan Concepts/Pain Points Training Session 11/5/2020
5. SF104 Third Party Contracts
   1. Cross Pillar Third Party Key Concepts 11/17/2020
   2. Manage Third Party Contracts Training Session Recording
6. SF105 Collections
   1. SF Collections Key Concepts/Pain Points Session 11/19/2020
   2. Credit History, Process Collections in Batch, and the First 3C Letter 7/8/2020
7. SF106 Term Roll/Item Types/GL
   1. Cross Pillar BPFG 8/27/2020
   2. Item Type BPFG 8/18/2020
   3. Student Financials Term Roll 8/6/2020

As always, we hope this message finds you happy and healthy!

• Amanda, Amy, Brandon, Sopheth, and Tamara

Greetings SF Friends!

We hope this message finds you all happy and healthy.

Please remember to link out to the reference center/Canvas pages instead of just printing instructions. We update issues as soon as we learn, so we want to make sure documentation is as up to date as possible.

New QRG’s:

• 9.2 Refund a Deceased Student’s Account
  • Created a set of process steps for refunding deceased student accounts
• 9.2 Sponsor Refund Process
  • Created the process steps necessary for issuing a refund to someone other than the student

Updated QRG’s:

• 9.2 Enrollment Cancellation Population
  • Added instruction regarding Item Groups
• 9.2 Process and Review Credit History
  • Removed the step for using the Service Indicator step
• 9.2 Assigning and Sending SF Collections Communications
  • Hardcoded the B07 letter code in the Edit prompts link on the Run 3C Pop Sel
  • Letter Codes should now be visible for selection on the Comm Gen page
  • Moved images around to find the URL for the PDF download of letters

• CS: SF100 Tuition Calculation
  • Module 04: Complete the Enrollment Cancellation Process
    • Enrollment Cancellation Population
      • Additional instruction/images on creating item groups
• CS:SF106 Term Roll/Item Types/GL
  • Billing and Due Calendars
    • Added “Understand the Billing and Due Calendar”
  • The General Ledger
    • Published Second Journal Set explanation page
    • Don’t forget the Item Types pages that include charge priority information

As always, please let us know of any training resource ideas or issues.

-Student Financials Customer Support Team

Amanda, Amy, Brandon, and Tamara