Update on ctcLink

As the new Clark ctcLink Project Director, I am pleased to relay the good news we received from the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges: Clark College’s Go Live date for ctcLink (i.e., PeopleSoft) has been deferred to August of 2016. This additional time will benefit Clark for the following reasons:

  • Since most of our current student and business processes are based on our 40-year-old legacy management systems, the college now has the time to plan and implement more effective and efficient processes that will fully utilize PeopleSoft’s capabilities.
  • The college now has the time to correct inaccuracies and duplications within our current system. This will enable us to start anew with clean data.
  • We have the time to learn from the FirstLink colleges’ transition, receive appropriate training, and identify clear expectations for each employee group in how PeopleSoft will impact our work. The FirstLink colleges (Tacoma Community College and Community Colleges of Spokane) will go live in August 2015.

The Clark ctcLink project timeline has been adjusted:

  • April 1 through October 1: Clark is taking a break from large scale discussions about ctcLink as a few teams focus on specific tasks which will prepare us for the project.
    • The Technology and Security Team will continue to work on an overall strategy to solidify Clark College’s data security plan.
    • The Alignment Team will continue to work on aligning student and business processes with PeopleSoft.
    • The room scheduling software (R25) will be replaced with 25Live—a component of PeopleSoft. The new software has better functionality and can be implemented independent of PeopleSoft.
  • October 1, 2015: A new ClarkNet site for ctcLink will be launched to keep the college informed.
  • After October 1, 2015: The other teams, Communication, Training, and Go Live Weekend, will resume.

I am confident that PeopleSoft will be implemented; this will not be another Rehosting scenario. If you have questions about the project at this stage, please direct them to me and/or check out https://connect.clark.edu/sites/ctclink.