Here’s a look back and ahead at major milestones as our college moves to ctcLink.

July 29-30: Peer Review

Highline and the other six Deployment Group 4 colleges engaged in a two-day peer review. During the process, we reviewed all of the project documentation for each college and used a rubric to assess readiness of all of the colleges in our deployment group.

We are happy to report that Highline received high scores in all areas and all colleges in our group are well prepared for the next phase of the project. We are very fortunate to be where we are and all of our hard work to date has paid off.

The ctcLink project has several major phases: Initiation, Implementation, Go-Live and Stabilization. Passing the peer review means that we have successfully completed the Initiation phase.

Success during this portion of the project is thanks to Highline’s 90 or so subject matter experts. (More to come on them in a future post.)

The Initiation phase included college readiness activities, project execution plans, Legacy business process maps, resources/budget allocation and more. Next up: Implementation.

October 4: State Board Pre-Kickoff Road Show

Friday, October 4, 9 a.m.: A team from the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges will be visiting all of the Deployment Group 4 colleges as we prepare for the Implementation phase.

During their October 4 visit at Highline, the State Board will meet with our ctcLink project team and subject matter experts (SMEs). They will provide an overview of what to expect during the next three to six months as we participate in the next phase of the ctcLink project.

Highline’s ctcLink project manager, Pat Daniels, will be sending out an invitation to all SMEs for this important meeting.

October 14: Deployment Group 4 Kickoff

Highline’s ctcLink project team and subject matter experts will participate in a one-hour WebEx on October 14 with the other six Deployment Group 4 colleges and the State Board.

This session will officially kick off the Implementation phase of the ctcLink project. Highline will engage with the State Board during the Implementation phase for a host of activities, including participating in in-depth Business Process Fit Gap sessions, completing local configuration guides, validating data and testing processes.

The entire Implementation phase is expected to span the next 15 months. After successfully completing Implementation, we will be ready to make the switch to the ctcLink system during the Go-Live phase, planned for February 2021.

February 2021: New Projected Go-Live Date for Highline

Highline is scheduled to move from our current legacy systems to the ctcLink system, using PeopleSoft products, in February 2021. This is a new date for all Deployment Group 4 colleges.

Originally scheduled for October 2020, the new Go-Live date of February 1, 2021, will allow for colleges to take time off during holidays and space out the workload to accommodate the activities necessary for a successful transition.

Since ctcLink is a very large, very complex project, we were not surprised in the change in our Go-Live date. As with any project of this size, the exact timelines are somewhat fluid, with frequent review and monitoring.