LionsLink
LionsLink Project Overview
In 2022 LWTech will be transitioning to a new software system called LionsLink. Once
implemented, all faculty, staff, and students will use this new system. The LionsLink
software will provide a set of common, mobile-friendly tools for students and staff to manage college business
online, such enrolling for classes, managing courses, processing payroll and more.
As an initiative of the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC), the new software is called ctcLink—branded at LWTech as LionsLink. This software is developed by Oracle and the product is known as PeopleSoft. With the current 35-plus-year-old administrative system being replaced, colleges within SBCTC will examine their core business processes and practices to align with the delivered software solution, making for streamlined, standardized practices across the 34-college system. This will include processes such as students transferring from one college to another or attending two or more colleges at once.
LionsLink Project Timeline
LWTech is in Deployment Group 6 (DG6) which includes 8 other community and technical colleges (CTC) in Washington state. DG6 is the final group of colleges in the CTC-system to go live with the new software. Below is a timeline of current project activities for and tentative timeline for future project activities at LWTech. The implementation and deployment timeline is an estimate based-off implementation for colleges in DG4 and DG5. Dates are subject to change.
The LionsLink project timeline is broken into 3 phases, some with sub-phases or “gates.”
- Initiation Phase, Readiness/Initiation Gate: March 2019 – July 2020
- Implementation Phase (Nov 2020 – Feb 2022)
- Post Deployment Support: TBD (2 Month period following Go live, Feb 2022 – April 2022)
| Phase/Gate | Description | Timeline Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Initiation Phase | Readiness/Initiation Gate | March 2019 – July 2020 |
| Implementation Phase | Structure Gate | November 2020 |
| Implementation Phase | Construct Gate | TBD (Jan 2021) |
| Implementation Phase | Transition Gate | TBD (April 2021) |
| Implementation Phase | Deploy/Go-Live | TBD (Winter 2022) |
| Post Deployment | Support | TBD (two month period following Go live, Feb 2022 – April 2022) |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Once implemented, LionsLink will create a single, centralized system of online functions, providing modern online services—anytime, anywhere—to all faculty, staff and students of Washington’s community and technical colleges. Commonly called an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, LionsLink will provide a set of interconnected software modules to help us streamline and standardize many of the things we do at our college today. The software modules will cover core administrative processes such as registration and course management, financial aid, financial services, and human resources.
The current administrative systems are old and outdated. They were developed in the early 1980s by the Washington community and technical college system, and use database and reporting tools that are no longer supported. These systems have no long-term support options, and are at risk of failing. While we have been able to keep them working this long, it becomes more and more expensive to do so over time, and is not a long-term solution to our needs.
LionsLink will be a massive upgrade for LWTech’s business operations. Faculty, staff, and students will have access to information from anywhere at any time. Students will use modern online tools for doing their college business, and they’ll have a more common experience across the CTC system, whether they transfer from one college to another or attend two or more CTCs at once. They will have one student ID and use common online tools for everything from admission to graduation. Among many other things, LWTech will benefit from a single source for accurate and timely data and the standardization of select administrative processes to support efficiency and effectiveness across the system.