CTIS Onboarding Process

Getting started with CTIS involves a structured onboarding process to ensure your department is prepared to successfully submit training data. This page outlines the key steps, required actions, and resources to help you begin.

High-level view of the onboarding process:

• Complete the onboarding questionnaire
• Attend an onboarding session
• Prepare your training data
• Submit training data to the CTIS testing environment, then to the live CTIS system

Step 1: Review Onboarding Expectations

Before beginning, departments should familiarize themselves with:

• The CTIS onboarding process and expectations
• The two-step data submission process (testing environment and live system)

Step 2: Complete the Onboarding Questionnaire

All departments are required to complete the CTIS Onboarding Questionnaire.

This form helps CalHR:

• Understand your department’s size and structure
• Identify your LMS
• Determine primary/secondary agency relationships
• Assess onboarding readiness

Step 3: Plan for Onboarding Session Attendance

Departments should select and plan to attend one monthly onboarding session.

These sessions provide:

• Overview of employee matching
• Training data upload process
• Common errors and troubleshooting
• Live Q&A

Step 4: Review Resources and Begin Data Preparation

After attending the onboarding session, departments should begin preparing their data using the provided resources:

• Employee Identification Template
• Training Records Template
• Data Field Definitions Guide
• User Guide
• Short instructional videos (coming soon)

Step 5: Submit Data to the CTIS Testing Environment

• Review the CTIS User Guide and follow the step-by-step instructions for data submission
• Upload your learner and training data files to the CTIS Test Environment
• Review any validation errors identified by the system
• Resolve errors and re-upload the file as needed
• Confirm that all records were successfully uploaded
• Receive confirmation from the CTIS team that your data is approved for submission to the Live CTIS System

The CTIS Testing Environment acts as a “sandbox” where departments can test and refine submissions before submitting learner training records to the Live CTIS System, where records become part of the employee’s official training history.

Step 6: Submit Data to the Live System

After successful testing validation:

• CalHR provides the URL to the live CTIS system.
• Departments submit finalized training data
• Departments transition to the ongoing quarterly submission cadence