For Activity Trackers
Pre-Tracking
What You Need to Know Before You Track
The first step in the process is to ensure you have collected the information you need to track a teaching activity. If you have been designated as an “Activity Tracker” in TTPS, your role is to track the activities that a “Service Provider” (e.g. clinical faculty member) delivers for the Faculty of Medicine in TTPS. You create new activity tracks by inputting the accurate activity, event, and provider information into the system.
You are also responsible for:
- Identifying missing service providers from the TTPS database and requesting their profiles be created;
- Liaising with the appropriate HR departmental representative to highlight if a service provider profile requires edits based on criteria provided to you; and
- Correcting activity tracks if they have been returned to you for revision;
A major feature of the TTPS is the course and activity catalogue, designed to provide clarity on activities and activity variants so that they are tracked consistently throughout the MDUP. In each catalogue table there is an “items tracked” column that describes the type of teaching events that should be tracked as variants. The activities and their associated payment amounts are derived directly from the Clinical Faculty Compensation Terms.
A full explanation of the responsibilities of all roles in the TTP process can be found in the TTP Roles and Responsibilities document.
Group Teaching Documentation for Teaching with Patient Care
If you have group teaching in your department or unit you are required to have clear documentation detailing the agreement of those participating in the group teaching. Documentation of these agreements is particularly important now as the units, hours, and/or sessions tracked in TTPS act as a record of teaching. Documentation may take the form of an existing department or regional form, an email conversation, or some other written agreement. We have also created a Group Teaching Declaration Form in (PDF) | (Word) for optional use.
Bulk Tracking for Teaching with Patient Care
In some instances, bulk tracking can be the most efficient option in tracking the delivery of teaching with patient care. Bulk tracking refers to bundling tracks together into just one track. In cases where, over a set time period the same service provider(s) has taught the same course and activity, a track can be created to reflect this up to a maximum of 4 weeks. Please review the Guidelines for Bulk Tracking Teaching with Patient Care and contact ttp.support@ubc.ca if you have any questions prior to creating or submitting a bulk track.
Year 1 & 2 Tracking Procedures
The home site invites, tracks and pays the service provider no matter which site the teaching is being delivered from. This may necessitate liaising with your fellow program administrators at other sites to ensure tracking and/or payment is completed correctly.
*The home site is defined as the location in which the clinical faculty member lives*
How to Track Portfolio Coaches Teaching Contributions
During 2024/2025 academic year, tracking for the teaching contributions of Portfolio Coaches is being captured in the TTP system. Please refer to this document for detailed instructions on how to enter Portfolio Coaches teaching contributions. Please note session dates will be updated annually.
How to Track FLEX Summative Portfolio Folders (SPF) Review
Tracking for FLEX Summative Portfolio Folders (SPF) Review teaching contributions will also be captured in the TTP system starting Q3 2019/2020. For detailed instructions please refer to this document, submission dates will be updated annually.
How to Track Research Electives
Select Research Elective from the Activity options, enter the start date of the Research Elective under Event. The end date is not required and the number of hours is not used to calculate the payment in the TTP system as it has been coded with the 3 fixed units. (i.e. $100.98 * 3, where a Clinical Faculty members payment arrangements deems them eligible for payment from the TTP system)
Creating the Activity Track
Activity Information
The first part of an activity track is the Activity Information. This is information about where an activity took place, and what kind of activity it was. The components of this section include:
- Activity Start Date: (Determines which courses, activities and receiving functions are available for this track)
- Program: The MD Undergraduate Program in which teaching took place.
- Location: A physical place where teaching occurs (i.e. campus or hospital).
- Course: An integrated course of academic studies (i.e. Transition into Medical Education – MEDD 410).
- Activity: A specific planned teaching engagement between teaching faculty and learner(s) (i.e. lecture, small group session or teaching with patient care session).
- Receiving Function A function to which a teaching service or non-teaching service is delivered. Typically an administrative or education department (i.e. Clinical Skills, Pediatrics, SMP)
After you identify the program and location, the information that appears in the next dropdowns is tailored to your role. This means you will only be able to track courses and receiving functions that have been matched to you before you start tracking.
Tracking Remedial Work, Visiting Students, and Teaching Students from Partner Institutions
Remedial work: teaching delivered for remedial work should be tracked to the course being remediated, regardless of when it is delivered in the academic year.
Visiting students: teaching delivered to visiting students should be tracked using the Visiting Student course in TTPS (VS Elective Block). This course is not a UBC course, and should only be used when the only student in a session is a visiting student. If one or more UBC student is present, enter the activity in TTPS as if the visiting student were not present using the appropriate Senior Clerkship Elective Block.
Students from partner institutions: teaching delivered to students from partner institutions completing visiting electives should be tracked using the UBC elective course list. Track them as you would a UBC learner. By doing this your preceptors will be paid according to the Compensation Terms and eligibility guidelines. (Our partner institutions are; Peking University, Fudan University, Shanghai Medical College, Lund University, Zhejiang University School of Medicine and University of Hong Kong, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine.)
Event Information
The second part of an activity track is the Event Information. This is information about when the activity took place and for how long it lasted.
Note: If you are tracking using sessions, TTPS will not let you enter more than 40 sessions per track. If you need to track more than 40 sessions, you will have to create multiple tracks.
Service Provider Information
The third part of an activity track is the Service Provider(s). This is information about who delivered the teaching activity. To add a service provider, enter their first and last name, their appointment type appears in the final column. At this point the TTP system has clinical faculty and FOM appointed Adjunct Professors available to choose from in the database.
When you select a service provider in the TTPS, the first step is to ensure both the person and payee portions of the profile are showing as validity complete. The table below indicates who to contact if you find a service provider profile that is not in completed status. This visual guide explains the process in more detail.
Usage Type
There are two ways to indicate a service provider’s payment arrangement: to use the payment arrangement that is assigned to an individual in TTPS (normal), or to indicate that there is an exception to their payment arrangement for the activity track (exception).
Normal use of a service provider means that you are indicating that they are compensated according to the payment arrangement that is recorded in the TTPS. If you are entering a service provider according to their normal payment arrangement, you do not have to do anything differently in the TTPS.
Exception use of a service provider means that you are indicating that they are compensated according to a different payment arrangement than what is recorded in the TTPS. When an exception is required there will be notes in the system to alert you. The notes will clearly indicate when an exception is required and this information can be copied and pasted into the required Exception Reason field on the track.
If you indicate that there is an exception to a service provider’s payment arrangement, you will be asked to provide a valid business reason. The Exception Approver for your unit will review the reason you provided and use it to determine whether or not they approve.
Payee
If a service provider is eligible to be compensated by the university for the type of activity being tracked, you will be required to associate a payee with the track. Since clinical faculty members have complex payment arrangements with the university, the payee information tells the financial systems how a service provider should be paid for that activity (e.g. are they paid through a corporation or sole proprietorship?). A single service provider may have more than one payee if they have multiple business arrangements. As the activity tracker, it is your responsibility to follow the profile instructions on which payee to select in each instance of tracking. If it has not been indicated to you which of the payees to use for a given service provider, please contact the Department HR representative for that Service Providers appointing department.
If a service provider’s profile does not have a payee associated with it , please contact the clinical faculty’s appointing Department HR representative to set-up a payee before you complete the track.
Contribution (%)
In the Contribution (%) box, you indicate how much a particular service provider has contributed to that teaching activity. The contribution amount for all service providers must always equal 100%. Here are some common cases to help you determine the contribution allocation:
- Single service provider delivered entire activity: 100%
- Four service providers evenly split an activity: 25% each
- Three service providers evenly split an activity: 34% for the first service provider added, 33% for the following two service providers
As the last example shows, in cases where the contribution percentage does not evenly split into 100, the first service provider added is allocated the extra percentage.
Generic Profiles for Shared Teaching
Generic profiles are Service Provider profiles included in the TTP system that do not have an actual individual associated with them. If teaching is split between a clinical faculty member and a non-clinical faculty member (e.g. full-time/GFT faculty or honorary faculty) use a generic profile to ensure contribution is allocated correctly. If teaching is split between a clinical faculty member and another clinical faculty member who’s profile was not complete by the deadline, you may also use a generic profile to ensure the other clinical faculty member is not impacted.
All profiles can be found by searching the first word in the profile name (e.g. “full”) in the First Name field in the TTP System. The table below lists the profile names and what circumstances you might use that profile for.
Profile Name | When to Use |
---|---|
Full Faculty | Use this profile to split shared teaching when a full faculty member delivers a percentage of a teaching activity. |
Honorary/Adjunct Faculty | Use this profile to split shared teaching when an honorary or adjunct faculty member delivers a percentage of a teaching activity. |
Clinical Faculty – Compensable | This profile may be used when a clinical faculty member delivered a percentage of a teaching activity, but did not have a profile in TTPS before the deadline. Select the compensable dummy profile if the preceptor is eligible for payment, the actual payment must be processed at a later date. This allows the track to be submitted and avoids payment delays for other clinical faculty members. This should only be used when tracking for group teaching. |
Clinical Faculty – Non-Compensable | This profile may be used when a clinical faculty member delivered a percentage of a teaching activity, but did not have a profile in TTPS before the deadline. Select the non-compensable dummy profile if the preceptor is ineligible for payment. This allows the track to be submitted and avoids payment delays for other clinical faculty members. This should only be used when tracking for group teaching. |
Can’t Complete the Track?
Here are some common examples of why you could not complete a track and how you might resolve it:
Missing/Created/Returned Person: contact the Department HR representative for the Service Provider appointing department.
Missing/Created/Returned Payee: contact the Department HR representative for the Service Provider appointing department.
Pending Approval Person/Payee: contact the Regional Capture Support representative to request the profile be reviewed and completed.
Schedule and teaching information not submitted/received: you cannot complete a track without confirming that the teaching activity has taken place and knowing who delivered the teaching. If you gather teaching information from external sources, you may have to follow-up with the appropriate contact and provide background on the new deadlines. You will have until the end of the tracking period to submit this information (refer to the System Timelines for tracking deadlines). If you are unable to submit this information within the required timelines, please refer to the Missed Tracks section.
What Happens Next?
If you do not submit an activity track, it will remain in your Activity Tracks in Progress queue on your homepage and you are able to edit the track until such time it is submitted. The track state will either say “Draft” or “Ready to Submit” depending on whether or not you have provided all of the required information. If you do not submit by the end of the tracking period, the activity track will not be processed for that period.
In some cases, you may not be able to submit a track due to the service providers status. In order to submit a track, the service provider would need to be in ‘completed’ state. If you notice the person or payee validity is not in ‘completed’ state, the system will not permit the track to be submitted. The track will stay in your ‘Tracks in Progress’ queue. Every two weeks, notification emails will be sent to trackers when the relevant tracks and service provider information have been updated/moved to a completed state. The tracker can either delete and re-add the service provider to the track and click on ‘submit’, OR, they can click on the ‘Update Service Provider’ icon which will refresh the service provider status. Click on ‘submit’ in the track so it can be processed.
When you submit an activity track, it is sent to the Activity Validator, or, in cases where exception service providers were added, the Exception Approver. In these cases, the track state will say “Pending Validation” or “Pending Exception Approval.”
Approved Tracks
If a track is approved it will be included in the service provider’s inbox and they will have the opportunity to review it. They can do two things:
- Not take action, indicating their approval of the captured information.
- Submit a query, indicating that they believe some information captured in the activity track is not correct.
In the second case, the Activity Validator will review the service provider’s comments on the track and determine whether or not it should be sent back to you for revision.
Returned Tracks
If a track is returned it will appear in your returned queue to remediate. Comments will have been provided by the Exception Approver or Activity Validator to assist you with identifying what needs to be revised.
Denied Tracks
If a track is denied by either the Exception Approver or Activity Validator it will be stopped in the process, in these instances the track will not move forward or back through the workflow.
Service Provider Submits an Inquiry
If a service provider has a question about or correction to suggest for an activity track, they can submit an inquiry through the TTPS. The inquiry will be sent to the Activity Validator who determines whether or not it should be returned to you, the Activity Tracker. If they do return the track, you will receive an email notifying you of the return and see it in your returned queue. The column “Inquiry?” will change to “yes” to show that the return was initiated by the service provider. Comments will be provided by the Activity Validator to assist you with identifying what needs to be revised. Once you have made the appropriate revision you can re-submit the track. Please note that teams must work quickly through this process as the time allotted for the inquiry process is short – two weeks total. Please refer to the timelines document to see the exact dates.
Missed Tracks
It is strongly recommended that you submit all tracks for the current teaching delivery period before the tracking deadline to ensure that clinical faculty are paid in a timely manner. However, there may be times when you cannot complete the activity track within the TTPS;
- You did not receive the appropriate teaching information within the TTPS timelines;
- A track was rejected, but it is later discovered that it should be processed; or
- A clinical faculty member notifies you outside of the statement revision period that some tracking information was incorrect
Due to circumstances like these, TTPS will allow you to submit late tracks.
The process for late tracking is much the same as the regular tracking process. You may choose any past date as the Activity Start Date. It is important to note that payments are processed according to the timelines for the period in which the track was submitted. This means that if you submit a track in Quarter 3 for teaching that occurred in Quarter 1, the service provider(s) will be compensated when payments for Quarter 3 are processed. To minimize the impact on our Clinical Faculty, you should enter tracks on time to the best of your ability.
For Activity Validators
What You Need to Know Before You Review
If you have been designated an “Activity Validator ” in TTPS, your role is to determine if the activity track information is accurate and whether the track is formally approved or denied. You validate, return for revision or deny activity tracks based on your understanding of Undergraduate Medical Education, scheduling guideline maximums, the Compensation Terms, and exception service providers. In doing this, you are responsible for:
- Being the first signature for approval to pay;
- Reviewing the accuracy of the tracked activity, event and service provider information;
- Validating the activity took place and services were received from service provider;
- Validating service provider eligibility and adherence to scheduling guideline maximums;
- Checking validity of track within your business domain; and
- Reviewing contested tracks to determine escalation or revision process and communicating them with the service provider(s).
A full explanation of the responsibilities of all roles in the TTP process can be found in the TTP Roles and Responsibilities document.
Review
What to Consider When Reviewing Tracks
You are required to review all activity tracks associated with the part of the curriculum you are responsible for administering. You must review each track for accuracy, including activity, event, and service provider information. When you are validating a track where a service provider is eligible for payment but does not have a dollar value assigned, check the track details in order to confirm that the service provider payee is valid. If the service provider payee is invalid or pending validation, return the track to the Activity Tracker to make the appropriate changes and resubmit. Following your review, you must make a determination and take one of the following actions:
- Approve the track if it is valid;
- Return the track for revision by an activity tracker who will resubmit it; or
- Deny the track if there is a reason why the track should not have been created.
If you deny a track, it will be stopped in the process. It does not return to an activity tracker or move on to an Activity Validator. It is kept as a record in the system. The system will not provide an Activity Tracker with notifications regarding denied tracks, you will need to contact them if the situation requires a follow-up.
If you do not action on an activity track, it will remain in your queue until an action is taken. If you do not action on a track by the time the validation and authorization period expires, the track will not be captured in the service provider’s statement for the current quarter, and any associated payments will not be made on time.
What Happens Next
Service Provider Review
When you approve an activity track, service providers are able to view them. The track state will change to say “Pending Review” at this point. Service Providers will be prompted via email once every financial quarter to review their tracked activities. All of your approvals should be completed before this deadline. However, they are able to view them in the system at any time after the first time they sign in to TTPS.
Service Provider Inquiries
If a service provider has any questions or concerns, they will be able to submit an inquiry about specific activity tracks and provide a reason for their inquiry. It will be your responsibility as the Activity Validator to review these queried tracks. Inquired tracks will appear in your home page queue:
To view the comment submitted open the track and navigate to status log. Upon review you will determine if the track requires revision.
One Time Payment Processing (outside of system)
What is One Time Payment Processing
All MD Undergraduate Program (MDUP) teaching and tracking are expected to be performed in the Teaching Tracking Payment System (TTPS) in order for payments to be processed through Workday. This process outlined below is an exception to support unique tracks for clinical faculty members that cannot be captured through the system. The Faculty of Medicine (FoM) Education Unit must receive pre-approval from the TTP Business Support Analyst (ttp.support@ubc.ca) and the respective MDUP Site Administrative Director before proceeding with payments outside of TTPS.
Please contact TTP Support (ttp.support@ubc.ca) for more information on how to process teaching and payment for tracks that need to be performed outside of TTP for MDUP either due to Clinical Faculty (CF) being in two different faculties and FoM not being the primary Faculty, or other special circumstances.
Activity Validator Video Guides
For Exception Approvers
What You Need to Know Before You Review
If you have been designated an “Exception Approver” in TTPS, your role is to determine if “Service Provider” (e.g. clinical faculty member) payment arrangement exceptions from the Compensation Terms are formally approved or denied. You approve, deny, or return for revision expectation usages on an activity track. In doing this, you are responsible for:
- Ensuring the appropriate use of exception service providers;
- Analyzing and verifying the reason for the exception to the Compensation Terms;
- Completing your review and approval within the designated time periods;
- Escalating recurring exceptions that could be integrated into normal policies and procedures; and
- Ensuring required updates to service provider profiles are communicated to Capture Support.
A full explanation of the responsibilities of all roles in the TTP process can be found in the TTP Roles and Responsibilities document.
What Happened Before Your Review
If you are reviewing an activity track, an activity tracker has indicated that one or more of the service providers included in the track is being compensated in exception to the payment arrangement recorded in TTPS. Activity trackers are required to provide a reason as to why they have entered the service provider as an exception.
Review
What to Consider When Reviewing Tracks
You are required to review any tracks that have service providers with exception payment arrangements indicated. Exception payment arrangements may include education contracts, or instances when a service provider has multiple payment arrangements. There may also be other examples unique to your unit. The activity tracker will have made a comment explaining why they made this exception. For each track, you must review the exception reason, make a determination and take one of the following actions:
- Approve the track if the exception case is valid;
- Return the track for revision by an activity tracker who will resubmit it; or
- Deny the track if there is a reason why the track should not have been created.
If you deny a track, it will be stopped in the process. It does not return to an activity tracker or move on to an Activity Validator. It is kept as a record in the system. If the situation requires a follow up, you have to contact the activity tracker.
If you do not take action on an activity track, it will remain in your queue until an action is taken or the validation & authorization period expires. If you do not action on a track by the time the validation and authorization period expires, the track will not be captured in the service provider’s statement, and any associated payments will not be made. In this case, the track state will change to “Expired – System Closed” and the track will remain as record in the system for your reference.
If there are frequent exception cases for certain service providers, you can request that a comment be made on their profile so it is easier for you and the activity tracker to determine if it is a valid exception case. You can submit your request to the appropriate Department HR user.
What Happens Next?
If you approve an activity track, it is sent to the Activity Validator for final approval. The track state will change to say “Pending Validation.” If the Activity Validator approves, the track appears on a service provider’s statement. At this phase the track state will say “Pending Review.”
Activity Validator Returns Track
An Activity Validator may determine that an activity track needs to be returned for revision. In this case, you would be required to re-approve any exceptions associated with that track before the track can continue on to validation and appear on the service provider’s statement.
Service Provider Submits An Inquiry
Service providers are able to query their activity tracks with the Activity Validator, who may return it to the Activity Tracker for revision. If an activity track with an exception is revised you will be required to review and approve the changes made by the Activity Tracker by the deadline.
Exception Approver Video Guide
For Financial Authorizers
What you need to know before you authorize
If you have been designated as a “Financial Authorizer” in the TTP System, your role is to provide the second signature for approval to pay. You are accountable for the release of funds for clinical faculty teaching payments each quarter and for maintaining budgetary integrity.
You will review and approve the Financial Authorization Reports for your region. Your approval is based on assumptions of accuracy of the following information validated earlier in the process:
- Teaching activity information;
- Event information;
- Service provider profile information, including eligibility for payment; and
- Validity of the reason for any exceptions.
You are not expected to validate transaction details. A full explanation of the responsibilities of all roles in the TTP process can be found in the TTP Roles and Responsibilities document.
Review
What to Consider when Reviewing Reports
The Financial Authorization Reports are generated after the statements are finalized and the payment processing period opens, quarterly. This period is active for 4 weeks, you are encouraged to review and take action on the pending reports as close to the period opening as possible. Should any consultation or investigation be necessary prior to authorization the aim is to provide sufficient opportunity before the period closes and to ensure our Clinical Faculty members get paid in accordance with our timelines.
The Financial Authorization Reports are issued for each regional program and delivery period. They are separated by number of key components including, teaching method, teaching year, and department or unit.
You are responsible for flagging budget variances in the Financial Authorization Reports. Teaching payments are required to be in alignment with the approved budget. Anomalies could include amounts significantly different (i.e. larger or smaller) or inconsistent from the other teaching payments in the same category.
Each Financial Authorization Report is comprised of service provider records, you can review these records under the Financial Authorization Records tab. The expectation is that you scroll through each of these records to review. You are also responsible for identifying and analyzing signs of suspicious payment information, which may be related to system error, human error, or fraudulent activity. If you identify signs of suspicious payment information, you are responsible for initiating investigation into these anomalies. You are required to notify the Director of Finance, the Senior Administrator and the Senior Director, Education Programs & Services in cases of suspected fraudulent activity.
For each report, you must make a determination and take one of the following actions:
- Approve the report if there are no anomalies; or
- Flag the report if there are any found anomalies and notify the appropriate Activity Validator; or
- Report suspected fraud.
What Happens Next?
Approved Reports
Once you complete the review of the financial authorization report and you’re happy to approve you select the ‘send payment instructions’ button. This button sends each record as an invoice that will automatically be paid from Workday. Payment is processed 30 days after the generation date of the Financial Authorization Reports.
Flagged Reports
If you have flagged any transactions which require adjustments or corrections, you are responsible for:
- Marking it on the Financial Authorization Report before you send reports to Workday.
- In these scenarios it is your responsibility to notify the appropriate Activity Validator of the anomalies. They need to know of any transactions which have not moved forward for payment. The Activity Validator is responsible for managing the correction of the transaction and ensuring the tracks are resubmitted for payment as a Missed Track or One Time payment outside of system.
For Payment Managers
What you need to know before you review
If you have been designated as a “Payment Manager” in TTPS, you are accountable for accurate payments to clinical faculty members. You are required to: review errors or warnings reports that come in when Financial Authorize (FA) sends statements for payment processing in Workday. You will need to identify why the errors occurred, review any supplier ID errors if the suppliers were updated. You liaise with UBC Central Accounts Payable on any warnings they need further confirmation on payments. In addition, the Payment Manager may liaise with TTP Support or with the FA as needed to resolve the errors/warning reports.
A full explanation of the responsibilities of all roles in the TTP process can be found in the TTP Roles and Responsibilities document.
What Happens Next?
If there are any issues with the upload process it is your responsibility to act as the liaison and assist with resolution of the problem at hand. As liaison you will initiate the escalation process through the appropriate Faculty of Medicine channels, you may be required to contact the Business Support Analyst to resolve the issue.
Once the upload process is complete, it is your responsibility to resolve any errors in Workday.
TTPS for Adjunct Professors
Resources for tracking teaching provided by Adjunct Professors appointed by FOM through to payment for all TTPS related roles.