Training: Get Oriented in FSPT
This is a living document that will be updated as we continue to develop FSPT. We recommend bookmarking this page so you can easily access it in the future.
Welcome!
The Financial Support Payments Tool (FSPT) is part of UC San Diego's graduate financial support ecosystem, connecting information across academics and accounting systems. Building on the Introductory Page that explained why we are moving from FSRT to FSPT and how this transition benefits your work, this page takes you deeper into the application by introducing its core elements and showing you how to navigate its main features.
As you explore FSPT, you'll focus on the areas essential for stipend processing, including filters that help you locate students. These foundational skills will serve you well as the tool expands to include fee payments and remission in the future releases.
This training supports campus staff, business partners, and business owners who work with non-employment graduate financial support. Together, as a community of users, you help ensure stipend-related information is located, reviewed, and interpreted consistently across campus. This shared understanding strengthens our ability to support graduate students effectively.
Before continuing, confirm you’ve completed the prerequisite training in the UC Learning Center and the QA access steps described in the introduction materials.
This page will show you how to:
💡 Understand FSPT Basics
Identify FSPT environments, roles, and access requirements.
💡 Navigate FSPT
Move through FSPT’s interface and locate student records.
💡 Refine Results Using Filters
Apply and adjust filters to find specific students efficiently.
💡 Review Student Details
Interpret student information to confirm academic eligibility.
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Role Group Legend
This training provides a full overview of how FSPT works. Since each role group has different levels of access, look for the colored squares throughout the page. These squares highlight steps, reminders, and examples that apply to your specific role group.
🟦 For Auditors
🟧 For Users
🟪 For Campus Administrators
⬛ For System Administrators
To learn more about your role in FSPT, see the section on “What You Can Do in FSPT.”
Tips and Resources:
📌 Collab Pro Tip: When viewing embedded Google Slides, use the arrows in the bottom-left corner to move through the steps. If text is hard to read, hover over the top-right corner of the slide to reveal viewing options, then select Open in Google Drive or Full screen to enlarge the view.
Stipends Success Checklist: After completing training, use this quick reference while working in FSPT to verify key items before you finalize entries in FSPT. Bookmark this document or download it to keep it open while you work.
Training begins here.
Where You’ll Work in FSPT
Applies to: all roles 🟦🟧🟪⬛
FSPT has three environments, each with a specific purpose. Your role determines which environment you can log in to and what actions you can take.
Use the table below to understand:
what each environment is for,
who uses it,
any safety considerations, and
whether it affects real financial systems.
FSPT Environment | Who Uses It | Purpose | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
PROD (Production) | All trained Campus Staff. |
| Use PROD with care. Actions here carry tangible financial impact for students and departments. |
QA (Quality Assurance) | Campus Staff & ITS Developers. |
| Stipends generated here do not affect student records. |
DEV (Development) | ITS Developers only. |
| Updates created here later move to QA for validation before reaching PROD. |
Tip: Still need access to PROD?
Complete the required training steps listed on the Welcome to the FSPT page (available beginning 12/5/25).
You’ve reached the next section. Keep going!
FSPT Roles & Environments
Applies to: all roles 🟦🟧🟪⬛
FSPT has four main roles that define your access and permissions: Auditor, User, Campus Administrator, and System Administrator. These roles work the same way across all environments - only their names change.
In the PROD environment (live processing), roles appear as Auditor, User, Campus Administrator, and System Administrator.
In the QA and DEV environments (training and validation), you’ll see the same roles labeled with “QA” in front - for example, QA User or QA Campus Administrator.
You’ve reached the next section. Keep going!
What You Can Do in FSPT
Applies to: all roles 🟦🟧🟪⬛
Every FSPT role has a clear purpose. Your role determines what you can do in the application, what’s restricted, and what training you’ll need before working in the live (PROD) environment.
Check the table below to learn each role’s key actions, limits, and training path.
Your Role | What Can You Do in FSPT? | Who Typically Has this Role? | Training Needed to Access PROD Note: For full details on UC Learning Center Trainings and QA/PROD access steps, visit the “Get Started” section on the Welcome to the FSPT page. |
|---|---|---|---|
Auditor 🟦 |
This role has view-only access (no edits allowed). |
|
|
User 🟧 |
This role cannot update configuration settings. |
|
|
Campus Admin 🟪 |
|
|
|
System Admin ⬛ |
|
|
|
You’ve reached the next section. Keep going!
Understanding FSPT Access Management
Before you submit an access request, it helps to understand how FSPT access is managed. This section walks you through who can request and approve access, and how the EVC Roles System fits into the process.
How the EVC Roles System Connects to Role Access
Applies to: Campus Admins 🟪
The Executive Vice Chancellor (EVC) Roles System manages who gets access to the Financial Support Payments Tool (FSPT). It’s how UC San Diego approves and maintains FSPT access for employees across all Vice Chancellor (VC) areas.
Furthermore, the EVC Roles System links employees to their roles. In FSPT, what you can do depends on your assigned role - not your department or unit affiliation.
Your unit affiliation is an optional election (as a user, you choose the “unit!”), and only affects background settings like default filters and notifications. It doesn’t change what actions you can take in the application, and all roles can see all units, students, and payments.
Who Can Request Access to FSPT
Applies to: Auditors 🟦, Users 🟧, Campus Admins 🟪
Any UC San Diego staff employee with a valid business reason can request to add, edit, or remove FSPT access - either for themselves or for another employee - by completing the Access Request Form.
Tip for Approvers: Access will not be granted to student employees. Before approving, confirm the requestor is not a student by checking the Employee Class field in the request ticket (Preview Record icon).
📩 For technical issues or unexpected errors with the form, email fspt@ucsd.edu to open a Services & Support ticket.
Who Approves FSPT Access Requests
Applies to: Users 🟧, Campus Admins 🟪
When you submit an access request in the Services & Support portal, it moves through a short approval workflow. Each step ensures your request is reviewed by the right people so your FSPT access is set up accurately and without delays.
Access requests are approved in this order:
Staff Employee (User role in FSPT) - Submits a request to gain FSPT access or update existing permissions.
Supervisor - Reviews and approves or rejects the request in the Services & Support portal.
Financial Support Unit (FSU; Campus Administrator role in FSPT) - Reviews and finalizes approved requests within 1–2 business days.
Confirms the required training is complete.
Verifies the supervisor’s approval.
Manages and updates FSPT access in the EVC Roles System.
Conducts an annual audit of all FSPT users.
Access Granted – After FSU finalizes the request, access is provisioned in the EVC Roles System and becomes active in FSPT.
📩 For questions or issues, contact fspt@ucsd.edu.
You’ve reached the next section. Keep going!
How Many Times Do I Request Access?
Applies to: all roles 🟦🟧🟪⬛
To gain FSPT access, everyone starts by completing the required training. Once that’s done, how you request access depends on your role:
Auditors 🟦 & System Administrators ⬛: Submit the Campus Access Request form in ServiceNow (SNOW) once to receive access to both QA and PROD environments in the same submission (be sure to check the boxes for both environments if you want both).
Users 🟧 & Campus Administrators 🟪: Submit the form twice - once for QA access and again for PROD access.
Important: The form in ServiceNow (SNOW) includes an optional “Student Operational Reporting Access” checkbox. Staff do not need this access or the BAH Fundamentals training to use FSPT. For more information, visit the Business Analytics Hub (BAH) or Blink for details on Student Operational Reporting.
You’ve reached the next section. Keep going!
Steps to Get FSPT Access Approved
Applies to: Users 🟧, Campus Admins 🟪
You reviewed the high-level approval flow earlier in this page in this page. This section explains the specific steps each role takes in ServiceNow (SNOW) and the EVC Roles System to submit, review, approve, and finalize FSPT access.
🟧 First, staff create and submit FSPT access requests.
Reminder: Use the arrows to click through and hover over top-right icons to reveal viewing options.
Next, supervisors review and approve FSPT access requests.
Reminder: Use the arrows to click through and hover over top-right icons to reveal viewing options.
🟪 Then, FSU Staff review and finalize FSPT access approvals.
Reminder: Use the arrows to click through and hover over top-right icons to reveal viewing options.
🟪 Finally, FSU Staff manage and update FSPT access in the EVC Roles System.
Reminder: Use the arrows to click through and hover over top-right icons to reveal viewing options.
You’ve reached the next section. Keep going!
How to Log In to FSPT
Applies to: Auditors 🟦, Users 🟧, Campus Admins 🟪
Follow these steps to log in to FSPT. Your access and login link depend on your role and which environment you’re using.
Open a web browser.
Connect to the UC San Diego Virtual Private Network (VPN). See Blink for more information.
Go to your environment:
PROD (live): FSPT (PROD).
QA (training & validation): FSPT (QA).
Note: When you are in the QA environment, a yellow banner will appear indicating that you are working in QA.
DEV (development): Not available to end users.
Enter your UC San Diego Active Directory (AD) username and password.
Click “Login.”
Tip: Bookmark the QA environment link so you can access it quickly during training.
Note: When you are in the QA environment, a yellow banner will appear indicating that you are working in QA.
You’ve reached the next section. Keep going!
Navigating FSPT
Applies to: all roles 🟦🟧🟪⬛
FSPT is organized to help you find what you need quickly.
Home Page
From the Home page, you can easily access Stipend Payment Batch Imports and Issue Notifications.
Navigation Bar Overview
The blue navigation bar appears at the top of every FSPT page. Each word in the bar is a button you can click to move between different areas of the application. You may click the “Home” button to navigate to the home page from any screen.
See below for more information about each button on the blue navigation bar
Students
Select “Students” in the blue navigation bar to view student information.
Stipends
Select “Stipends” to view and manage stipend payment data.
For more details, visit the Getting Started with Graduate Financial Support page on Collab for related policies and procedures.
Configuration
The Configuration page contains background settings that support FSPT processes, such as disbursement dates and code mapping tables.
Auditors and Users can view this data in read-only tables.
Campus and System Administrators can make limited edits here directly in FSPT’s interface.
Sign Out
Select “Sign Out” in the blue navigation bar to exit FSPT.
You’ve reached the next section. Keep going!
Filtering Data in FSPT
Applies to: all roles 🟦🟧🟪⬛
Use the arrows in the bottom-left corner of the slide deck to view all steps. If you'd like a closer view, hover over the top-right corner to reveal viewing options, then select Open in Google Drive or Full screen to enlarge the view.
You’ve reached the next section. Almost done!
Viewing Student Information
Applies to: all roles 🟦🟧🟪⬛
The Student Information screen in FSPT displays key details for each student. This includes academic, demographic, and payee information, as well as all stipend payments scheduled for that student. Use this screen to locate students, view their payment information, and confirm that data appears as expected before processing stipends.
Reminder: Use the arrows to click through and hover over top-right icons to reveal viewing options.
One more section to go!
Checking Academic Eligibility
Applies to: Auditors 🟦, Users 🟧, Campus Admins 🟪
Before sending stipend payments to students, FSPT automatically checks that they meet academic requirements. Academic eligibility determines whether stipend payments will process. The application assigns each student a status that determines whether they’ll receive their funds:
Passing (Y) |
|---|
Student is academically eligible and will receive scheduled stipend disbursements. |
Pass w/ Warning (W) |
|---|
Student has certain criteria that need attention; they will receive scheduled stipend disbursement. |
Fail (N) |
|---|
Student is academically ineligible and will not receive scheduled stipend disbursement. |
Use the table to determine a student's eligibility status. To be Academically Eligible, students must meet ALL criteria in the Pass (Y) column. If they fail ANY criteria, their status changes to Warning or Fail.
Eligibility Area | Pass (Y) - Funds Release | Pass (W) - Funds Release |
|---|