Washington University in St. Louis will begin the transition to Workday Student, which replaces most student information systems, this fall. A variety of training sessions and other support will be available for faculty, staff and students.
Over 140 faculty, students and staff had the opportunity in April to participate in Workday Student workshops to pilot training and support resources. The workshops are one of several activities underway to prepare for the transition. Workday Student will replace WebSTAC, WebFAC, WebAdvising and WUCRSL.
Materials piloted included step-by-step instructions, reference guides and introductory videos. The pilots also offered hands-on practice for those who have not been closely involved yet.
“Like with any big change, it will take a while for students to get used to new ways of doing things, like using a search bar as the primary way to search for courses,” said Lexi Suarez, a junior in Arts & Sciences and a Student Sunrise intern. “Some aspects of the system are intuitive, others are not. But after the workshop, I feel much more confident in my ability to use Workday. It will be beneficial for students to participate in events this fall to help them get familiar with the system.”
Initial training available this summer
Feedback from the workshops is helping the project’s training team refine support materials that will be available this summer. Key dates to remember are:
- June: School registrars and those involved in course setup and management will receive communication about training to complete. Participants will register for training through Workday Learning, a system the university is assessing to replace Learn@Work.
- July: Initial training resources will be available on the Workday@WashU website. These resources focus on in-system tasks that will begin this fall, specifically setting up courses in preparation for fall 2025 registration. Resources will continue to be released throughout the go-live year as different aspects of the system are turned on.
- Sept. 23: Course management functionality in Workday is turned on and those involved in setting up courses and course sections will begin working in the system.
- Nov. 11 -22: The project team, in partnership with the schools, will host a “Mock Semester,” which offers practice activities to help students, faculty and advisers prepare for fall 2025 registration. These activities will serve as a second pilot of support materials.
- January–March 2025: Instructor-led training will be held for advisers and others involved in supporting students registering for fall 2025 classes.
- Feb. 17, 2025: Students and advisers, including faculty advisers, will begin using Workday for advising activities and developing academic plans and class schedules for fall 2025 registration, which will happen in Workday in April 2025.
Learn more about Workday Student training and additional go-live year activities on the Sunrise website.
Registration open for fall ‘sneak peeks’
Before training, faculty and staff can take advantage of the Workday Student “Sneak Peeks.” Since the webinar series launched in January, nearly 4,000 people have taken part in a live or recorded system preview session. Each month’s webinar has focused on a different topic, including advising, academic planning, and managing courses, as well as general introductory content such as viewing the student profile.
“The sessions are a way for anyone who supports students through instruction, advising, course management and other activities to preview how a particular process or activity will work in the future,” said Danielle Bristow, Student Sunrise change lead. “The webinars build on each other, so I encourage those who have not had an opportunity to learn about what is changing to do so before taking any training.”
The “Sneak Peeks” will continue into the fall and cover the following topics.
- Registration from the Student Perspective, Sept. 11 (also available June 11 and 20)
- Helping Students Navigate Their Financial Information in Workday, Sept. 17 and 25
- The Future of Student Data, Oct. 8 and 16
- End of Semester Activities, Nov. 5 and 6
Faculty and staff can learn more about the webinars and register via the Student Sunrise website. Recordings and Q&A from past webinars are also available.
Supporting projects underway
While system previews, testing and training development are top priorities, there are several additional projects underway to help support faculty, staff and students during the transition and beyond. These include:
- A refreshed Workday@WashU website to incorporate information and support resources for Workday Student tasks
- An update of the university’s ticketing system, ServiceNow, so faculty, staff and students can request help or log potential issues.
- A redesign of the Office of the University Registrar website to make information about policies and key dates easier to find. The redesign will include a new externally facing searchable class schedule that will replace the current courses website.
- The Student Data Program, which is focused on bringing student-related data from systems like Workday Student, Slate, and PowerFAIDS, as well as historical data into WashU’s data warehouse to support university reporting and analytics
“This is going to be a complicated and challenging transition for our community,” added Barry Martin, Student Sunrise training lead. “Our goal is to ensure resources are easily accessible, at the right time, and in a variety of formats; and that existing support structures are ready to assist users. This collective work should go a long way to ensuring our faculty, staff and students are well supported during the transition.”
Stay informed
While the project will continue to publish periodic updates in the Record, faculty and staff should watch for communications from Student Sunrise, as well as their dean or steering committee representative about specific actions they may need to take. Information also will be available on the Student Sunrise website, Workday@WashU website, on the OUR website, and via the Announcements feature within Workday.
For more information about the transition to Workday Student, visit sunrise.wustl.edu.
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