Workday @ SVSU Frequently Asked Questions

Workday is a state-of-the-art cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution that will replace many of our current systems and manual processes. Workday manages Financials, HR, Payroll and student information systems activities and data. The solution provides an improved user experience and faster, better access to data.

Transitioning to Workday offers the University numerous benefits, streamlining complex, paper-based procedures into a single solution. This transition will improve data visibility, reliability, and usefulness, providing an easy-to-use, modern technology platform. Ultimately, Workday will create a better experience for staff, faculty, and students by addressing concerns from the staff survey. Updating our systems and processes will help alleviate inefficiencies, increase job satisfaction, and allow employees to focus on meaningful work that advances the University's mission.

Workday serves as an innovative system designed to continually evolve and incorporate industry best practices, catering to the essential processes that define our organization. Key advantages of transitioning to Workday include:

• Facilitating a culture of integration and collaboration by granting real-time access to accurate information essential for decision-making across academic and administrative domains.
• Streamlining administrative processes for faculty and staff by replacing traditional paper-based workflows with efficient digital alternatives.
• Empowering employees to configure workflows and business processes independently, eliminating the need for coding expertise from ITS staff.
• Lowering operational costs and reducing security, compliance, and accessibility risks through cloud-based hosting and a modern software architecture.
• Simplifying product updates and third-party integrations by utilizing a single codebase, enhancing efficiency in system maintenance.
• Enhancing communication, visibility, and user experiences across various tasks, thereby improving overall workflow efficiency.

The decision to transition to Workday was made after careful consideration, particularly in light of our existing enterprise resource system, Ellucian Colleague. Decades of customization to Colleague have resulted in increased complexity, hindering upgrades and impeding the University's progress in administrative and operational domains.

Yes, everyone at SVSU will use Workday. When fully implemented, faculty, staff, and students will be able to do things such as: view earning statement, check budget balances, select and verify benefits, settle travel expenses, obtain course rosters, submit grades, review, register and pay for courses, and review and accept financial aid.

Workday requires the Platform suite, which includes Finance, Human Resources, and Payroll, to be installed before the Student Information System (Workday Student). The Platform suite contains data related to people (employees and students - additional student data will be added when Workday Student is implemented) and financials, which are essential for various administrative and student processes, referred to as "Business Processes" in Workday. The Platform and Student modules work seamlessly together to enhance the student experience. 

The Student module is a Student Information System (SIS) and contains all the other student-related data including applicant and enrollment data, academic records, and student financials. The implementation of the Student module takes significantly longer. By implementing the Platform suite first, SVSU will become familiar with Workday technology, ensuring a smooth transition to the Student module. 

Workday is intended to replace multiple systems and workflows identified throughout the project. A guiding principle of the project is a Standardized, Simplified Business Process, utilizing as much Workday functionality as possible and integrating other systems only as needed. 

• Colleague – Current ERP and SIS.
• Self-Service – Self-Service allows students and employees to view academic, financial and employment information.
• CROA – Colleague Reporting and Operating Analytics. This is the source for “officials” and Student Success reporting.
• ASR Student Success Analytics – The product that uses the CROA data for Student Success reporting.
• Informer – A report writer used for Colleague reporting. 
• Unimarket – Procurement (purchase requisitions and purchase orders).
• Ascend (Cornerstone) – Employee Recruitment and Performance Management.
• Trimdata (bookstore interface) – Financial Aid integration with Barnes & Noble.
• EasySpooler – Report printing utility used for Colleague reports.
• Source 4 – Printing software for printing payroll and accounts payable checks.
• iData – Slate to Colleague interface.

• Website svsu.edu/workday – The website is the primary communication vehicle for the campus community. We treat this website as the one-stop shop for materials, resources and information.
• Workday @ SVSU Feedback Form – We encourage you to send feedback, questions, ideas and recommendations using this form. We will do our best to get back to you as quickly as possible.  
• Employee meetings – Updates will be included in faculty and staff meetings when appropriate.  
• Campus emails – To alleviate extreme inbox traffic, we will only send email updates on the second week of each month. Emails will be sent from u-comm@svsu.edu with the subject starting with “Notice: Workday @ SVSU…"

Beginning in October 2024, the Workday project teams will have more details for how staff, faculty and students will be impacted. As we get closer to launch, March 2025, we will share demos of Workday. This will prepare you for the Workday training to be scheduled for 2025.

Faculty, Staff and Student Employees  

• Workday Employee Self Service will provide easy maintenance of employee profile information, payroll elections, and employee benefits.   
• Employees will also be able to submit timecard entries, leave requests, expense requests, and view their leave accrual and paystubs.   
• Workday Platform will provide greatly enhanced access to budget information, expenditures, and available funds. It will offer new and advanced reporting features and data analysis opportunities.   

People Managers/Supervisors  

• Workday Platform will provide people supervisors with streamlined tools to manage their team’s talent and performance profiles, timecards, leave requests, accrued leave balances.   
• The recruiting, hiring, and onboarding processes for new employees will also be managed through Workday.   

Training for Workday is a very high priority and we are currently refining our training programs and plan for introducing Workday to campus. As we get closer to launch, March 2025, staff and faculty will be trained on how to use Workday. The trainings will provide you with a real-world experience of how to effectively use Workday and you will have access to training materials and workshops as we get closer to Workday go-live. We will communicate often about these trainings as plans are finalized.