Workday Wire | Aug 2026

Workday Student Program Update

Life Cycle Testing

In July, the Elevate Student team came together for two weeks of Lifecycle Testing. This exercise tested a range of scenarios across the student lifecycle from the perspectives of the people who will use Workday Student each semester. The team followed students through key moments of their journey, from onboarding and advising to registering for classes, having tuition and fees assessed, receiving financial aid, and having final grades applied at the end of the term. For the first time, business processes designed across different functional teams were brought together into a single, connected experience.

Much of the value of Lifecycle testing came from collaboration. Functional teams that often work in parallel were seated side by side, working through test scenarios together in real time. Testing also spanned a range of student types, from a new first-year to a continuing graduate student, to confirm these processes hold up across the many paths students take at UMD. 

Together, this exercise built a shared understanding of how key business processes will operate in the future Workday Student environment and fostered a greater sense of collaboration in the project team. The team looks forward to bringing lessons learned into end-to-end testing in early 2027 and a successful Milestone 1 go live in Summer 2027.

New Website Content

Building on our July newsletter, which focused on looking ahead at key activities and audiences involved in Milestone 1, the Elevate Student team has launched a new Future Ready site focused on Course Scheduling in Workday. As part of Milestone 1, Course Scheduling will occur in Workday beginning in September 2027 in preparation for the Fall 2028 semester. Visit Course Scheduling to learn about what is and isn't changing, and how stakeholders can start preparing. 

Another key concept in Workday Student is Transfer Credit, an area our Academic Foundation and Transfer Credit team has been focused on across several worksets. Check out our new Learning Hub article for an introduction, and stay tuned for more about Transfer Credit in the months ahead.