Workday Wire | Oct 2026

Workday Student Program Update

Fall 2026 Town Hall: Preparing for the Next Phase of Workday Student

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Elevate Program Fall 2026 Town Hall on October 1! The session opened with a message from Senior Vice President and Provost Jennifer King Rice, who emphasized the importance of collaboration as the University prepares for Workday Student. Associate Provost for Enterprise Resource Planning Jack Blanchard then shared updates on the program's progress, implementation timeline, and the University's phased approach to launching Workday Student through five Go Live milestones, beginning in August 2027 and continuing through Fall 2028.

Missed the Town Hall? 

If you weren't able to attend—or would like to revisit the discussion—the Fall 2026 Town Hall recording is now available on the Elevate website. While you're there, check out the recordings from our past town halls, explore the Workday Student Learning Hub, Future Ready pages, and other resources to stay informed as the project continues to move toward implementation.

Workday Student: Five Milestones, One Phased Transition

Workday Student will be introduced through five milestones, beginning with course scheduling, followed by financial aid, advising and registration, student billing, and other student activities.

Milestone 1 | August 2027: Course Scheduling

The first Workday Student Go Live begins on August 3, 2027, with a small group of central office users establishing the University's academic foundation and preparing the Fall 2028 course schedule. Department Schedulers, the Office of the University Registrar, and Extended Studies will then begin creating and managing Fall 2028 course sections in Workday Student, while Summer 2028 and earlier terms continue to be managed in SIS.

Milestone 2 | Late 2027: Financial Aid Preparation

The second milestone expands Workday Student access to members in the Office of Student Financial Aid, introducing the financial aid functionality and preparation activities needed to support students as they transition to Workday Student.

Milestone 3 | Spring 2028: Advising and Registration

Spring 2028 marks the first major campus-wide milestone, when students, faculty, and academic advisors begin using Workday Student for advising and registration for Fall 2028. This milestone represents the first time much of the campus community will interact with Workday Student in their day-to-day work.

Milestone 4 | Summer 2028: Student Billing and Payments

During Summer 2028, Workday Student functionality will expand to include student billing and payments, introducing additional student financial activities as the University prepares for the Fall 2028 semester. 

Milestone 5 | Fall 2028: Full Workday Student Implementation

By Fall 2028, Workday Student will be used for the full range of planned functionality. Additional academic and administrative activities, including grading, transcripts, and other student records processes, will transition to Workday as the University completes its phased implementation.

How Will Campus Prepare?

Using Milestone 1 as an example, preparation begins with role-based Functional Overviews, followed by access to a Readiness Tenant where users can practice in Workday before instructor-led and self-paced training. Ongoing support will continue as users begin working in the system.

What's Next?

As the project moves from Architect & Configure into testing, participation will expand to include additional subject matter experts and campus stakeholders. In Fall 2027, a Mock Semester will allow hundreds of students, faculty, and staff to test Workday Student and help prepare for broader campus use in Spring 2028.

Elevate Connects with Advisors at the 2026 Undergraduate Advising Conference

As Workday Student moves closer to implementation, the Elevate team is expanding opportunities to engage directly with the campus community. One of our first stops this fall was the 2026 Undergraduate Advising Conference, where the team presented Preparing for the Elevate Transition: A Conversation About Workday Student and Advising.

The session helped advisors understand what to expect as Workday Student is introduced through a phased implementation beginning in 2027. We began with the people side of change—acknowledging the realities of advising today, explaining how the implementation timeline aligns with the student lifecycle, and outlining how advisors will be supported throughout the transition. Advisors also learned about future Functional Overviews, the Readiness Tenant, role-based training, and the ongoing support available before and after Go Live.

Next, we provided an early look at advising-related capabilities being designed in Workday Student, including the Academic Progress Report (APR), Benchmark Review reporting, Advisor Assignments, and the Advisor Dashboard, demonstrating how Workday will provide advisors with more centralized access to information and tools that support student success.

The Advising Conference marked the beginning of a broader series of outreach and engagement activities that will continue across campus as Workday Student moves from design into testing, training, and readiness.

NEW! Let’s Continue the Conversation

Your questions and feedback help us create the communications, resources, training, and engagement activities that best prepare the UMD community for Workday Student.

Each month, we'll feature a new question or feedback opportunity in the Workday Wire. We hope you'll check back, share your thoughts, and help shape the transition.

Select the link below or scan the QR code to participate.

How Are You Feeling?

What are you concerned about?

What are you excited about?

Continue visiting the Elevate website for new learning resources, project updates, and planning guidance as UMD prepares for Workday Student.

Stay Connected…

For Workday HCM and Finance:

• Try the Workday Virtual Agent!
• Visit our website at erp.umd.edu!
• Having a problem in Workday? Open a case.

For Workday Student:

• Visit our website at elevate.umd.edu! 
• Have a question about Workday Student? Email us at elevate@umd.edu.