Future Ready: Key Changes
Academic Requirement Overrides in Workday
What's changing?
Workday Student will introduce a business process for overrides to Academic Requirements and Academic Requirement Effective Dates, replacing the degree-audit exception process that occurs in uAchieve today.
It is important to note that this page is referencing exceptions applied to a student's degree audit in uAchieve (e.g. adding, substituting, or waiving a course), and not Exceptions to Policy at the University of Maryland (Repeat Policy, Late Add, etc.).
Why are we making this change?
In some cases, a student’s academic requirements may need to be adjusted to reflect unique circumstances. Workday functionality allows us to continue this practice and provide adjustments to degree audits when needed.
How is this change related to Workday?
Workday Student introduces distinct business processes for academic requirement overrides and effective-date changes.
Workday will continue to support academic requirement overrides for a number of scenarios that occur today in uAchieve, such as adding or substituting a course, adjusting the course count for a requirement, or waiving a requirement.
See below for more details about this change. As additional details become available and plans continue to evolve, we will update this page to reflect the latest information.
Please revisit this site as we approach Go Live events in 2027 and 2028 for more information about recommended actions for operations and communications.
At a Glance
First Use
Fall 2028
Impacted Systems
- uAchieve
Audiences
- Students
- Staff
Why it Matters: From Today to Tomorrow
Today: Current State
Currently, changes to a student’s degree audit are managed as uAcheive degree audit exceptions. In uAchieve, Advisors can apply exceptions such as course substitutions, waivers, and credit adjustments. Additionally, exceptions can be made to change the catalog year for a student’s degree audit. The approach to the exception process today varies across colleges and schools.
When a requirement is changed, students and advisors are notified manually. Email templates vary by program, leading to inconsistencies in communication.
Tomorrow: Future State
Effective in Fall 2028, overrides of a student's academic requirements will be managed only through the Academic Requirement Override business process in Workday. Advisors will navigate to a student's Academic Progress Report (APR)—Workday's degree audit feature—where they can initiate an override directly on a requirement. Available override types include many used in uAchieve today, such as Add Course, Substitute Course, and Waive Requirement. Overrides to the effective date of an academic requirement (formerly exceptions to catalog year) will also be a distinct action in Workday, separate from the Academic Requirement Override process.
Academic Requirement Override submissions will be automatically approved in many programs with no notifications for approved overrides. However, the business process may include optional approval routing based on override type and other criteria. All overrides are tracked within the system, providing clear visibility and auditability. Help Text is offered to provide guidance through the override process.
Workday introduces greater visibility into the override process. Once an override is approved, Workday may send notifications and will clearly identify overridden requirements on a student’s Academic Progress Report. Existing degree audit exceptions in uAchieve will also be converted to Workday overrides.
Benefits and Planning for the Future
The Benefits
- A clear process that routes necessary overrides for review and approval before taking effect.
- Workday supports multiple override types, allowing for flexibility in unique scenarios.
Planning for the Future
- Academic Advisors will apply overrides to academic requirements in the Academic Progress Report, Workday’s degree audit feature.
- Approval routing for specific overrides may vary by college. Academic Advisors are encouraged to work with their college to understand the applicable process.
- Designated approvers of certain overrides will receive approval requests in their Workday inbox and play an important role in timely review and processing.
- Overrides will be reflected on the Academic Progress Report (APR), providing students with visibility into any resulting changes.
This website will grow over time with new information, ideas, and topics, so please continue to revisit! To ask a question or request assistance, please contact elevate@umd.edu.