Washington University in St. Louis has begun deploying Workday Student, which will replace a variety of student information systems, including WebSTAC, WebFAC, WebAdvising and WUCRSL/Course listings, starting this February.
“Starting our deployment year is a major milestone,” said Beverly Wendland, provost and executive sponsor of Student Sunrise, the initiative that has led the Workday Student implementation, among other projects. “This team, in partnership with hundreds across the university, has worked tirelessly to get us to the starting line. There will be expected and unexpected bumps throughout the year, but the more we all do to prepare and to support each other through the transition, the easier it will be.”
Since Sept. 23, those involved in managing courses within the schools are now in Workday setting up course details (i.e. meeting days and times, etc.) for courses to be offered in fall 2025 and beyond. The Office of the University Registrar will publish these courses later in February, when students and advisers begin using the system.
Training for a group of 177 course managers started in August and runs through November. This training is being supplemented by daily office hours and an enhanced Workday @WashU support website that now hosts a variety of Workday Student training resources. The current 935-WDAY hotline and the university’s updated ticketing system, ServiceNow, are available as well. This comprehensive support will be available to all system users throughout the go-live year.
“Learning a new system always presents challenges that require time and patience to solve,” said Mairin Hynes, a teaching professor of physics in Arts & Sciences and one of the course management trainers. “But this also provides great opportunities to rethink and improve our current methods. I’m excited about a number of things in Workday Student that will help make the overall process of finding classes and tracking progress toward graduation significantly more transparent and straightforward for students and advisers. Aspects such as course levels, pre- and co-requisites, and how to complete degree requirements will be much clearer with Workday Student.”
Student awareness campaign underway
Students began learning about the transition as they returned to WashU this fall. A “Goodbye WebSTAC, Hello Workday” campaign launched in August with door hangers for the residence halls, flyers and presentations or tables at more than 30 events. Additional promotions are planned throughout the fall.
“Big changes are ahead for our students,” said Meghan Street, a 2021 alumna and a senior communications specialist with the Sunrise team. “The way students search, plan and register for courses will be very different this spring, but over time student should see big benefits, including greater clarity around course prerequisites and co-requisites and consistent policies for grading and leaves of absence.”
Additional resources available to help the community prepare
There are several ways the community can prepare for the transition.
- Now: Watch Workday Student “Sneak Peeks.” Held throughout 2024, these preview sessions for faculty and staff have focused on topics such as advising and academic planning as well as general introductory content such as viewing the student profile.
- Now: Review audience-specific Go-Live Year pages on the Student Sunrise website. Pages for course and section mangers, students and advisers (faculty and staff) detail key changes and what to do, when and where. An instructor-focused page, as well as pages for other audiences, is in development.
- Nov. 11 -22: Attend Mock enRoll. The project team, in partnership with the schools, will host preview and practice events to help students, faculty and advisers “rock” their first registration in Workday. Those who attend will have access to a practice version of the system for six weeks to allow more time to become familiar.
- January–March: Virtual instructor-led training will be held for advisers and others involved in supporting students registering for fall 2025 classes.
- Feb. 18: The Office of the University Registrar will begin publishing course details. Students and advisers, including faculty and academic advisers, will begin using Workday for advising and developing academic plans and class schedules for fall 2025 registration, which will happen in Workday in April.
If you have questions about the transition or need support with the new system, submit a ticket through ServiceNow.
