Mission to Launch Town Hall - Top 10 Questions

In October 2022, the Integrated Renewal Program – Student (IRP Student) hosted a community-wide, virtual Town Hall where program sponsors and leadership spoke about Workday Student, our timeline to launch the new system, and how our UBC community will be supported. Additionally, the Mission to Launch animated video was showcased. 

A highlight of the event was the question-and-answer period, where our community showed their interest and engagement in learning more about the launch of Workday Student and the changes to come. This blog post showcases the top 10 questions asked during the Town hall along with our answers. 

Q1: How will communications to students be supported in Workday Student? 

A1: Communications to students will continue to be supported in Workday Student. Basic communications are supported within the Workday product while ad hoc communications will be sent using a new application and process that is currently being built, and scheduled to be ready for testing by Spring 2023.  

Q2: What other institutions are implementing Workday Student? Are there lessons from their implementations that we can learn from? 

A2: There are over 25 institutions in North America that have implemented, or are in progress of implementing the Workday Student product. One of the benefits of implementing a product such as Workday is the opportunity to join communities and work with institutions to discuss strategy, plans, functionality, risk mitigation and lessons learned. UBC collaborates closely with a group of large research institutions through regular meetings. Recently the value of this collaboration was seen with the development of common requirements that were submitted to Workday for future product enhancements, together we are designing the system for our future.  

Q3: Will Workday Student determine if all course requirements are met, replacing some older systems like "Degree Navigator"? 

A3: Workday Student will replace Degree Navigator in the new system. Workday functionality allows students and faculty to determine course requirements in the same way that they do now in Degree Navigator. 

Q4: What range and type of historical data will be brought into the new system? 

A4:  A number of years of historical data is required across various parts of Workday Student, the details of this are being defined through requirements sessions. The University's Data Analytics Platform (UDaP) will store historical student data beyond what is loaded into Workday Student and will be accessible for a variety of reporting purposes.  

Q5: Are there any technical problems with permissions that are anticipated with Workday Student? 

A5: We have learned a lot from the Workday HR/ Finance launch, and we are doing our best to apply what we have learned to avoid some of the same issues. If technical issues do arise our commitment is to address them as quickly as possible. 

Q6: What does the student support model look like when we move to Workday Student?  

A6: The details of the transition to operations plan, including the student support model, are currently being finalized. More information on this will be shared early 2023.  

Q7: Where can we find a list of all applications that will be Retrofit, Integrated, Sunset, New System, or data fields updated (No Change) as we move to Workday Student?  

A7: A list of all Workday Student applications and their associated change type can be found on the Workday Student Application Inventory page of the IRP Student website. 

Q8: Do you anticipate department/program staff will lose any student or course registration access? 

A8: Staff will continue to have the appropriate access to do their jobs.  

Q9: When will I be able to see a demonstration of the system relevant to my role? 

A9: Keep an eye on the IRP Student Community Events page for upcoming engagements and prerecorded system demonstrations. As we move closer to the launch of Workday Student, it is important to ensure our UBC community is engaged, informed, and prepared. As such, in November 2022, ahead of training beginning, multiple Workday Student 101 Sessions will be available to provide high-level, foundational knowledge about Workday Student, its differences from our current SIS, changes in terminology, and an overview of how the UBC community will be trained. Register for the Community-wide session on November 23, 2022, here.      

Q10: Will Workday Student replace Scientia?  

A10: No, Scientia will continue to be our application for scheduling and will be Retrofit to function optimally with Workday. 

If you were unable to attend the Town hall, watch the recording here to view the full session and Q&A portion. The above questions are just the beginning of learning more about Workday Student. If you would like to know more, please visit our FAQ page or email us at questions.irpstudent@ubc.ca.