Understanding IRP Student – Enrolment

The Integrated Renewal Program – Student (IRP Student) has numerous focus areas – following the student journey from application to graduation.  This series aims to explain each area, its unique requirements, and our designed solutions in terms you, our UBC community, will understand.   

Workday Student will replace UBC’s Student Information System (SIS). It will be the foundation for the renewed student information ecosystem, integrating with external systems - both existing and new - that are required to conduct operations at UBC.  

The enrolment process is an integral part of the student journey. In IRP Student, we are specifically focusing on two enrolment processes: Intention to Attend and Pathway Declaration.  

Essentially, it is via enrolment that students signal their new or continued commitment to their studies in the upcoming academic year, and - if their program permits or requires it - exercise their agency to shape their academic career to reflect their particular interests, strengths, and goals. The programs they build here, not only reflect the breadth of opportunity UBC offers our students, but also demonstrate the rich diversity of our student body.

- Nancy Campbell, IRP Student Business Lead - Student Records and Advising 

Intention to Attend 

Intention to Attend is a new, segmented, enrolment function that does not exist in the current SIS. There will be two types of onboarding – New Student Onboarding and Continuing Student Onboarding. As of the first release, Graduate students will be asked to confirm their attendance in the upcoming academic term. Depending on their answer, Workday Student will either ensure Graduate Students are assessed the appropriate fees or, with the guidance of their home academic unit, help them begin to take the necessary next steps if they are planning time away. Newly admitted students will be led through onboarding activities, including processes, policies, and resources, which will prepare them for a smooth start to the term. Onboarding will not be required for non-credential programs.  

Pathway Declaration

Pathway Declaration is an umbrella term that is used when we refer to a student declaring, changing, or dropping an academic pathway. Current UBC academic program pathways include Minor, Specialization, Concentration, Focus, Option, etc. In the SIS, some pathways currently permit students to self-declare, while others require them to apply for admission, often via a paper or online form or in ranked order. This will not change with the arrival of Workday Student - only self-declaration pathways will be included in our configuration. Admission-by-application pathways will continue to be managed outside the system. 

Workday Student will also introduce new terminology for Pathway Declaration - in particular, "Program of Study". In the future, you will encounter this term when, for example, a student changes their Major or Minor via one of our new processes: "Add a Program of Study", "Change a Program of Study", or "Remove a Program of Study". Our goal is to streamline these processes so they satisfy business needs as well as integrate with UBC’s renewed student ecosystem. 

For more information about IRP Student focus areas, we invite you to read the other entries in this content series on the IRP Student website. 

*Reflecting on our experience so far in working with Workday and seeing how our design is shaping up, we realize that we have to embrace change and be confident in our ability to adapt. Workday Student, along with IRP Student’s functional requirements, are evolving quickly and this could mean that we may have to adapt our approach throughout the project timeline.