The Countdown is On – One Year to Go!

This month marks the one-year countdown to the implementation of new HR and Finance processes supported by a new integrated system. You have likely heard the terms Integrated Renewal Program and Workday, but may be unsure of what this means for you and UBC.

What is the Integrated Renewal Program?

UBC has been using three separate core administration systems: SIS (Student Information System), HRMS (Human Resources), FMS (Finance) for 20+ years. These aging administrative platforms are nearing end of life and are no longer able to support the evolving needs of faculty, staff and students.

In July 2017, the Integrated Renewal Program (IRP) united three previously separate initiatives: SASI (Student Academic Systems Initiative), Procurement Modernization and the HR/Finance Renewal Program.  An integrated approach to revitalizing our systems and processes will lead to integrated business processes, improved analysis and reporting, and a 21st century user experience.

Following a comprehensive process, UBC has chosen to partner with and implement Workday as UBC’s core administrative platform for finance, human resources and student.

Why Workday?

Workday is a product that provides a single, cloud-based platform for human resources, finance and student administrative processes and systems. Our instance of Workday is hosted in Canada and will provide secure, mobile friendly 24/7 access to account holders, provide real-time data entry, reporting and is easy to use along with a number of other benefits. Read more about other Workday benefits here.

UBC chose the Workday platform after extensive research, analysis, due diligence, and input from the UBC community; including demonstration events on both the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses. As part of its evaluation, UBC consulted with other research-intensive universities using Workday to leverage their experiences to successfully plan for the implementation of Workday at UBC.

How will Workday be implemented?

The Integrated Renewal Program is comprised of a team of UBC employees and Workday partners that are leading and supporting the implementation and deployment of the system. The IRP has a governance structure in place to oversee and manage the Workday implementation. Learn more about the team and governance structure here.

When will Workday go live?

The first implementation date scheduled for late 2020, and includes core HR and financial systems. We currently anticipate five implementation dates in total, and future release dates are currently under review.

Where are we now?

The IRP team is currently working toward the first release of the Workday platform. The team has consulted with members of the UBC community to identify UBC’s human Resources, finance and student administrative system needs and configure them correctly in the UBC Workday platform. This summer, testing will begin and some staff and faculty will be asked to participate to ensure the system is ready for release in 2020.