Workday Student: What to Know About Graduation

UBC students will be able to apply for May 2025 graduation using Workday Student for the first time starting in December. This blog post will cover key information about the program completion process in Workday Student for student-facing staff. 

Key graduation dates and deadlines are determined by Enrolment Services and can be found here:  

• UBC Vancouver: https://students.ubc.ca/enrolment/graduation/applying-graduate
• UBC Okanagan: https://students.ok.ubc.ca/courses-money-enrolment/graduation/ 

What does the graduation adjudication process look like? 

Staff adjudicators will run their own graduation checks, using Workday reports to support the process if needed, and then update Program Completion Statuses in Workday to approve or deny students for graduation. If applicable, adjudicators will also assign Program of Study Honors or Awards in Workday. There are no changes to Senate processes and deadlines due to the transition to Workday. 

What are some key changes to the program completion process in Workday Student compared to the previous Student Service Centre (SSC)? 

• Multi-step graduation application as opposed to one single form: In the SSC, the graduation application was one form, whereas in Workday, it consists of the Apply for Program Completion task and a Questionnaire. Embedded in the questionnaire is a link to a third form where students must submit information regarding ceremonies and parchments. The questionnaire itself, which collects information that may be useful to clear students for graduation, is not mandatory for most students. For College of Graduate Studies students, however, the questionnaire is required for their application submission. All students must complete the Apply for Program Completion and convocation management steps. 
• Students need to confirm their Expected Completion Date: In the SSC, a student’s graduation application was automatically associated with a degree conferral period. In Workday, students are asked to confirm their Expected Completion Date, and this date must fall within the academic period available for completion. For example, they cannot select an Expected Completion Date in June if they intend to graduate in May. The date that they choose is associated with a degree conferral period. 
• Students cannot make changes to their application once it is submitted: In the SSC, students were able to edit their application details after it had been submitted, up to a specific date. In Workday, students will not be able to make changes to a submitted application and must instead seek support from their Faculty or Enrolment Services. 
• A separate record needs to be created to enable future registration: In the SSC, students were able to register for a future session while also having a pending graduation application. In Workday, a separate record needs to be created to enable registration in the session immediately following graduation. For example, if a student applies to graduate in May but wants to take unclassified studies in Summer Session, a separate record for UNCL needs to be created. 
• Dual Degree students need to apply for program completion twice: In the SSC, dual degree students submitted one graduation application for both degrees. In Workday, dual degree students must submit the for Apply for Program Completion task and complete a Questionnaire for each degree. 
• No grades calculator: Workday does not have a tool that functions like the SIS’s built-in grades calculator. Instead, reports are available that will allow advisors to export data and/or perform custom grade calculations. 
• Ceremonies and parchments: The collection of information for ceremonies and parchments will be handled in a separate solution outside of Workday. 

Key changes in Workday 

The transition to Workday Student also involves key changes in terminology used for graduation compared to the Classic SIS.   

• Program Completion refers to graduation processes 
• Program Completion Statuses replaces Graduation Statuses 
• Program of Study Honor or Award replaces Degree Standing 

Program Completion statuses - also known as graduation statuses – have been streamlined as follows: 

* to be accompanied by Student Notes using the Advising, Graduation note category and topic 

Training for student-facing staff on program completion: 

Staff can access training on program completion functions in Workday Student on the Program Completion (Graduation) Canvas Course.  

This training includes information on: 

• How a student applies for program completion  
• How to use key reports to track applications and review questionnaire responses  
• Workday tools that can be used to support graduation checks  
• How to record adjudication outcomes by updating program completion statuses on an individual student record and in bulk  
• What happens on a student record after degrees are conferred  
• How to find conferred students using a report 

Live training sessions also took place for Enrolment Services, the College of Graduate Studies and the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies between August and September 2024, with additional training for the community on October 22nd and 24th. The session recordings will be posted on the Canvas Course. 

Support for staff 

The Program Completion Canvas Course will be updated with relevant information related to graduation processes in Workday. Student-facing staff experiencing challenges using Workday for program completion processes should submit a Workday Student Support Request through the UBC Self-Service Portal (CWL required) or contact Enrolment Services for support.