Fairfield University is set to roll out the new Workday Student interface in the upcoming weeks, culminating a years-long, behind-the-scenes project to modernize the university’s data systems and enhance student experience.
Workday Student will replace the Banner and Degree Works information system, which students use to register for classes and track their degree progress. The new platform will go live to students on March 3.
The move to the new platform, spearheaded by Vice Provost for Undergraduate Excellence Mark Ligas and Chief Information Officer Steven Gstalder, the co-chairs of a steering committee focused on the transition to Workday Student.
“We need to have a system that will transfer a lot more data and information than we’ve ever had in the past,” said Gstalder, explaining that the previous system had become more challenging to maintain.
Under the old system, students interested in tracking their academic progress used the Degree Evaluation system. Now, the functions of Degree Evaluation will be known as the Academic Progress Report (APR).
“It’s a bit more robust,” said Dr. Ligas of the new APR system. “The student doesn’t need to be in Banner deciding on a set schedule and opening course catalog to see things. It’s all there on Workday.”
The APR is expected to display the courses taken during a student’s journey at Fairfield, provide course information, and connect to a student’s major. Students will also be able to submit requests to change their major, minor, concentration and school without having to submit separate forms.
“The student will have more opportunities toward affecting their records,” the vice provost added.
One of the most significant developments with the new registration system is the disappearance of the so-called registration pins, a six-digit code students had to obtain from their academic advisors to unlock the Banner registration website.
“So this is the big important thing students need to know: no more pins going forward. Once you have your advising appointment, your faculty member removes the advising hold,” Ligas explained.
However, while the pin requirement has been removed, Ligas emphasized that students will still need to meet with their faculty advisors to register for classes.
Earlier this month, the team in charge of the Workday transition hosted a simulated registration event in the Lower Level of the Barone Campus Center to familiarize students with the system and seek feedback.
“From the technical, production and development side, it was really less of a training and more of a testing,” Gstalder explained. After the mock experience, some of the training materials, which have not been released as of the publication of this article, will be edited to reflect user feedback and ensure some of the instructions are more explicit.
When asked about the training materials, Gstalder described their approach as a “just-in-time,” saying they will release information in sections instead of everything simultaneously.
Over the past weeks, faculty have received virtual and in-person training sessions on how to manage advising tasks in Workday Student. Over a dozen hour-and-a-half-long sessions have been offered since Feb. 11, with Fairfield IT staff and personnel from a Workday Student consulting group in attendance.
The training events have been offered to faculty from the four schools and the Bellarmine Campus.
Even as the academic system will be new, the co-chairs hope that the faculty’s familiarity with Workday as a human resources and payroll system will be a factor in their approach to Workday Student.
“For us, for the university, this is not an entirely new system. It’s an expansion of an existing system,” Gstalder added.
Gstalder and Ligas emphasized that while they don’t expect major problems with the rollout of Workday Student in the upcoming weeks, they say any issues that students may face “will not be operationally stopping anyone” from going forward with their registration.
“Just because we are going to Workday Student does not mean a student at 7 a.m. is automatically going to get all five of their classes,” added Ligas. “That is not an issue of the technology of the registration system we use. That is called college, where you don’t get all the classes you want in a given semester.”
Asked by The Mirror, Gstalder said they would have a “war room” on registration day to assist students with any issues they may encounter with Workday Student.
Banner and DegreeWorks will be available until Spring 2025 and Summer 2025 courses are processed. Starting in Fall 2025, all processing will take place in Workday.
Over the summer, additional capabilities will be added to the platform to allow onboarding for first-year students and financial aid.
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