How does Iowa State University use Workday to manage students and break down departmental barriers?

K The Value of a Single Solution financial, human resources and student infor-mation technology needs. As a Vice Presidentand Chief Information Officer as well as a fac-ulty member, Constant could see that the tech- The university needed one system that couldmanage everything from onboarding new stu-dents, to registration to academic planning and Iowa State was also facing a critical workforceissue. “We saw the slow loss of people whocould work with our systems,” she says. “That Iowa State chose Workday to administer the life-cycle of its students. “It follows them (from theadmissions process until they graduate,” says student,” allowing the team to deploy more so-phisticated data analytics that can help stu-dents succeed, Constant says. “You’re not just Steve Kish, who leads system implementation “When you have all that information together, yousee a more complete picture of an individual Iowa State transitioned its finance and humanresources functions over to Workday in 2019.When it chose Workday Student, it became the Technology Systems, was drawn to the opportu-nity to collaborate with Workday as the productwas in its infancy. “We could see Workday was Having one program that serves multiple func-tionswas especially appealing to Constant.“When you have multiple systems, there aresometimes different versions of the same re-cord or name, and it can be difficult to get thosesynchronized,” she says. Having one system Thoughtful implementation, appealing features The migration to Workday for human capitaland finance was an immediate switch. Studentimplementation,however,typically requires “The student experience is always top of mindwhen speaking with institutions, “said MichaelHofherr, General Manager, SLED at Workday. as possible. To ensure minimal disruption wedeploy Student in-line with the institution’s aca-demic calendar, which allows customers to turn to operate like a lot of other platforms students Now students can use Workday to prepare mul-tiple versions of their future schedules and un-derstand the classwork involved. “That would Iowa State introduced the admissions featuresin June of 2023, and the registration compo-nents went live in the spring of 2024. This sum- It also provides students with a more transpar-ent view of their progress toward degree com-pletion in a clear infographic on their academ-ic page. In the legacy system, a student would The team was pleased to see how quickly stu-dents were able to learn and utilize the new regis-tration system in March. “That was not the case Benefits beyond core functionality tegration with finance and human resources ishelpful, “because we have a good number of stu- While the Student features were attractive toIowa State in their own right, the team also noteda number of additional benefits that came with The program is also flexible, allowing Iowa Statetoseamlessly integrate its existing learning day solution for certain types of transfer creditrequirements wasn’t well supported by Workday,resulting in a confusing system that leveragedreport-driven cohorts and conditional academic management system, Instructure’s Canvas. “Wehave the flexibility to make choices,” Constant Connecting staff to improve functionality Workday has also ushered in a cultural shift atIowa State. “Being in a single, integrated systemis pushing us to collaborate more closely. Dif-ferent departments across campus now worktogether on processes that were more siloed Iowa State worked with Workday to create aGlobal Limits configuration that allows studentsto enroll in or receive transfer credit for courseson their record but limits or restricts the way in “The power of Workday is in our approach tosupport an institution’s most valued resources- people, finances, and students,” Hofherr says.Workday was founded with Higher Education atits core, and we remain steadfast in our commit- “If innovation is our engine, our customers are thefuel,” says Michael Bisson, Vice President SLED atWorkday. “This is perhaps the biggest synergy forWorkday with Higher Education, because our in-dustry is powered by its collaboration with peers.”Workday engages with customers through De- By bringing staff to the table across the institu-tion with counterparts, Iowa State has been ablenot only to troubleshoot challenges but also sug-gest new features. “The partnership with Work- Workday also offers universities the opportunityto connect outside of their institutions to learnfrom other higher education customers and col- we pay it forward as much as we can. The bet-ter Workday gets, the better we will all succeedin using it. It’s a really collaborative, cooperativecommunity.” This content was paid for byWorkdayand produced byInside Higher Ed’s sponsoredcontent team. The editorial staff ofInside Higher Edhad no role in its preparation.