Published April 2, 2021
Dear Faculty,
As we transition to Workday this summer, there will be periods when hiring and purchasing transactions will be unavailable. Workday is the university’s new HR and finance system. This is a major change for the university that requires all faculty and staff to plan ahead.
Hiring and Procurement
During the months leading up to Workday implementation, it is crucial for you to discuss hiring and major procurement plans with your department. These dates may change and departments may have internal deadlines to follow. The most important dates to note now are:
- April 25 – Preferred day to submit new hires starting July 1 or earlier.
- June 1 – All hiring of post-docs and staff must be complete and submitted to HR for anyone with a start date July 1 or earlier.
- July 1-5 – Purchasing blackout (no requisitions, purchase orders, travel advances, etc.). New purchases must be placed by June 29 and all in-progress purchases must be fully approved by June 30. Submit orders for ample supplies, animals, equipment, etc. with enough time for approval and processing.
More details on these dates and FY21 closeout are available on the Workday Get Ready website.
Grants
- Proposal submissions can continue throughout the transition.
- For several weeks after Workday is live, account balances may not be accurate. Moving budgets from one system to another is a manual process that will take time. This means:
- Your account balances will not accurately reflect your budget
- Expenditures will not be accurately reflected in Workday until late July or early August.
Workday should improve your ability to track financials with real-time data and robust reporting, and also reduce administrative burden, freeing time for mission-driven work. However, the switch will not be easy and there will likely be bumps in the road ahead. The Workday team is working hard for a smooth transition, but there will be blackout periods, tasks and approvals will take additional time as the staff learn a brand new system, workflows will have to be adjusted, and data will not be available immediately.
I ask for your preparation now and your patience as we near the release this summer.
Please share this announcement with faculty and staff members in your department.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Lodge, PhD
Vice Chancellor for Research