Configuring security is a critical component of the university’s multi-year effort to implement Workday Student. Security drives what you can see and do in the system, as well as what training and support materials you may need to begin using our new student information system.
The Student Sunrise team has completed the first draft of security role assignments in Workday Student and is beginning the process of sharing them with schools and units.
Over the next few months, we will be meeting with school registrars, the Student Sunrise Student Financials and Financial Aid campus team members, and other unit leadership to validate each school or unit’s initial security role assignments. These reviews will occur three times before the first wave of functionality goes live:
- Round 1: April-July 2023
- Round 2: Nov. 2023-April 2024
- Round 3: May 2024-Aug. 2024
During this first round, those who are validating the role assignments will become familiar with security core concepts and security roles available in Workday Student, including what each role can see and do. University Registrar Keri Disch will oversee the process as the data administrator for the student domain, responsible for all data and policies associated with student records, including access to those records.
Initial security role assignments were made based upon each person’s current SIS security assignments, which reflect the approved security forms submitted to the Office of the University Registrar (OUR). We are fortunate to have a solid starting point since security in SIS is carefully maintained and documented due to FERPA compliance.
Opportunities for change
We then made adjustments to the assignments, as needed, based on how data and processes are organized in Workday along with guidance from OUR and the Office of Data Governance.
For example, course management is slightly more segmented in Workday than WUCRSL, the university’s existing course management system. Workday also allows for more granular security configuration than SIS. These differences in functionality provide an opportunity to assess current practices and determine what changes may better serve our students and the university going forward.
“One of the most exciting things about Workday is how interconnected our academic data will be,” said Disch. “If we change the title of a course, for example, it will automatically update anywhere else it appears in the system, including academic requirements and reports. Changes would also be reflected in any systems where the data is sent via integrations.”
“One of the most exciting things about Workday is how interconnected our academic data will be.”
Keri Disch, university registrar
Courses in Workday also have additional fields not found in SIS that should improve the university’s ability to collect, report and analyze academic and student-related data for decision-making and compliance.
“The interconnectivity of data in Workday along with our plans to rely more heavily on reporting mean that data accuracy and consistency will be more critical than ever,” Disch added. “Shifting the management of data to a narrower group, like OUR and school registrars, is one way we can promote that consistency.”
Additionally, some tasks that are currently performed via email or paper forms will be moving into Workday, such as leave of absence requests. While we’ve had discussions with our campus team members and OUR about who should have access to perform such tasks in Workday, the security role assignment validation meetings will provide schools and units with dedicated time to discuss and understand these changes.
“Looking at security role assignments may seem like a technical, under the hood type activity, but it’s really about making sure people have access to do their jobs when we move to Workday Student,” said Erin Culbreth, Student Sunrise executive director.
“We’ll be going through this exercise several times to get things as accurate as possible, but we’ll also have a process in place to make changes after go-live when people start to use the system.”
To learn more about security, go to Workday Student 101: Security.