Academic Appointments

Jump To: Overview | Academic appointments vs. HR positions | Associating people to courses in Workday Student | Course instruction eligibility

Academic appointment overview

In Workday, academic appointments are provided to individuals who need to do anything related to a course at the university including the following: instruction, instructional support, research, practice, grading, mentoring, etc. In Workday Student, to associate a person to a course section in Workday (i.e., instructors, mentored teachers, or support), a person must have at least one academic appointment within any academic unit (AU), regardless of the AU the course is taught in.

In order to associate a person to a course section in Workday (i.e., instructors, mentored teachers, or support) they must have an academic appointment and course instruction eligibility (called “instructor eligibility” in Workday).

Academic appointments vs. HR positions

Academic appointments are separate and distinct from the position an academic (faculty, lecturer, etc.) holds at the university. Academic appointments are used to track items such as tenure, rank or named professorships, while the position holds job data such as compensation, job profile and location. All faculty (clinical, tenure, tenure track, adjunct, lecturer, etc.) have an academic appointment in Workday in addition to their position.

For example, a professor of biology holds a position in the biology department but may hold academic appointments in Arts & Sciences and the School of Medicine. More importantly, positions lie within supervisory organizations (sup orgs), whereas academic appointments are housed within academic units (AUs).

To learn more about academic appointments in Workday for faculty, visit the Faculty in Workday reference guide on the Workday@WashU website.

Associating people to courses in Workday Student

In Workday, faculty, staff, academic affiliates and students are eligible to teach and support courses. Academic appointments are the connecting point to allow individuals to be associated to a course section.

In addition to those already in Workday with academic appointments to be associated to a course, there are four populations that provide course support and may also need an academic appointment in Workday Student: 

• Employees with non-faculty positions
• Students who teach
• Non-paid instructors
• Contingent workers

Course instruction eligibility

For those who manage courses in Workday, course roles (e.g., instructor, mentored teaching experience assistant in instruction, teaching assistant, undergraduate assistant in instruction) will be used to determine how individuals will be associated with the course, like how course roles are used today. Conversations about the course roles in Workday and those in Canvas, and the relationship (if any) between the two, are ongoing.

Only people with academic appointments can be associated with courses in Workday. Academic appointments ensure that the course, as well as the list of people that schools select from to associate with the course, is accurate, like the list schools see today. Course roles in Workday will then be used to manage those associations for each course section.

Academic appointment FAQs

*Last updated 2/10/23