About the Project
Why did we do this?
By switching to Workday, we can continue supporting continuity of University business operations and the ability to meet increasing demands, while enabling future growth, evolution, and adaptability.


The need to act was driven by four major factors: system failure risk, ensuring compliance, outdated processes, and lagging fiscal and administrative data.
System Failure Risk
The former administrative software, Administrative Information Systems (AIS), was built over 35 years ago. There was no outside vendor to provide support in the event of a major system error or glitch, and the number of University resources with the programming knowledge needed to maintain and support the system was declining. Running a system that had reached its end of useful life created many unknowns and the chance of a system failure was a real risk. A system failure could have resulted in major disruption to critical University business operations such as paying employees, or tracking financial activities.
Ensuring Compliance
Federal and State regulations were becoming more and more detailed. WSU’s workforce continued to grow and diversify, to include employees from around the country and the globe. Grant awards concurrently became more complex. AIS was simply unable to support the ever-changing demands of an equally large and diverse University community. WSU remained compliant through the hard work of many dedicated individuals performing a variety of intense manual activities with little support from the system.
Outdated Processes
Outdated business processes were a barrier to growth and efficiency. WSU’s former processes were paperwork heavy, time consuming, inefficient, and often resulted in duplicate data entry across disconnected systems and multiple units. A significant administrative burden was faced by faculty and staff when performing even the most routine functions.
Lagging Fiscal and Administrative Data
The absence of real-time information and reporting made it difficult to know the status of budgets, effort certification, leave balances, and other elements critical to University operations. Faculty, staff and university leadership at all levels needed more timely information to support such decisions. Workday provides robust real-time reporting capabilities.