Workday Student kicks off with campus collaboration

February 24, 2025 (Volume 48, Number 12)
Article by Michele Coffill

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Workday Student, with its go-live dates in 2026 and 2027, will allow students to access their grades and financial aid information, register for classes and complete other functions within one system. 

Grant Spears is a senior majoring in integrative studies and an intern in IT's Project Management Office. He will graduate before Workday Student is up and running but said he wanted to join the project team.

"I started at Grand Valley in 2020 so I'm familiar with Banner," Spears said. "Working with a team to launch a system better suited to today’s workflows is really exciting for me. Workday Student has also been an opportunity to work across campus — from Financial Aid to Academic Advising and everything in between — to intentionally think about how the university works and improve upon what is already done."

One of Spears's supervisors is Josh Marko, IT senior project manager. Marko said having students and faculty members serve on the Workday Student project team is crucial to a successful launch. Marko also said the team will take away lessons from the Workday Platform launch and incorporate them into the timeline for Workday Student.

"I learned about the challenges of complex systems," Marko said. "Workday at GVSU involves merging three systems: the Workday product, GVSU business functions and variations across units and its people and culture. For Workday Student, we learned to focus on adaptability and testing. Testing is ongoing throughout the implementation instead of at periodic stages."

Workday Student kicked off in April. Marko said Alchemy, the implementation partner, provides a timeline based on conversations with project leaders. "We are on track with scheduled milestones, but we are also significantly ahead of schedule with campus change management engagement and post-deployment support planning," he said.

To get input from faculty and staff, eight feedback sessions were held last fall; a summary and next steps are listed in this report. The project team responded with a sneak peek into the work so far at the January Workday Student Project Update. 

The project team includes sponsors from across campus, including faculty and leaders from key campus departments. Sponsors drive successful engagement for their area with the project and campus community. 

Anne Sergeant, professor of accounting and faculty sponsor, is excited about how implementing new software provides Grand Valley with the opportunity to examine current processes and make useful improvements. Sergeant said: “I love working with such a dedicated competent team implementing Workday Student. This innovative technology is anticipated to address the needs of Grand Valley students for years to come.” 

B. Donta Truss, vice president for Enrollment Development and Educational Outreach, serves as Workday Student's executive sponsor. He said Grand Valley's adaptability will ensure a successful launch.

"We have a very student-centric mindset at Grand Valley," Truss said. "This is a perfect example: People working across campus to intentionally improve processes while caring for what's best for students."

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