November 15 marked one year since we went live in Workday Human Capital Management (HR/payroll) and Finance. As we enter our second year in this new system, it’s important to recognize the tremendous effort this transition has required from staff, faculty, and students. This first year has truly been a tremendous effort between all members of our community who are committed to making this system work. Thank you for embracing the challenge and helping shape the future of Workday together.
A Year of Hard Work and Progress
In our one year in Workday, the volume of work that has been completed in the system has been remarkable. Since going live, system users have:
Over the past year, as users have learned and adopted Workday we have seen great improvements in efficiency. We are seeing this most clearly in the time it takes to complete certain business processes, as seen in the table below.
Average Time to Completion
Comparing First 6 Months (November 15 to May 15) vs Last 6 Months (May 16 to now)
| Business Process | % Improvement in Time to Complete |
|---|---|
| Hire | 20% |
| Add Job | 37.5% |
| Onboarding | 89.5% |
| Supplier Invoice Event | 50% |
| P-Card transaction verification | 50% |
Supporting and Strengthening the System
This year wasn’t just about volume, it was about growth, problem-solving, and improvement.
Our ERP Services team and Central Business Units have worked tirelessly to support users, stabilize the system, and make Workday better every day. Over the past year, we have:
- Resolved over 13,000 support cases
- Launched and maintained the Workday Virtual Agent, which has fielded over 36,000 questions
- Completed over 1,500 updates and configuration changes
While managing thousands of support requests, the team has also focused on reimagining integrations, refining reports, analyzing security roles, cleaning data, and improving supervisory organization structures to make everyday tasks more efficient for users. We have also assisted Central Business Units in completing regular business activities such as completing the FY2026 budget process in Adaptive Planning, completing merit and COLA, processing payroll, launching PRDs, and more.
We also launched the ERP Services website, erp.umd.edu, providing a central hub for Updates and Insights, Workday resources, and support information for all users.
Recognizing Our Community
None of this would have been possible without the collaboration and commitment of the entire university community. Special thanks to:
- PIT Crews for their dedication to problem-solving and process improvement.
- Workday Change Network (WCN) and Tenant Partners for connecting campus feedback to ERP Services.
- Central Business Offices (UHR, Finance, Provost, and others) for their ongoing partnership and guidance.
- Campus users across every department who learned new ways of working and supported their colleagues through the change.
Looking Ahead: A Year of Continuous Improvement
As we look ahead, we’re entering an exciting phase of continuous improvement in Workday. In collaboration with UMD’s Central Business Units as well as our tenant partners at our partner institutions, we will be focused on refining our processes and identifying opportunities to make Workday more efficient and effective, while leveraging Workday’s bi-annual releases to ensure the system stays current.
There’s still more work ahead, but as we continue to learn, adapt, and collaborate, each step will become easier and more rewarding. Together, we’re not just maintaining a system, we’re shaping the modern, data-driven future of the University.