Workday Transformation Report
Starting 2026 Strong
The mindset guiding our work this year is refinement. Rather than major system overhauls, 2026 is about simplifying processes, enhancing usability, and ensuring Workday works better for everyone. Incremental refinements, informed by user feedback and data, will help us deliver a more intuitive and efficient experience across Workday HCM and Finance.
Next Workday Release Coming March 14
As you may recall from last year, Workday has two major feature releases a year, typically occurring in March and September. The next Workday feature release is officially coming March 14, 2026. Each release is an opportunity to refine how we work, adopt new tools, and continuously improve. We will keep you informed on what to expect this go around.
Workday and AI: Supporting Our Users with the Workday Virtual Agent
As we move forward with Workday, we strive to utilize new and growing technology like AI to support our Workday platform. A key example of this is the Workday Virtual Agent, a UMD-led AI chatbot that uses UMD resources like job aids, workflows, and more to provide self-service support to our user community.
By using AI with Workday—and exploring similar technologies—we are taking meaningful steps forward in modernizing support and improving efficiency.
News, Updates and Improvements
Workday Virtual Agent Quick Access Links
We have added links to the Workday Virtual Agent to our erp.umd.edu website, both on the homepage and in the main navigation under “Get Support.” Please note that you will need to log in via CAS to access the page. This is in addition to the links available on support.umd.edu (under the Workday menu) and on the Workday home page (in the Resources and Support announcement block).
New Annual Time Off - Not Eligible for Payout bank
On January 11, we completed an update in Workday to better assist employees in managing their annual time off carryover hours. There are now two (2) separate annual time off banks for regular staff, 12-month faculty, and C2 employees:
- Annual Time Off: Annual time off that is accrued each pay period
- Annual Time Off Carryover (Not Eligible for Payout): Carry-over Annual Time Off is defined as the portion of annual leave that exceeds 400 hours at the beginning of the calendar year, up to a maximum allowable carryover of 480 hours.
Strategic Sourcing Going Live Early March
Workday is set to sunset the current Workday Supplier Registration Site and will replace it with a new supplier onboarding platform - Workday Strategic Sourcing (WSS) Supplier Registration - in March 2026. Supplier registration on the new platform will be different from the current process. The scheduled Go-Live date for the new platform is March 2, 2026. As the date approaches, we will provide additional information, tools, and support to make sure you have what you need to to register suppliers.
Resource Roundup
New and Updated Resources:
We are continually adding to and improving upon our library of resources to better support our user community.
*New* Period Activity Pay Quick Start Guide
This guide helps users understand how to set up Period Activity Pay for a worker's supplemental pay job. Period Activity Pay is used to pay workers for fixed term activities and payment arrangements.
Updated:
The below job aids have been updated to capture the new Annual Time Off - Not Eligible for Payout balance:
Resource Refresher:
Did you know? You can view all reports and tasks available to you by using the Workday sitemap. The sitemap also organizes tasks and reports into categories, making it easier to find what you may need. The sitemap is located as an option under the Profile menu (accessed by clicking the Profile icon in the top right corner).