The SIS Modernization Newsletter

July 2023

Workday Student Application/Admissions Demo for SA Leadership July 28

The Student Affairs (SA) SIS project team and Workday Student representatives participated in a demo of Workday’s application and admissions processes for SA Leadership on July 28.

The SIS Core Team Enrollment Management group has also gathered details about Workday’s capabilities vis-à-vis Salesforce CRM, the technology tool currently used by ACC for the application and admissions processes. These details, along with the demo, will help SA Leadership decide whether to continue using Salesforce as-is or to migrate some or all of the application and admissions process to Workday Student.

When making this decision, leadership will also take into account the ongoing SWIM consulting work and recommendations for improving the enrollment and retention processes.

Student Recruitment (aka prospect management) was not in scope for the demo with Workday as ACC has decided to remain on Salesforce, the industry-leading CRM for prospect management, for student recruiting.

Finishing Up “As-Is” Documentation

The SA SIS Advising core team is working on completing the documentation process of how we do things now (the “as-is”). The Advising team is looking at advisor caseload student assignments and making recommendations for improvement for the student and staff experiences. The team will present their findings to the SA Advising Leadership team in mid-August.

The Financial Aid team is working on compiling a list of Student Affairs reports that use Colleague data (either directly or indirectly). ACC’s IT department will use this list to see if Workday Student can provide these reports out-of-the-box, or if additional Workday customization would be needed to produce them.

We want to thank all of our subject matter experts who continue to lend us their knowledge, experience, and expertise as we modernize our SA process and SIS ecosystem.

As with any new software, Workday Student has its own vocabulary. Many Workday terms have an ACC equivalent and many don’t. We know learning a new system’s terminology takes time (do you still call Colleague “Datatel”?), and we want to help! That is why we are rolling out the Workday Student Glossary: a list of Workday Student terms, their description, and the ACC equivalent. You can find the glossary on the Student Affairs SIS Modernization website. We will add to the glossary as we encounter new terms.

With the launch of the Workday Student Glossary, we are also launching our new series: Workday Word of the Month! 

Workday July 2023 Word of the Month

Academic Unit

At ACC we use the term Department for much of what is covered by Workday's term Academic Unit.

The Academic Unit is the foundation of Workday Student. It represents the colleges, schools, departments, and other units that make up ACC. Think “Continuing Education” or the “Department of Arts, Digital Media & Communications,” or “Health Sciences.”

Academic Units can be nested (aka have subordinates). For example: “Computer Science & Information Technology” might be a parent academic unit with “Computer Science” as a subordinate Academic Unit.

In Workday, Academic Units drive ownership and access to data and are used to:



• Offer programs of study and courses
• Assign appointments
• Admit students (for our selective admissions programs)
• Define an academic period

The SA SIS Project Team and key Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) began intensive Workday Student training on July 17 that will continue through August 25. These trainings will help the team get hands-on experience with Workday Student.

Workday’s return to ACC has been rescheduled for late August or early September. Workday’s next on-site visit will focus on reviewing our ACC implementation playbooks, which are collections of objectives and processes developed during the Planning Sessions that took place at ACC May 16–17. Once a date is finalized, we’ll make sure to update everyone.

The SA SIS team will also be rolling out road shows in September to begin demonstrating some of the capabilities of Workday Student to affected SA teams. Registration coming soon!

Advising and Curriculum



Ariel Flores

Process Analysis & Trainer, Student Affairs Operations

Ariel joins the project team from Advising and has over 8+ years of higher education experience at ACC, 6+ of those with Advising.

Q: Why did you want to be a part of the SIS Modernization Project?

“I wanted to join this team because I knew it would allow me to apply my advising knowledge and desire to help students in a new and exciting way. I knew it would also be a great opportunity to collaborate with a variety of different people and ACC departments which I love doing!”

Q: What are you most excited about for the project?

“I am very excited that Workday Student will allow us to operate more efficiently and cut down on the number of systems that need to be utilized in day-to-day tasks.”



Erika Jaquez

Process Analysis & Trainer, Student Affairs Operations

Erika joins the project team from Advising and has 23+ years of higher education experience, 21 of those in Enrollment Services.

Q: Why did you want to be a part of the SIS Modernization Project?

“Implementing a new Student Information System is a major project, and I wanted to be part of something where I can apply my knowledge and higher education experience. I have always loved a challenge, and I think this fits perfectly with my desire to learn more and be behind the scenes of developing improved business processes.”

Q: What are you most excited about for the project?

“I am excited to facilitate streamlined business processes that will create a more user-friendly experience for ACC students and staff.”



Jana McCarthy

Advising Lead, Student Affairs Operations

Jana joins the project team from Advising and has 15+ years of higher education experience, 9+ of those in Advising.

Q: Why did you want to be a part of the SIS Modernization Project?

"I truly enjoy representing the needs of my colleagues and speaking for what we all need to do our jobs well. When our staff's needs are met, our students are more successful. The Workday transition will impact all facets of our work, and I know that this level of change can be overwhelming. I hope that my voice can serve to lessen some fears as we move into training and implementation in the future."

Q: What are you most excited about for the project?

"I am most excited about the Workday Student transition because it should make life easier for our student-facing staff by lessening the software needed to successfully complete our work with students. I am also excited about the prospect of utilizing Workday for even more comprehensive, holistic support for our students across ACC's many divisions. Siloes are the enemy of collaboration and Workday has the potential to continue breaking down those barriers."

SIS RESOURCES

austincc.edu/sasis

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