This email is being sent to all faculty and academic advisors. 

In April, students will use Workday for the first time to register for classes for Fall 2025. It will also be your first time using Workday to help them plan for registration.  

Consider scheduling meetings to last longer than usual and setting aside time to practice using Workday. We invite you to join us during office hours, in case you have any questions or need help troubleshooting as you navigate the system. 

Below is your digital checklist to help students plan for registration. Students received a similar email yesterday focused on what they need to do.

Before your meetings

1. Review and bookmark this guide, which covers a wide range of tasks including preparing for an advising appointment, looking up advisees, making notes, sending engagements (messages), and approving academic plans.
    
2. Use the Advisor Dashboard to access common reports, including advisees by completion status, academic standing, with holds, on leave of absence, etc. 
    
3. Consider using Workday to send a message to your advisees, encouraging them to schedule their appointments with you. 
    
4. Know how to look up course sections (listings) for Fall 2025. 
   • Course sections are being published in Workday over the next month as schools finalize their Fall 2025 schedules.  
   • Some course numbers have changed to align with the university’s new four-digit numbering system.  
   • While Fall 2025 course sections will display the new numbers, academic requirements will show the old course numbers until the Fall 2025 semester starts.
   • In general, you and your students can navigate this mismatch by searching for course sections by name, like “Animal Behavior,” instead of number.
      
5. Review the student’s profile,* including their: 
   • Academic progress (degree audit) 
     • Be familiar with differences in how Workday organizes and calculates student data, including class standing and GPA. 
   • Saved schedules, which are like registration worksheets
   • Academic plans, which help them map out courses until graduation
   • Notes 
   • Holds 

*If you haven’t yet, update your search settings so student records appear.

During meetings 

1. Start by refreshing the student’s academic progress report (step 3 of the linked tutorial) to reflect any changes made that day, including program of study adds and removals. While Workday immediately updates progress reports for some changes, others are processed nightly. 
    
2. Edit students' expected program completion dates, as needed. Estimated degree completion dates may be off based on how the data was converted from our legacy student information system and then re-calculated in Workday, which bases its calculation on when a student declared their primary program of study (i.e. major) and not their matriculation date. You and your students know best when they are likely to complete their degree. 
    
3. Lift registration holds, if applicable.  
   • Follow your school’s guidance regarding who should remove these holds if students are assigned multiple faculty advisors and/or academic advisors.
   • There may be other holds on the student’s record that you won't be able to remove, including ones that prevent a student from registering. Students should follow a hold’s resolution instructions to get it removed. 
      
4. Encourage students to create an academic plan, if they haven’t yet. This is a great way for students to have more ownership and visibility into their academic journey. Advisors also can view and edit students' plans, which students can use to generate one or more saved schedules to register from.
    
5. Inquire about any program of study changes.
   • Students can use Workday to change their primary program, add a second program, or request an inter-school transfer (formerly called inter-division transfer, or IDT).
   • You can help students explore a change in program of study to see how a new major would fit with the courses they’ve taken so far. 
      
6. Download these resources, including email templates and a flyer, for reminders to give students. Yesterday they received this email with much of the same information, but we know they prefer messages from you. 
   • FAQ: One of the most common questions we’ve gotten from students is how to access their student profile if they’re also a worker. The email they received included instructions on how to switch profiles; students can also search “view profile” in Workday for the tutorial.

Training & Support 

Approximately 70% of faculty and academic advisors have registered for an instructor-led training session or completed the alternate eLearning. 🎉

• If you’ve attended a session, you can still access your learning program in Workday, which includes your participant guide and eLearning courses.  
• There’s still time to register for an upcoming session: March 27 or April 9.

Questions? We’re here to help! Attend virtual and in-person Workday office hours, submit a help request, or call 314-935-WDAY (9329). Special evening office hours will be available April 8 and 9.

In addition to the materials linked in this email, you can access all step-by-step tutorials, guides and videos on the Workday@WashU website. Student-focused help articles are also available within Workday.

Visit the email archive to see previous emails from the Student Sunrise project to advisors.