Student Modernization Project

• Every person is assigned a Universal ID at the time of application. This single permanent record follows you through your entire lifecycle at Emerson, eliminating the duplicate records that currently occur when an applicant becomes a student worker or employee.
• Admission decisions are consolidated into four categories: Admit, Deny, Waitlist, and Defer, replacing the 56 active/inactive codes previously used in Banner.
• All biographical and demographic data (emergency contacts, gender identity, preferred name) is collected and managed in a single Workday student profile.
• Incoming students complete a structured onboarding checklist in Workday at matriculation: CSD Terms of Use, photo ID upload, financial aid self-service opt-in, 1098-T consent, payment elections, SSN verification, and the Student Responsibility Agreement.
• One-time To-Do notifications in Workday point to steps completed outside the system: housing application, immunization forms, AlcoholEDU, and the Advising Intake Questionnaire.
• Applications continue to flow through Slate, which integrates with Workday to pass application, deposit, test score, and document data automatically.

• Registration planning: Build Academic Plans and Saved Schedules based on actual term offerings. When your registration window opens, register your entire saved schedule in one click.
• Degree tracking: DegreeWorks is replaced by the Academic Progress Report (APR), a real-time, mobile-friendly degree audit built directly into your profile. The APR highlights courses that do not count toward your degree and supports what-if analysis for changing your major.
• Billing and financial aid: Manage billing, payments, and financial aid in one place. Refunds are processed natively in Workday; you receive a notification as soon as a refund is initiated.
• Account holds: Hold notifications are automated. You will receive proactive alerts about holds, and holds are lifted automatically when conditions are met, rather than waiting for staff to act.
• Transcripts: Request an unofficial transcript directly from the Workday search bar and download a clean PDF, with no print-to-PDF workaround required.
• Program of study changes: Add, change, or remove a major or minor self-service in Workday. The request routes to the appropriate approvers automatically.
• FERPA proxy: Manage parents, guardians, emergency contacts, and authorized third-party users in one place under Friends and Family on your profile.
• 1098-T forms: View and download 1098-T tax forms directly from your Workday menu.

• Leaves of Absence and withdrawals are now student-initiated through a Workday questionnaire and business process. The system automatically drops registered courses when an LOA is finalized.
• Impact notifications route simultaneously to Financial Aid, Student Accounts, and the Registrar when an LOA or withdrawal is submitted, replacing manual coordination across offices.
• Return from LOA: Students returning within two years use a Workday internal process. Students away longer than two years or previously separated must submit a new application through Slate.
• Academic plans and advising connections carry forward, providing continuity when a student returns to active enrollment.

• Grading and rosters: All instructors assigned to a section can enter grades, not just the primary instructor. The Teaching Dashboard gives faculty a centralized view of rosters, schedules, and grading across all assigned sections.
• Advising: Faculty advisors use the Academic Progress Report and native Workday student notes, providing a single view of academic progress, holds, and advising history where students and advisors see the same information.
• Prerequisite overrides: Student override requests arrive as tasks in your Workday inbox rather than email, with automatic routing and audit trail.
• Course section management: Department chairs and coordinators create and edit course sections directly in Workday, replacing the spreadsheet-to-Registrar email chain.
• Academic requirement overrides: Course substitutions, chair-approved exceptions, and graduation clearance adjustments are applied through a formal Workday workflow.
• Advisor assignments: Advisor-to-student assignments are managed through cohort criteria (academic level, program of study, honors, student-athlete status, immigration status) with manual assignment available for programs like Performing Arts and Graduate Program Directors.

• Workflow approvals replace data entry: Students and faculty initiate most requests themselves; staff review and approve through structured Workday workflows rather than entering data manually. Every action creates an automatic audit trail.
• Academic plans: Advising teams can collaboratively build and adjust semester-by-semester course plans with students, visualize degree progress, and transition plans directly into saved schedules for registration.
• Mass registration: Significantly more user-friendly than Banner's SFAMREG. Driven by cohorts rather than CRNs, supports registering a student in multiple classes at once, and includes a built-in troubleshooting console.
• Holds and communications: Holds have defined ownership and automated student notifications. Mass communications move from Mailchimp to Workday's student engagement tools, which target audiences based on live student data.
• LOA and program changes: Leaves of Absence, withdrawals, and program of study changes are student-initiated, with configurable approval routing. Staff manage returns and exceptions rather than initiating routine changes.
• Financial Aid: Aid packaging, SAP evaluation, and cost of attendance calculations are automated. Disbursement conditions replace the administrative holds workaround. Award letters and the College Financing Plan are generated through Workday's built-in reporting.
• Student Accounts: Billing holds, waivers, and refunds are automated. Payment posting from TouchNet flows directly into Workday. Collections and write-offs are tracked natively.
• Academic standing: Dean's List and academic standing determinations run automatically at end of term based on configured criteria.

Executive Sponsors

• Alexandra Socarides – Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
• Brian Basgen – Vice President for Facilities and Technology
• Luke Schultheis – Vice President, Enrollment Management

Project Management Office (PMO)

• Mia He – Project Director
• John Woja – Project Manager

• Academic Foundation – Matt Fabian, Registrar
• Recruiting & Admissions – Justin Sharifipour, AVP of Enrollment & Dean of Admissions
• Student Records – Kevin Ziomek, Senior Associate Registrar, Transfer
• Curriculum & Advising – Audra Boden Kenny, Associate Dean, Academic Advising

• Financial Aid – Angela Grant, AVP of Student Financial Services
  • Eric Glaskin, Director of Financial Aid

• Data Conversion – Thomas Barry, Business Intelligence Engineer
• Reporting – Swathi Donthula, Data Visualization Analyst

• HCM/FIN (Human Capital & Financials)
  • Briana Papaleo, Manager, HRIS
  • Kristen Margarida Coulombe, Assistant VP & Controller

• Change Management Lead – Frankie Frain, Assistant Vice President, IT Security & Infrastructure
• Training Lead – Kellie Fuller, Manager of Talent Development