Workday release of new features coming September 11
Good news! The biannual release of upgrades from Workday - also called 2021R2 - will be available the weekend of September 11, 2021. The Iowa State community can look forward to improved features and functionality thanks to this bundle of comprehensive advancements to the Workday software. These twice-yearly releases are larger in scope than monthly updates and offer useful enhancements to the user experience and functionality.
Highlighted improvements to Workday for the campus community include:
- Redesign of the global header provides enhancements to the search bar, icons and notification badges, user menu and inbox access on mobile devices.
- Addition of contextual search categories reduces the number of out-of-context search results.
- Header bars remain fixed in place when scrolling through numerous rows of data.
- Report and task filters appear as a pop-up (instead of opening on a separate page), so users can quickly specify filters and return to complete a report or task.
- Expense reports for Finance teams automatically display in grid view, allowing users to quickly review multiple expense report lines in a consolidated view.
- Improvements to the accessibility of tooltips in absence and time calendars.
To learn about more new features in Workday 2021R2, please see the knowledge base article: Updates in Workday 2021 Release 2 (2021R2).
Please note, Workday will be performing planned maintenance to implement these upgrades, which may prevent access to the system on Saturday, September 11 from 1:00 a.m. until 5:00 a.m. CDT. As a result, managers and timekeepers should plan to inform employees checking in or out for work during this time to make appropriate time updates when the system is available again. This will not affect workers using time clock devices.
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Steve Kish fills role of Program Director for WorkCyte Phase II project
After a thorough candidate search, Steve Kish has been named Iowa State’s Program Director for the WorkCyte Phase II: Student Information and Receivables project to implement the cloud-based Workday Student and Receivables software. With expertise in project management, business process improvement, IT strategy and team building, Kish will work alongside other members of the project leadership team including Co-Leads Steve Mickelson and Kristen Constant, Project Advisor Carol McDonald and Engagement Manager from Huron Consulting, Joan O’Donnell.
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Kish comes to Iowa State with over 30 years’ experience in system implementations at universities, including some of the most complex research institutions in the country. In fact, he most recently served as the Program Executive at another institution for their Workday implementation and has made contributions to Iowa State projects in the past, as well.
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Over the next four years, Kish’s work will involve guiding a 150-person project team, managing the project plan, assigning resources and making course corrections as needed. Read more here…
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Mobile check in / out comes with convenient reminders
If you are a non-exempt employee submitting time worked, consider using the Workday app on your mobile device to check in and out. Mobile check in and out can provide added convenience to the beginning and end of your time worked.
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For mobile check in, simply open your Workday mobile application and navigate to the Check In/Out landing page section. You can also check in by opening the Time Tracking application. Once you have checked in, you have the option to set a reminder to check out. Workday gives recommended times, but you have the ability to select the Other button and enter the time you wish to receive a reminder.
For full instructions for mobile check in/out, please visit the Mobile Check In for Android and iPhone knowledge article in the HR Portal. Check with your supervisor to see if mobile checking in and out is right for your position!
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Knowledge Maps for employee groups: faculty and researchers
WorkCyte Knowledge Maps, available on the WorkCyte website, can help direct different employee groups to useful and important how-to articles related to their responsibilities in Workday.
The Faculty Knowledge Map, intended for faculty members and graduate assistants, includes information about withholding and direct deposit setup, graduate assistant employment, a worktag quick reference guide and more. The Research Knowledge Map contains similar content with additional information for principal investigators, researchers and research assistants about T&H card transactions, ordering from cyBUY suppliers and other specific responsibilities.
To view your Knowledge Map and other employee resources, visit the Support section of the WorkCyte website.
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The WorkCyte Phase II project team is changing the way project activity updates are shared with departmental and campus audiences. In place of the update in this WorkCyte Digest newsletter, monthly project updates are now delivered through the WorkCyte website on the first Friday of each month. This new format will help share the work of project teams and workstreams more broadly.
On the web page, a Project Spotlight has been added to track the overall health of the project with green meaning all is well, yellow indicating some risk and red for significant risk. Project health is determined by factors like budget, schedule, resource availability and others.
Find all the latest updates here: WorkCyte Phase II project updates.
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