The Techno-Functional Shift: Essential Skills for Managing Workday® Student in Higher Education

"I need more computer science training!" I can't tell you how many times I hear that from institutions implementing Workday® Student.

Workday® Student is a techno-functional system, meaning it's built to be managed by power users, not IT departments. Unfortunately, many institutions are not equipped to do this. It's true that you still need some IT and technical people, but it's not the core part of the system.

In higher education, there often isn’t a pathway for individuals to adequately build the techno-functional skills needed to manage a system like Workday® Student. This is not the fault of the institution because, before now, there simply hasn't been a need for these skills and so no pathway has been established. However, thinking that your team will simply gain these skills during an implementation is a mistake because they will be preoccupied with configuration decisions and testing, and rightly so.

Business Analysts in Higher Education

The techno-functional skills needed to manage Workday® Student are akin to those of Business Analysts in the corporate world. In higher education, similar roles and skills have been present, typically known as Assistant/Associate Directors.

Since the early 2000s, some offices in higher education have utilized techno-functional systems to handle their data. For instance, Career Services offices used MonsterTrak or Symplicity for data management. Similarly, other departments such as Advancement employed individuals in positions known as "Advancement Services" who used Raiser's Edge. Admissions had "Admission Operations" and used Slate. However, most other departments did not have dedicated personnel for these roles and instead depended on IT for technical tasks and reporting.

Business Analyst Skills for Workday® Student

To prepare for a transition to a techno-functional student information system like Workday® Student, you'll want to build your team's skills ahead of time. Ideally, begin 2 years before you even start implementation.

There are common skills that your team can begin learning now before your implementation begins. Since these skills are not mastered overnight, give your team time to learn and exercise these skills. Here is a short list to get you started.

• Build advanced Excel skills, like VLOOKUP and other advanced formulas

• Build an understanding of reporting (inner join, outer join)

• Understand data governance

• Learn how to gather SIS (student information system) requirements (includes knowing which questions to ask, to whom, and how to document)

• Learn best practices in Workday® testing

• Build project management skills

• Learn how to use data blending tools like Tableau and PowerBI

Repairing the Techno-Functional Skills Gap

While outlining a list of techno-functional skills is simple, we acknowledge that training your team to effectively and confidently execute them is a challenging proposal.

To support our clients, our team offers Business Analyst Training designed specifically for schools preparing to implement Workday® Student. It's NOT a quick one-week course as that's not how people learn (at least, not in my experience). We can lead your team through practical, hands-on training sessions customized to fit your institution's and team's needs and timeline. This approach allows your team to freely ask questions and apply new concepts before progressing to the next skill. This training specifically reflects Workday® Student to ensure that the acquired skills are aligned with those needed during implementation and post go-live.

Next Steps

Many of us at Legato started our careers in higher education working with student information systems. We understand the challenges of learning new systems and training others to do the same, all while balancing daily responsibilities. We also understand the frustration of managing an unfamiliar system without the necessary skillset. Our goal is to empower your team and ultimately your institution to take charge of your technology, confidently and effectively. One way to accomplish this is through strong training.

If you're interested in learning more about the course, just send me a message at info@legatostrategic.com or complete this form.

If you have not yet started your Workday® Student implementation, learn more about what you can do to prepare before you start.

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