Month: October 2025

As Clemson prepares to launch Workday, one of the most visible changes employees will experience is how expenses are managed. From reimbursements and PCard transactions to budget tracking, Workday offers a unified, intuitive experience for managing many of Clemson’s expense processes.

We caught up with Marlo Raymark to discuss her first impressions of handling expenses in Workday. Marlo attended several Customer Confirmation Sessions where previews of how expenses would be managed were demonstrated in Workday; below she shares her first reactions to the new system.

Introduction

Q: Can you tell me a little about your current role and how you deal with expenses?

A: I’m the Business Officer for the College of Business. When it comes to expenses, my staff is responsible for ensuring proper documentation and adherence to university policies. I am part of the approval workflow, and I also monitor budgets to ensure that total expenses don’t exceed budget authority.

First Impressions and Experience

Q: From the demonstrations you’ve seen so far, what stood out to you about Workday Expenses?

A:   Workday provides a ‘one stop shop’ for processing expenses. Currently, based on the fund to be used or type of expense, a person needs to know which system to navigate through.  This creates confusion and inefficiencies in both processing and analysis.  Often, to answer a question, I must piece together data from all these different systems.  Workday has all the information in one place with easy, drillable features that provide all the data in one place.  Love it!

Q: Were there any features or steps in the process that felt especially user-friendly or clear?

A: Navigating through Workday is very user friendly and provides multiple ways to access the data. If you’re a person that likes to type a portion of a word, that’s all Workday needs. If you’re a person that likes drop down menus, Workday has you covered. You can ‘right click’ your way to an explanation even if it’s several layers deep.

Q: Compared to what you’ve experienced in our current system, what differences caught your attention?

A: The ease of use, the one stop shop, the ability to drill into layers of data, and the ease of keeping track of what step a particular transaction or ‘event’ is on.

Anticipated Benefits

Q: What aspects of Workday Expenses are you most looking forward to using in your day-to-day work?

A: I’m looking forward to making the data available to all the different stakeholders so that the Business Office isn’t a bottleneck to them. If an employee wants to see -the status of their reimbursement, they can find out with a quick click of their mouse. If a fiscal analyst needs to see if payment has been processed and sent to a vendor, it is easy enough. If a Chair is wondering where they stand as far as budget, they will be able to see in real time what their department expenditures are and even the detail, if they are interested.

Q: How do you think/hope Workday will make submitting or approving expenses easier for employees?

A: The system is streamlined and user friendly. Initiating transactions is intuitive with easy-to-follow instructions and questions that prompt the user through the process. Approval flow is built into the system, including notifications both in email and within the user’s home page. The entire process is transparent with the user being able to easily see where the transaction is in the process flow.  This allows for a great deal of synergy and efficiency.

Q: Are there any ways you see Workday helping reduce extra steps or paperwork?

A: The system is highly integrated with all the steps in one system. Workday allows for documentation to be stored and viewable right in the system. This will significantly reduce the need for paper to be stored in separate and disparate locations. Everything is right there.

Final Questions

Q: What is one thing you’re curious about as we move closer to go-live?

A: With everything in one place, I’m curious about the system’s performance.  I’ve been assured that Clemson isn’t the biggest institution or company to have implemented the software, and there haven’t been any concerns about system load and performance.* 

Q: Is there anything else you would like to share with people that haven’t had as much of a sneak peek into Workday yet?

A: I’ve had the opportunity to attend several workshops and sneak peeks. Each one makes me more excited. I’ve also had a great deal of training in the Reporting aspect of Workday, which delivers some dynamic opportunities for looking at data. The first time you’re in the system; you might be a bit timid but then it’s like a toddler who moves from walking to running then climbing.  It’s really fun because you’re not going to break anything, but there is so much to look at and play with!

^{*Editor’s Note: Workday is being used by very large organizations including the University of Washington (59,000+ employees), the University System of Maryland (54,000+ employees), and Ohio State University (47,000+ employees.) One of the largest organizations using Workday is Walmart (over 2 million employees.)}

Learn More

Workday@Clemson will give faculty and staff the tools to manage expenses more efficiently than ever before—combining simplicity, transparency, and real-time insights in one powerful system. If you would like to learn more about Expenses in Workday check out the recording of the October’s What’s Up With Workday Session.

Security in Workday: What You Need to Know

When most people hear the word security, they think about locks, keys, or passwords. In Workday, security has a slightly different meaning. It’s about who can see what information and who can take what actions in the system. Security in Workday is designed to make sure employees can access the tools they need, while protecting sensitive information and maintaining compliance.

For Clemson, security is especially important because Workday will be the single system for HR, finance, payroll, procurement, and more. That means the correct people need access to the correct information — and only that information. Because of this focus on securing information to protect people and the institution, your access may look very different in Workday than in PeopleSoft.  PeopleSoft tends to be a much more open system and the implementation of Workday along with its security functionality has provided an opportunity to rethink access to data for all functional areas.

Security Roles in Workday

In Workday, security is built around roles. Roles define what you can see and do in the system. Here are a few role types and roles you’ll hear about often:

Assignable Role

• Security roles are most often assigned to a position. Think of a position as a chair. Whoever sits in the chair (the faculty or staff member holding that position) gets the security roles attached to it. When someone leaves that chair for another job, the roles stay with the chair. The next person who fills the position automatically has the security they need to do their work.
• The person who moved on will then receive the security roles tied to their new chair (new position).
• Finally – a person or a position can have more than one security role in Workday.

“As Self” Roles

• There are several roles that are considered “As Self” roles, these include: Employee as Self, Contingent Worker as Self, Academic Affiliate as Self and Manager as Self.
• These “as self” security roles enable the self-service capabilities in Workday.  They are security roles that are applied automatically in Workday based on job attributes.  These roles enable individuals manage their own personal information, like updating your address, viewing your paystub or requesting time off, as well as submitting time, expense reports, etc.
• The Manager as Self role gives those who have individuals reporting to them access to information and tasks related to their direct reports. For example, managers can approve time-off requests, view team specific information, or start job changes for employees on their team.

Planned Workday Roles for Clemson

Below are some of the security roles currently being tested in Workday* and examples of tasks that can be completed by people in those roles (Note: The names and responsibilities of these roles are subject to change.)

Academic Dean/Vice President

• Review and approve recruiting, staffing and compensation transactions for college or unit.

Academic Faculty HR Analyst

• Support Academic Chairs and Deans with new and updates to academic appointments for the Academic unit.

Cost Center Manager

• Oversee cost center (a budget area within the university).
• View financial transactions and reports tied to their area, approve certain expenses.

Timekeeper

• Support managers with employee time entry, time off & leaves of absence
• Act as a liaison between college or department and centralized Time and Leave, and Payroll teams.

Expense Data Entry Specialist

• Verify procurement card transactions.

Sponsored Programs Analyst

• Oversee the administration and tracking of one or more grant awards.
• Approve selected grant-related actions, such as funding allocations or compliance reviews.

HR Liaison

• Initiate, review and support recruiting, staffing and compensation transactions.
• Act as a liaison between college or department and centralized HR teams.

Why This Matters

Security roles ensure that Workday data remains both useful and safe. You’ll only see the information you need, and you’ll have the right tools to do your job without being overloaded with data that doesn’t apply to you.

For most employees, your experience will center around the Employee as Self role or managers as the Manager as Self role. Other assignable roles (like Cost Center Manager, Timekeeper or HR Liaison) are only given when needed for specific job duties.

Your assigned security roles will also determine your specific training pathway.  We want to make sure you know exactly what you need when Workday goes live.  We’ll keep you updated on training early in 2026.

Looking Ahead

As we approach Workday Go-Live in July of 2026, you will receive more information regarding security roles. For now, know that Workday’s role-based security is there to protect information and keep your work streamlined.

In September, The Workday@Clemson Voice of Customer Team launched the first What’s Up With Workday session. The session was designed not only to offer an overview of the upcoming transition but also to showcase how Workday will streamline operations, enhance efficiency, minimize redundancy, and simplify everyday tasks. Attendees appreciated the session’s interactive structure, noting that the use of relatable, real-life scenarios made the information more engaging and relevant. Building on this positive response, future sessions will further emphasize demonstrations that mirror everyday experiences.

Nearly 300 employees participated in this inaugural event. The session covered the basics of Workday navigation and the Employee and Manager Self Service features, highlighted by a demonstration through the eyes of two fictional employees. One attendee commented that “Workday appears to be more user-friendly, streamlined, and could process info/tasks more quickly.” Throughout the entire session, there was an underlying theme from participants expressing excitement for all systems “being in one place to receive real time information.” Below is an outline of the topics covered during the session:

1. Introduction to Workday:
   • Workday is a cloud-based ERP software system that unifies
     HR, finance, and other operational data into one centralized
     platform.
2. Workday Features:
   • Employee Self-Service: Allows employees to manage personal
     information, time, benefits, and more within one system.
   • Manager Self -Service: Enables supervisors to manage their
     teams, approve time off, and complete performance
     evaluations.
   • Global Navigation and Search: Tools for navigating the system
     and finding tasks, reports, and people.
   • Customization: Users can customize their homepage and
     menu to fit their needs.
3. Transition Details:
   • Workday will go live in July 2026.
   • Training will be provided closer to the go-live date to ensure all
     employees are confident in using the new system.

At the end of the session, participants voiced optimism and excitement for the transition, balanced by understandable nervousness about adapting to a new system. Recognizing attendee requests for better communication, we are committed to regular post-session updates that recap key points, answer additional questions, and share new resources

The session concluded with encouragement to follow the Workday@ Clemson website for updates, invite colleagues to upcoming sessions, and continue submitting questions or feedback via the feedback form.

Questions asked during the session:

Question: Where can we access the video recording for this session?

Answer: A video of the recording can be found here.

Question: Will there be training for Workday?

Answer: Yes, detailed training materials and sessions will be provided closer to the go-live date to ensure everyone is well prepared.

Question: Will Workday replace existing systems?

Answer: Yes, Workday will replace or impact several existing systems, more information about this will be covered closer to the go-live date. You can view the full list of primary systems impacted by the move to Workday—and those staying in place— on the Workday@Clemson Fast Facts website.

Question: Where can I find more information regarding Workday@Clemson?

Answer: The Workday@Clemson website is a great place to get information about the move to Workday. You can stay informed about Workday at Clemson by regularly reading the Workday@Clemson Blog, which features the Workday Words of the Week series to introduce key terms and concepts, and watch for updates in OurClemson, where articles will highlight project progress and share helpful tips. Also be on the lookout for the upcoming Workday Terminology Glossary, launching soon to help you quickly understand new terms

Question: Will there be a mobile app for Workday?

Answer: Yes, Workday has a mobile app, and there will be sessions and training on how to use it.

Join us in October for an inside look into expenses! For a full list of all What’s Up with Workday topics, visit the What’s Up With Workday webpage.