Category: Program Activities

Clemson’s transition to Workday  will bring a change to how expenses are managed, aiming to simplify, centralize and modernize the way faculty and staff handle business-related spending. In the new Workday environment, all expense-related tasks will be consolidated. While Concur will still handle travel bookings, every aspect of expense processing and reimbursement will now be managed directly within Workday.

One of Workday’s strengths is how it eliminates ambiguity and gives users visibility into every step. Employees can monitor the status of their spend authorizations (similar to a travel authorization, but can also be used for expenses other than travel) and expense reports in real time, seeing where items are in the approval process, whether anything is on hold, and what actions may be needed to move things forward. Approvers receive clear notifications, can provide feedback or comments, and have easy access to all related documentation within the system. This unified experience means employees can submit expenses, track their progress, and view approvals or pending items all in one location, accessible anytime and anywhere.

Nearly 300 employees participated in the October 2025 What’s Up With Workday session covering expenses. One attendee commented that “the merging of multiple systems is IDEAL”, when introduced to this organized and transparent approach to managing University business expenses. Throughout the entire session, there was an underlying theme from participants expressing gratitude “to moving forward with [a] consolidated system and greater transparency.”

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. Demo of Workday Features
   • Spend Authorizations: Employees create spend authorization tasks before any expenses occur, inputting estimates and justification as needed.
   • Expense Reports: Users can create a new report, copy a prior report, or link the report to an existing spend authorization where each expense line is itemized and must have matching documentation (receipts), work tags (for allocation), vendor information, and destinations.
   • Work Tags: Employees will use keywords or codes that categorize expenses by purpose, funding source, grants, or projects, essential for proper allocation and reporting.
   • Attachments: Users can upload supporting documents to spend authorizations and reports.
3. Transition Details
   • The go-live date for Workday at Clemson is July 1, 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 excitement around clear workflows, with options to approve, send back for edits, add approvers, or cancel requests. A recorded version of the Expenses session is available for those who could not make it, or wish to revisit the content.

The session concluded with reminders to follow the Workday@ Clemson website for updates, invite colleagues to upcoming sessions, and to submit questions and comments via email to Workday@Clemson.edu.

Questions Asked During the Session:

Question: Can I put multiple items (hotel, meals, etc.) on the same request?

Answer: Yes, multiple items can be included in one spend authorization or expense report.

Question: Will supervisors see all details, including comments?

Answer: Yes, all entered information (including justifications and comments) is visible to approvers.

Question: Can I designate a delegate to submit or approve expenses on my behalf?

Answer: Delegation options are still being finalized and details will be shared during training.

Question: What happens if my actual expense is higher than the authorization?

Answer: You can still submit the full amount for payment, but it will require extra approval.

Question: Do expense reports auto-populate when initiating an expense report?

Answer: You can create an expense report from a spend authorization, or you can create a stand-alone expense report. When you create an expense report from a spend authorization, the expense report populates the information from the initial spend authorization.

What’s Up Next?

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

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:
   • The go-live date for Workday at Clemson is July 1, 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.

^{Jenny Wirtz is Business Manager in the Honors College. She also serves as a Workday@Clemson Campus User Group Lead, representing the College of Veterinary Medicine, the Honors College and Undergraduate Learning.}

Reporting is one of the most important parts of moving to a new ERP system—after all, it’s how we turn data into information we can use. As we implement Workday@Clemson, we’re making sure reports are clear, consistent and easy to access.

To help make that happen, we’ve tapped Reporting Super Users to work alongside the University’s business intelligence (BI) team, led by Zack Flathmann, director of business intelligence. These experts are helping us get ready for Workday’s powerful reporting tools.

We caught up with one of them—Jenny Wirtz, Workday@Clemson Reporting Super User and Campus User Group Lead—to hear her take on what’s ahead.

Being a Reporting Super User

Q: Tell me about your experience as a Reporting Super User.

A:  As a reporting super user, I have been actively involved with the BI team. In the first stage of Workday reporting development, we worked with Deloitte to review standard reports and identify Clemson-specific business needs, and then map those needs to appropriate Workday business processes. Monthly update sessions and stages make sure we stay organize and continue forward progress.

As the next stage begins, Super Users are moving into advanced reporting training in either finance or HR, paired with hands-on learning labs. In these labs, we address real Clemson reporting needs by:

• Mapping them to an existing standard report in Workday,
• Modifying a Workday standard report, or
• Creating a custom report, if needed.

This hands-on involvement helps reduce anxiety by building confidence in the system and ensuring that critical reporting needs are addressed before go-live.

The Learning Experience

Q: What has your experience been like learning to run or build reports in Workday?

A: As of the end of August 2025, we have completed approximately 40 hours of Workday training and are scheduled for another 28 hours in the coming months. Training has included exposure to both standard and custom reports, giving us a solid foundation in how Workday reporting works.

Q: How would you describe the learning curve compared to current tools?

A: The learning curve is different, rather than harder, because Workday is designed around business processes and real-time reporting, rather than static data pulls like our current systems. Once you understand how Workday ties reporting to workflow, it becomes much more intuitive.

Report Focus Areas

Q: What types of reports has the team been focusing on first, and why?

A. The BI team has prioritized report development in three stages:

• Priority 1: Day-one critical reports to support major business processes
• Priority 2: Reports that enable key processes but are not immediately critical
• Priority 3: “Nice-to-have” reports that enhance functionality but are not essential at go-live

This staged approach ensures that mission-critical reports are ready first, and it has given me a clearer understanding of Workday’s reporting capabilities and how they align with Clemson’s operational needs.

Q: What happens if we need a new report after go-live?

A: All new report requests after Workday goes live will be routed for review and prioritization to ensure they align with business needs and maintain consistency across the University.”

The Future of Data Use at Clemson

Q: How has learning about Workday reporting changed your perspective on how the university will use data?

A: Workday reporting will transform how we interact with data. Instead of extracting messy raw data and manually manipulating it, Workday provides standardized and cleaner reporting with real-time dashboards, reducing the need for time-consuming manual processes.

What’s Exciting

Q: You’ve had more exposure than most to Workday at this point. What about this transition has you most excited?

A: Having had more exposure to Workday than many on campus, I am most excited about the fully cloud-based, all-in-one system that:

• Enhances the user experience,
• Provides real-time, self-service reporting, and
• Supports data-driven decision-making.

Workday will give Clemson a modern, integrated platform that simplifies reporting and provides greater transparency and efficiency across both financial and HR processes.

Get ready! At the end of August, the Workday@Clemson program enters the Test stage. Several important activities are planned during this stage (which ends in June 2026 including):

• End-to-End Testing
  The Program Team will employ a “User Story*” approach to test Workday processes from start to finish, confirming they function as designed and that data is stored and secured properly. This activity will not only include the program team, but others across campus will be involved in testing Workday (*see the blog post on User Stories to find out more about this approach).
• “What’s Up with Workday” Series
  This series of informational and demonstration sessions will be open to the entire Clemson University community. Participants will get a preview of Workday and an introduction to its core features. These sessions will be conducted on Zoom and will be recorded. Be on the lookout for more information coming in Our Clemson, the events calendar, and the Workday@Clemson website for more information.
• User Experience Review
  Additional selected stakeholders will be invited to explore the system from an end-user perspective. Participants will also preview and provide feedback on prototype step-by-step guides and built-in help features.
• Training Design and Development
  The Training Team will be hard at work developing step-by-step guides, training sessions and videos to support a full training rollout to campus in Spring 2026. We are planning a curriculum and sessions that will be practical, emphasize hands on where practical and align with individuals’ positions at Clemson.

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In May and June 2025, nearly 300 individuals from across Clemson University participated in over 40 design review sessions. These sessions allowed participants from earlier design activities, along with additional internal stakeholders, to see Workday processes in action and provide feedback. Since the configuration demonstrated was 50% complete, the feedback received is being used to refine the business process and configuration design to better meet Clemson’s needs.

We also asked individuals what about Workday they were most excited.  Here are a few of the comments:

“It is wonderful to have everything in one user friendly system.”

“It’s super user friendly and simple!”

“I am excited about efficiency and ease of use. I think that Workday will be much more user friendly.”

“I am particularly excited about being able to eliminate some of our manual forms and processes.”

This fall, everyone across the institution will be able to get a peek at Workday as we launch our monthly series to begin introducing the system to the entire Clemson community!

This past spring, nearly 100 Campus User Group members participated in a User Story Workshop. User stories are brief descriptions of how individuals in various roles use administrative systems and what outcomes they need. For example:

• As an employee, I want to change my benefits so I can add my newborn child to coverage, update my beneficiaries and make other changes.
• As a faculty member, I need to approve purchases against startup projects to ensure sufficient budget is available.

All Campus User Group members were invited to contribute user stories throughout the spring. More than 1600 stories were submitted. These stories will play a critical role in testing the Workday system and shaping training materials to ensure they reflect real user needs. As we approach the testing phase of the implementation we are committed to ensuring that Workday works not only for centralized offices, but also throughout the institution and related organizations, these User Stories will help us accomplish this goal.

In the spring/summer of 2024 Workday was selected as Clemson University’s new Enterprise Resource Planning system. A lot has happened behind the scenes since then. Our new blog will hopefully provide you with better clarity on how the move to Workday will impact you.  As we launch this blog, we want to look back at the activities and accomplishments thus far.

Many activities to prepare for the ERP implementation began in 2023. Clemson University stakeholders were brought together to discuss pain points with the current finance and human resources systems as well as identify “wish list” items. These wish list items were then synthesized to form our program priorities, as well set a level of preparation and readiness for the start of the design stage of the project. In the fall of 2024, the implementation began as Clemson partnered with Deloitte. The Plan Stage featured the design of the Foundation Data Model (FDM). The FDM serves as the core data model for both Human Resources and Finance in Workday. In addition, in the early part of fall 2024, the program hosted Discovery Sessions to build on the previous work done by Grant Thornton including business process mapping, and the previously mentioned pain point and “wish list” collection.  The objective of the sessions was to ensure a shared understanding of Clemson’s current administrative processes. During these sessions Deloitte met with over 250 faculty and staff across 19 Human Resources and Finance functional areas, gathering insights to guide system configuration. More than 49 sessions were conducted and over 300 discovery items were logged, laying a strong foundation for the Workday implementation.

The Architect and Configure or Design stage of the implementation began in the fall of 2024. Design sessions began in November of 2024 and continued through March of 2025. These sessions brought together Clemson Human Resources and Finance leaders, and a variety of university stakeholders, including related organizations, to make key decisions about streamlining processes. Design sessions were focused on transforming and aligning Clemson’s current state processes to Workday’s capabilities and Clemson’s program priorities to achieve the desired future state.  Stay tuned for continued updates as we begin to close out this current stage of the implementation and move on to the Test stage.

As we progress, we are committed to staying true to our guiding principles and increasing the cadence of information and inclusion of the Clemson University community.  As always, we encourage your questions and feedback via our Workday@Clemson.edu email inbox.

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