Platform Updates

ACADEMIC DEPARTMENT COORDINATORS

• Cost Center Coordinators: If you are a Cost Center Coordinator and will not be accessing Workday for more than 10 business days at a time over the summer, please set up a delegation to your Chair.

  • 1. • If you will be delegating Workday tasks and approvals to your Chair, please inform them by email so that they are aware of the delegation, with start and end dates. 

       • Note: a delegation requires approval from your supervisor before going into effect. Be sure your supervisor approves the delegation.

DEPARTMENT CHAIRS

• During the summer months, Department Chairs should log into Workday and resolve tasks frequently, but no less than once per week. 

• If a Department Chair cannot access Workday for more than 10 business days over the summer, please set up a delegation to Lisa Sullivan. 

• If you will be delegating Workday tasks to Lisa, we ask that you email provostsoffice@mtholyoke.edu to inform our office that a delegation will be set up, including start and end dates, so that she can approve it. 

FACULTY

• If you are a faculty member with a p-card, please ensure that all transactions have been processed in Workday prior to leaving for the summer, and no later than July 3.

  • • • • Review the “Reminders from Financial Services” section for instructions on how to reconcile purchases

• If you intend to use your PCard during the summer months, you must reconcile transactions in Workday within 10 business days. 

• To ensure the timely completion of end-of-year processes, all Workday transactions, particularly financial transactions, must be submitted and their approval process completed by July 3. 

• Any other transactions for which you are the manager of record should be processed within 10 business days during the summer months. 

STUDENT WORKER SUPERVISORS

• As the academic year comes to a close, all student worker supervisors are reminded to review the scheduled end dates of their student employees. 

  1. • • For students who will be returning in the fall, please make sure to extend their end dates accordingly. For those who will not be returning, be sure to end their job in the system (last day = May 15). Review Managing your Student Worker Roster to make changes. 

       • Additionally, if you will not be working over the summer and have student workers who report to you, they must be reassigned to an active supervisor to ensure accurate and timely payroll processing. You can submit a request to move your student worker using this form.

• The FY26 Payroll Schedule is available. View it here.

PURCHASING CARD HOLDERS 

1. Procurement Card Verification 

•  Ensure your purchasing card transactions that are in Workday are recorded using the Procurement Card Transaction Verification task.  

2. Travel Cards/Expense Report tasks

• Complete or Create Expense Reports for all travel FY25 card transactions that are in Workday and all FY25 expenses incurred by individuals that do not have a College travel card.

PURCHASERS

1. Review your notifications regarding Purchase Orders with no receipt. 

• Has a service been completed or goods received and the receipt has not been completed? If yes, then Create a Receipt.

• If there are items on order that have been canceled, do not create a receipt. Instead, add the canceled item to this form so Financial Services can update your purchase order and remove the notification.

COST CENTER MANAGERS

1. Run the “Find Spend Authorization Lines for Organization” report using the following criteria:

• Spend Start Date On or After 7/1/2024

• Spend Start Date On or Before 6/30/2025

• If you leave Organization blank, the report should run for all of your Cost Centers; otherwise, you can enter your Cost Centers in the Organization box. 

  • • Open the folder “My Organizations” to see a list of all accounts you manage.

• In the results, filter on Draft or Approved and review every line still open (does it need to be closed or cancelled?). Take appropriate action on each spend authorization. Review Manage Spend Authorizations for details. 

2. Run the “Find Supplier Invoice Requests” (SIR) report to see if any documents have been left in Draft status. If there are results, research to see if the invoice has already been submitted and this is a possible duplicate that needs to be cancelled. If so, use the related actions menu to Cancel the SIR and clean up outstanding encumbrances.

3. Run the “Find My Team's Cash Advances” report to locate outstanding petty cash and cash advances. 

4. Work with your team to ensure that their credit card activity and other purchases are fully reconciled (see guidance above). 

ADDITIONAL REMINDERS

• End of year spending: Division Vice Presidents have committed to providing savings into the College within their areas, so please do not spend down your budgets solely because funds remain.

• Task completion and approvals: Please make sure that all financial tasks in Workday are completed and approved, so that all FY25 transactions are included in the proper audit period. 

  • • Transactions will not post until both the task is submitted AND the approval is complete.

    • Please make sure to allow time to both initiate the task and build in time for approvals, keeping in mind that tasks may be sent back for corrections. 

• Petty Cash funds and cash advances should be turned in by the end of the fiscal year.  If you are an academic year employee, please make sure that the petty cash is closed out. Submit an Expense Report to record any petty cash funds spent and bring the remaining cash amount to the Cashier in Skinner Hall (available weekly on Mondays and Wednesdays). Remember to connect the Spend Authorization related to the cash advance.

• Prizes and Awards are paid to students using Create Miscellaneous Payment Request (MPR).  If you would like the payment to be processed on a specific date (due to an award ceremony), enter a Due Date and select “Hold Payment until date of Event” in the Handling Code field.

  • • To find and cancel unfinished Miscellaneous Payment Requests, run the “My Miscellaneous Payment Requests” report. Use the related actions menu to Edit and Submit outstanding requests, or to Cancel unnecessary MPRs. 

Review College policy regarding gift giving and end of the year celebrations. Highlights of the policy include the following: 

• College funds may not be used toward a gift for the individual, regardless of whether there is a College funded farewell or not. Only one farewell gathering per departing employee is a covered expense.

• Farewell gifts for graduating senior students are not a covered expense.

• Gifts for students are not reimbursable expenses (except during student worker appreciation week, when a nominal amount of up to $15 per student worker is allowed).

• One annual office or department function is allowed and may be covered by a department budget (a nominal amount of up to $15 per person). Gatherings that fall under this guideline include holiday gatherings, end of the semester and/or end of the year functions.

SETTING UP DELEGATIONS

Any Workday tasks and approvals for which you are responsible will remain in your My Tasks, which may cause delays in processing if you are away from the College. If you plan to take time off this summer, please set up a delegation (and ensure your supervisor approves it) before you leave to avoid delays and backlogs.

FY26 PAYROLL SCHEDULE NOW AVAILABLE

• Please view it on my.mtholyoke.edu.

VACATION TIME REMINDER

• The fiscal year is already more than halfway over, and we encourage you to work with your supervisor to schedule vacation time in the coming months. Please ensure that all time off is recorded promptly in Workday. Any vacation time used through June 30, 2025, will count toward your fiscal year 2024–2025 balance. The maximum amount of vacation time that can be carried over into fiscal year 2025–2026 is 20 days, per MHC policy. Exceptions to this policy will be minimal and will apply only in extraordinary circumstances.

  • SUPERVISORS: use this guide to Review your Team’s Vacation Balances and be sure to approve vacation days in a timely manner. 

  • EMPLOYEES: use this guide to View Absence Balances (time off)

• The FY26 Payroll Schedule is available. View it here.

COMPLETE THE PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PROCESS BY JUNE 30

• The majority of College staff performance evaluations are due by June 30. If your position ends prior to June 30, the entire performance evaluation process, including your manager's contributions, should be completed prior to your departure. Please note that some positions, such as those in dining, may not follow the standard evaluation process.

WORKDAY LEARNING IS GROWING!

• We’re always adding new content to Workday Learning. Here’s a list of the newest Workday Learning Content.  

• Workday Instructional Guides (WIGs- also formerly known as Workday training guides and Help Articles) are being updated and moved from TDX to Workday Learning. This migration will be complete by June 1, and any links to the LITS portal site (TDX) disabled by close of business on June 2. 

GENERAL

• Can you believe it’s been one year since Workday go-live?! While we know there was some skepticism early on, we're eager to hear more about how your perspective has evolved. We want to highlight the journey and any benefits that have emerged over time.

Please share your insights and stories by filling out this brief form. We encourage you to be candid and share both positive and constructive feedback. (Pro-tip! If it’s helpful to see what you’ve done in Workday, you can search “View More Processes” and a report is generated to show you all the things you’ve done in Workday, ever!)

We appreciate your feedback and look forward to hearing from you.

• Are you receiving notifications from Workday on a schedule that works well for you? Follow these steps to check that your notification settings meet your needs:

Click Profile Picture > MyAccount > Change Preferences > Scroll down to “Channel” section

Immediately = Instant email notification

Daily = Included in “Daily Digest” summary email

Muted = No notifications of this type, via email

ABSENCE

Vacation time reminder

• • The fiscal year is already more than halfway over, and we encourage you to work with your supervisor to schedule vacation time in the coming months. Please ensure that all time off is recorded promptly in Workday. Any vacation time used through June 30, 2025, will count toward your fiscal year 2024–2025 balance. The maximum amount of vacation time that can be carried over into fiscal year 2025–2026 is 20 days, per MHC policy. Exceptions to this policy will be minimal and will apply only in extraordinary circumstances.

For supervisors: use this guide to Review your Team’s Vacation Balances and be sure to approve vacation days in a timely manner. 

For employees: use this guide to View Absence Balances (time off)

GENERAL

• Workday How-To Hub

• Calling all Workday aficionados! We created the Workday How-To Hub, a voluntary, collaborative Google Space chat group in which you can ask and help answer quick Workday questions, and share tips and tricks you’ve picked up over the last year. While this won’t replace the ticket system for technical or access fixes, we hope it can be another tool in our toolbox that helps us get our work done faster! 

• Things you can do in the Workday How-To Hub:

• Ask questions about Workday!

• Offer suggestions or help with tasks if you can!

• Be kind and respectful- we’re all still learning!

• Things you should not do in the Workday How-To Hub:

• Post anything specific about people or data (ie, names, addresses, budget, salary, etc).

• Solicit/Encourage/Proliferate *negativity about Workday- we understand there is still frustration, but lots of people are working very hard to make Workday better at MHC-  let’s make this a positive, helpful space! 

*Group moderators reserve the right to remove any posts or attachments that show private information or can be considered disrespectful or negative. 

• Reminders & expectations

  • This group is opt-in only.

  • This group is open to users 24/7, but is not being formally monitored. Feel free to contribute during your normal working hours, but please don’t expect answers immediately (or at all in some cases, depending on the nature of your question).

  • This group is intended to complement, not replace, the formal help ticket system; for complex issues or security access questions, or just when in doubt, please submit a help ticket.

  • Drop in Workday help sessions and one-to-one time with Yvaine Neyhard are still offered; check the training calendar!

To join, please sign up here, say hello, and start asking your questions!

• Need to clear the number in your notifications? Open the Notifications menu (bell icon 🔔) and click the blue circle to mark an item as read. Notifications will stay active for 30 days or until they are marked as read. 

HUMAN RESOURCES

• Staff performance evaluations launch in Workday: HR announced last week that the performance evaluation process will take place through Workday, and it’s ready now! Be sure to read the full announcement, and access training guides for how to complete your evaluation this year. 

PAYROLL

• Student and staff payroll reminders are back! Email reminders will go out each Monday, the week of payday, before 10:00am.

FINANCE

• We heard you! Users now receive a notification when they have an open order that has not been received with the “Create Receipt” task. Please continue to create receipts as soon as you receive orders. However, if you receive a "missing receipt" alert, but the item is backordered or canceled, do not make a receipt. Instead, email payables@mtholyoke.edu for next steps to reconcile the order.

WORKDAY LEARNING 

Workday Learning, an app within Workday designed to facilitate the professional development of employees, is now available! This comprehensive learning management system will provide a variety of training resources and offer a wide range of learning activities. 

How do I find the Learning app? 

Click Menu > select Learning, or click Add Apps and type in “Learning” to add to your menu. Follow the instructions at the end of this training guide for more detailed instructions.

Once you’re in Learning, you can search Topics in the left navigation to explore available content. Managers and Learning Administrators can also auto-assign content to you. When this happens, Workday will notify you through email with a link included to the assigned material. Course content details, delivery mode and (when applicable) due dates will be clearly stated on the content landing page. To access the training, click the "Details" link in the notification. A link to the training is available in the line labeled "Learning Content."

I received a notification from Workday- now what? 

On Monday, February 24, HR assigned most campus managers the next iteration of “Camp HR: Performance Management & Evaluations 2025”. All managers are being asked to go into Workday Learning and select the session time and date that work best for them. Supervisors that previously completed the google enrollment form have been auto-enrolled in their session of choice (note: this google enrollment form has now been deactivated with the go-live of Workday Learning). View these instructions on how to enroll in an in-person or Zoom course.

Summit Training Coordinator, Yvaine Neyhard, also auto-enrolled all learners in the program “Workday - Introduction to Workday Learning (PDFs).” This optional program contains four PDFs that introduce users to the basic functions of Workday Learning. 

Have questions? 

Do you have a question about the content or want to learn more about creating content to add to Learning? Please contact the Learning Administrators and they’ll be happy to help! workday-learning-admins-g@mtholyoke.edu 

WORKDAY LEARNING - COMING SOON!

Workday Learning is a comprehensive learning management system designed to facilitate the development of employees through a variety of training resources. It will support a wide range of learning activities, including self-led courses, blended learning courses, instructor-led training, and development programs, and provide a seamless experience for administrators, managers, and employees to access, track, and manage training content. During the initial roll-out, Workday Learning will host Workday training materials and professional development courses from Human Resources, with more content added regularly.

By using Workday Learning, we aim to provide employees with the tools and resources needed for continuous growth and development while ensuring efficient management of learning content. Learning will be live in Workday on February 24. More details on training, existing content, and how to add your own content will be made available very soon. If you have questions, please contact workday-learning-admins-g@mtholyoke.edu.

STUDENT EMPLOYMENT

• We heard you! The report MHC - My Student Workers has been updated to include additional information. It now includes the student’s email address and the date they started each job. Check it out! 

FINANCIAL SERVICES

• IMPORTANT: Notifications for purchasing card reconciliations are not working, but we’re working on a resolution. In the meantime, please review your purchases regularly and validate transactions as soon as possible after the transaction is available in Workday. 

• Do you have a new external supplier to register? Share this link and provide these instructions to them to get them registered in Workday.

• The following new journal reports listed below are now available for use depending upon your security. They allow you to find one or more journals at the line-level detail. These show the debits and credits, worktags, etc. of each journal. The more criteria you provide, the more targeted the list that is returned.

MHC - Find Journal Lines by Organization - Worktag Breakout

MHC - Find Journal Lines by Organization - Non-Compensation - Worktag Breakout

RECRUITING

Direct hires

The updated Direct Hire Policy for Staff Recruitment is available, along with details on how to complete the job requisition in Workday. If you have any questions, please email hr-d@mtholyoke.edu. 

Onboarding dashboard available for new hires

Once the hiring process is complete, employees and contingent workers now have access to the onboarding dashboard. Navigate to Menu > scroll down for the Onboarding app. 

STUDENT EMPLOYMENT

Student Employment Management in Workday for Supervisors

As we approach the spring semester, please take a moment to review and manage your student employment processes in Workday. Key actions to ensure smooth transitions include:

1. End Job Assignments for Students Not Returning: If any student workers are not returning to their roles, please reference the Cleaning up your Roster training guide to properly end their job assignments.

2. Extend End Job Dates for Returning Students: For students who will continue in their roles for the spring, but the End Job Date is set for December 2024, read the End Job Date training guide.

3. Review Job Requisitions: Read the new training guide on Managing Student Job Requisitions.

   • Learn the difference between an open/closed job requisition and a posted/unposted job requisition, and how to manage them.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

We heard you!

Based on feedback from faculty, the Provost’s Office, and Financial Services, the MHC - Grant Budget vs Actual (Life to Date by Object Class) report has been given an upgrade. You can now see names of students, staff and faculty in the report for all categories of pay and benefits. This will be very valuable in reconciling expenses and ensuring that employees are being properly paid in your grants.

• • Please note: this change only applies to all Salary & Wages or Benefits paid after the implementation of Workday (April 1, 2024). Salary and benefits paid before were brought into Workday via a General Ledger conversion and there is no employee linkage.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Enhancements

• Position budgets have now been loaded into Workday. If you have access to view salaries, these are visible by clicking on the amount in account 5000 and  choosing either “Employee as Worktag” or “Position” in the View By field.

• For budgets that are not attributable to a particular position (e.g. overtime or shoe reimbursements), dollars have been loaded to account 5000. 

• MHC Financial Budget to Actual by Organization- By Revenue/Spend Category has been updated to now include the Program and Account.

New report

• For those without salary access, MHC Financial Budget to Actual by Organization Non Compensation By Revenue/Spend Category is now available. 

  • • • This report shows the budget to actual by program, account and revenue/spend category. 

      • This report should also be available to those with salary access and is beneficial in viewing just your operating budget (until such time the prompts can be adjusted to allow the user to choose just the operating budget).

What we're working on

• A salary report by cost center, by employee;

• A report on student wages and the students that are charging your cost center (to help for those who do not have salary access).  

Helpful hints

• MHC Financial Budget to Actual by Organization - Non Compensation is a report that is available to those without salary access and reflects the budget to actual for operating and student wage expenses. 

  • • This report is also be available to those with salary access and is beneficial in viewing just your operating budget.

• As a reminder, when looking to review your non-operating funds (such as designated funds (DF), gifts or reserves) remember to use the report MHC – Departmental Non-Operating Funds.

GENERAL

Have a Workday question? Join Yvaine Neyhard, Training Coordinator, during drop-in hours and get the answers! Visit the training calendar and find a time that works for you, or schedule a one-on-one session!

New training materials available! Visit the Workday channel on Kaltura to see what’s new. This week, watch: 

Introduction Expenses and the Travel & Entertainment Card

Introduction to Hiring Staff, Part 1: Posting a Job Requisition

BENEFITS

We’d like to remind employees that you can change your retirement contributions at any time, not just during open enrollment. Additionally, if you are switching from the monthly to biweekly payroll and have a fixed dollar amount that you contribute per pay period, you might want to change that after the final December monthly payroll is run. Read instructions on how to change your retirement elections.

RECRUITMENT

Any current employees who are interested in applying for an open position, please submit your application through the Jobs Hub within your Workday employee account. This ensures your application is properly processed and considered. 

STUDENT EMPLOYMENT

GOOD NEWS! Student supervisors can now access all training guides related to student employment in one place! Visit the Workday Support Hub and click on the Student Employment category of knowledge articles. 

• • • • There is a NEW knowledge guide on how to review and validate student worker wages for fund Managers (Cost Center, Gift, Grant and Designated Funds) called View and Validate Student Wages. We realize that supervisors without these security permissions still cannot access student payroll information, which is something that is under review. However, these guides will assist fund managers to find this information as needed.

      • A previous knowledge guide was expanded to assist with the general management for student worker supervisory organizations called Managing Student Workers - "Cleaning up your Roster"  From this knowledge guide supervisors will learn:

        • • how to review their current sup org and review key features about their workers such as: their position title, pay rate, expected end employment date and funding source (Cost Center and Program only);

          • how to End a Job and remove a student from their sup org if they are no longer working; 

          • extend a student's job end date if they are continuing in the position into the next semester or academic year.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

If you can't see a gift in Workday, first check that your Workday cost center is the cost center reported on previous Report2Web reports.  If the cost center on the Report2Web reports is not correct, please email Charlene Bellows (cbellows@mtholyoke.edu) and Victoria Mueller (vmueller@mtholyoke.edu) and note the gift and the Report2Web cost center and the correct Workday cost center.