The Divisions of Finance and Information Technology released the latest updates on
Workday Financials, is a project designed to modernize Stevens’ financial operations. With the successful completion of design sessions, it signals the end of the Architect & Configure stage.
Workday Financials aims to integrate essential functions into a single Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Connecting financial transactions directly to the same environments as Workday Human Capital Management (HCM) and Student modules improves efficiency and simplifies the financial process. The integration will enable better decision-making, streamline manual processes, and create a more user-friendly experience for the entire Stevens campus. Workday Financials is expected to go live in the summer of 2025 and marks the end of Stevens’ wider Workday integration.
Michael Parente, Interim Vice President for Information Technology and CIO, explained how the design sessions were a crucial part of Workday Financials. During the Architect & Configure stage, the second of five stages, the sessions had various workstreams collaborating to align Stevens’ operations with Workday’s functionality. A key objective was to design the system around Workday’s Foundational Data Model (FDM), a replacement for the existing “Chart of Accounts” system. FDM will serve as the backbone for the functions of accounting, financial reporting, and transaction processing.
Each workstream group was led by an expert from Stevens’ implementation partner Avaap, a company experienced in Workday and its integration in higher-level education. These groups were primarily from the Division of Finance and have worked on specific tasks throughout the project. Moreover, the workstream leads have been an essential part of driving the project further. The leads understand how the current systems operate and have a strong sense of areas for improvement. Their deep knowledge of financial systems and processes helps to create a modern system optimized for day-to-day use and configured for Stevens’ requirements.
The project’s scope and emphasis on change management led to the creation of a Change Champion Network, a group of 45 Stevens community members from various departments. Those members will work closely with the project team to ensure users across campus are well-prepared, educated enough about the system to assist others as the project progresses. Parente explains previous enterprise-wide projects used this strategy to increase the project’s success; it results in greater user adoption and smoother project launches.
Preparation for the testing, the next big phase, has already begun. It starts with unit testing, which is when individual finance operations are tested in isolation, and is followed by end-to-end testing, which is when all units are integrated to ensure the entire system functions together smoothly. Throughout this iterative phase, workstream members and their feedback are essential in making the necessary adjustments to the system’s configuration.
One of the objectives was to make the system more efficient and user-friendly. In fact, one of the main reasons Stevens chose Workday was its focus on self-service and improved access to information. Before the project even started, it was a priority not just to replicate old processes but to streamline and improve them. These ideas align with the core values of Stevens 2032 Strategic Plan, namely “Impact Through Research and Innovation” and “Connected Community,” as well as the strategic goal highlighted under “Infrastructure and Sustainability.”
“While this is a technology project at its core, it’s ultimately about the people and processes it impacts,” Parente states. “The project team includes colleagues from various departments, all working toward the shared goal of bringing this new system to life.”
