At the October 21st Town Hall, CFO, Chris Calvert gave a progress update on Workday, NKU's new and improved HR + Finance system. He expressed gratitude for the hardworking project team and introduced the Change Champion Network.
Having completed two of three iterative worksets (design sessions), our NKU Workday project team is on track to complete the third (Workset C) at the end of this month. Chris acknowledged and expressed gratitude for the team, which has been working diligently since January planning, designing and building the system. Chris noted that one of the many highlights in the project so far has been the ease of NKU's data conversion, which is often an obstacle for many universities. "Our IT team really deserves a significant pat on the back for how well they've done with data conversion relative to other institutions."
The design sessions will be followed by a month of rigorous testing which will help ensure that all processes are working and on track for July 1st—NKU's HR + Finance go-live date. Chris took a moment to acknowledge and thank our hardworking project team and encouraged others to do the same. "We have a large project team that is working very hard for (the university). As you see them, please continue to thank them."
Chris also introduced the Change Champion Network, a group of employees from across campus who will receive regular project updates and share information with other employees in their respective areas. The Change Champion Network will be led by NKU's Workday Change Management team who will continue to push out communications, training and engagement activities to campus through go-live and beyond.
Wondering about the Workday Student project? Chris shared that pre-planning activities will start in January 2026 and will increase through the spring, with the official kickoff happening July 2026, following our Workday HR + Finance go-live.
Chris ended his Workday remarks with a reminder that the driving force behind these changes is to help NKU become better and more efficient. As President Short-Thompson has said, "Workday is a key to driver to achieve efficiencies throughout campus." Let's lean forward, together, to Fuel a New Workday!
