The third installment of the Integrated Renewal Plan — the revamping of UBC’s student service centre — is scheduled to go live in late summer 2023.
At its February 17 Finance Committee meeting, the UBC Board of Governors (BoG) approved a funding release of $84 million for Workday Student, the student portion of the university's Integrated Renewal Program (IRP). This is only a portion of the full price tag of $284.9 million.
The first two phases of the IRP overhauled the university’s outdated payroll and HR systems. The third phase will replace UBC’s current student information system (SIS) with a new system called Workday Student.
Workday Student will play a large role in students' interactions with UBC, similar to the previous SIS. Its scope will include curriculum management, enrollment, scheduling and transfer credits.
Dr. Lesley Cormack, deputy vice-chancellor and principal of UBC Okanagan serves as the Lead Executive Sponsor of the IRP.
“IRP Student is replacing UBC’s 30+ year old legacy student information systems with one built upon modern technologies,” Cormack said in a written statement to The Ubyssey.
Back in June 2021, IRP Student received Board 3 approval, yet budget requests for the release of funds required for next year’s budget occur annually. The February 17 BoG Finance Committee meeting approved the funding release for the 2022/23 school year.
Eshana Bhangu, AMS vice-president academic, expressed content with the recently passed fund release.
“IRP Student is something that's been in the making for what feels like eons so it certainly is great to see movement on the IRP Student phase,” Bhangu said in a written statement to The Ubyssey.
The $84 million approved for the 2022/23 school year will be funded through internal loans. The Trek Endowment, UBC Vancouver Operating Fund, UBC Okanagan Operating Fund and the UBC Vancouver Academic Excellence Fund will serve as the debt service for these loans.
“Since the program received Board 3 approval, the team has been working on hiring staff, gathering requirements from the community, configuring the new system, building out a new Learner Financial Support module, and completing an assessment of impacts to the surrounding application and technology ecosystem,” Cormack said.
Corrine Pitre-Hayes, director of the IRP, said the second wave of recruitment for the program began in January and will run until May. At the Finance Committee Meeting, Pitre-Hayes expressed confidence in the recruitment trends.
When asked how important the transition from the current SIS to Workday Student is, Cormack said the need for replacement is critical.
“There is no option for UBC to remain on the current SIS due to its age and increasing fragility. A robust, scalable, and secure system is necessary to support students through their academic journey at UBC. Without a new system, UBC would not be able to admit, register, and graduate students,” Cormack said in her written statement to The Ubyssey.
Bhangu shared Cormack’s sentiments, hoping that with the new SIS, students will face less “logistical and archaic barriers”.
IRP Student will be implemented in a series of releases, starting in late summer of 2023.
“We’ll be starting . . . at the beginning of the winter term approximately, with essentially a year of going live in a very prescribed sequence,” Pitre-Hayes said at the Finance Committee meeting.
The current IRP High Student Level Timeline projects final data conversion to Workday Student will occur in August 2024. Project closure is predicted for November 2024.
While acknowledging that the IRP is a very large and a massive program, Cormack said the program “is on track to achieve the timeline.”
Share this article
