Workday Terminology
Do you know your Workday terminology? Review the common terms you will hear surrounding the Workday transition. Also, explore the differences in terminology between Workday and Banner.
Student
Workday Student includes modules for admissions, financial aid, advising, student finance, and student records.
| Term | Definition |
| Academic Calendar | Provides the time framework for Workday Student. It is the template for creating academic years (ex. 2025-2026) and Academic Periods (ex. 2025 Fall Semester). |
| Academic Period | A formalized segmented of time within an academic calendar that has defined starts and end dates. It must fall completely within a Standard Academic Period (defined below). |
| Academic Plan | A list of the requirements to complete the student’s program of study, organized by recommended completion term. Its template is standardized for each program of study but can be adjusted for an individual student’s use. The Academic Plan is an optional planning tool and does not replace or supersede Academic Progress for tracking degree completion. |
| Academic Progress | A list of requirements to complete the student’s program of study. The report indicates which requirements are satisfied, in progress, and not satisfied. The report does not indicate when students should take the classes. |
| Academic Requirement | Define what a student needs to do to complete a program of study. Academic requirements enable advisors, staff, and students to track and verify a student’s progress towards completing their program of study. |
| Academic Requirement Override(s) | Manual adjustments performed by an administrator (with approximate security access) through a student’s Academic Progress report to grant exceptions to an academic requirement. |
| Academic Unit (AU) | Workday Student’s primary organizational structure is built around Academic Units. An Academic Unit admits students and offers programs of study or courses. Academic process flows, security access, Workday rule inheritance and reporting are often structured by their Academic Unit. |
| Active | An Academic Record Status that is applied if the student has one of the following Program of Study Statuses: Matriculated, In Progress, Leave of Absence, or Pending Completion. |
| Addable Program of Study | Refers to a configurable trait of a non-primary program of study in relation to a primary program of study on a student record. Addable programs must be completed in the same timeframe as its primary program of study. |
| Class Standing | Identification of the year level the student is in (i.e. First Year, Sophomore, Junior, Senior). |
| Complete | The Program of Study Status for graduated students. |
| Continuing Student Registration Onboarding Event | Primarily used for self-service tasks and reviewing items that a student needs to do to continue registration |
| Course Definition | Central source of data related to an individual course, such as the course’s title, credit value, description, and eligibility rules. |
| Course Section | The specific instance of a course for which a student registers during a given academic period. |
| Course Section Definition | Data specific to an individual course section that mirrors that of the course definition with some additional areas of configuration, such as meeting patterns, instructors, capacity, or section notes. |
| Course Section Status | A field that indicates availability of a course section for registration. |
| Course Subject | A subject is the area of study for a course, such as accounting or mechanical engineering. In Workday, these align most closely with “departments” and can be used to filter courses. |
| Course Tags | Custom identifiers that attach to courses or course sections to categorize them and make them easier to track and manage. |
| Declare Date | A field on a student’s academic record that indicates when students began their program of study. Workday assigns and evaluates a student’s academic requirements based on that date. The effective date of academic requirements may be adjusted for a student wishing to change “catalog” years. |
| Dismissed | A Program of Study Status used when a student is removed from the university for academic or other reasons. |
| Drop without Record End Date | The last date to withdraw student from a course section without a W grade appearing on their transcripts. |
| Eligibility Rule | Used to define requirements to register for a course or seek admission into a program of study. |
| Eligibility Override | Request made to exclude a student from a specific requirement, allowing them to enroll in a course section, pre-requisite override, or instructor permission. |
| Expected Completion Date | A field on a student’s academic record that estimates when the student will complete their program of study. It is derived from the standard duration of the Program of Study (i.e. four years for Bachelor of Arts). |
| Final Grades | The final grade assigned to a student at the end of an Academic Period. |
| Friends and Family | Students may add contact information for friends and family. They also may optionally provide friends and family with third-party access to view aspects of their student record including financials and academics. |
| Grading Basis | The manner in which the course is being graded (i.e. Audit, Credit, Non-Credit, Graded, Pass/Fail). |
| Hold | Applied to a student’s account and may block the ability to register and/or receive transcripts. There are about 29 hold types in academic, financial, and records areas. |
| Inactive Record | Records become inactive if students have withdrawn from the university, have been dismissed or suspended, or have completed their programs. |
| In Progress | A Program of Study Status when students are currently pursuing a degree and have not formally discontinued or completed their studies. It is also used in a student’s academic progress to indicate where courses taken are applying to requirements. This no longer necessarily indicates actively enrolled courses, rather that a requirement has been started. Individual courses are also marked as In Progress to indicate active enrollment. |
| Institutional Withdrawal | Refers to a student’s status if ceasing enrollment during a semester by withdrawing from all course registrations without intent to return to the institution. |
| Instructional Format | The method by which the course can be delivered, such as lecture, laboratory, seminar, or recitation. |
| Interim Grades | The grade assigned to a student at midterm. |
| Leave of Absence | A student’s status when ceasing enrollment during a semester by withdrawing from all course registrations but indicating an intent to return for an upcoming semester. |
| Matriculation | The point at which admitted applicants progresses from applicants to students, meaning:
|
| Open Registration | A period of time when all students with an “in progress” status can make adjustments to their registrations. Typically begins after the last assigned registration appointments have taken place. |
| Pending Completion | A Program of Study Status that begins when the student applies for program completion. |
| Preliminary | A status automatically applied when a course section is first created and indicates that it is unpublished and unavailable for student registration. |
| Programs of Study | Used to organize academic functions (such as course requirements), people (students) and/or credentials (such as degrees or certificates) within Workday. |
| Primary Program of Study | Workday requires one program of study to be the primary program. The primary program is, by default, the first active program a student declares. If only one standalone program exists on a student’s record, it will be the primary program. |
| Program Completion | Used in Workday to label processes related to graduation. Synonymous with graduation. |
| Program of Study Status | A field on a student’s record that indicates where students are in the completion of their programs of study and whether their overall record is active or inactive. It does not indicate registration in courses. |
| Registration Appointment | The earliest date and time as of which a student can self-register in a course section for an upcoming standard academic period. |
| Saved Schedule | A tentative schedule determined by a student ahead of the registration period. It contains course sections that the student wants to register for during a given Standard Academic Period. |
| Stackable (stackable program of study) | Stackable refers to a configurable trait of a non-primary programs of study in relation to a primary program of study. Stackable programs may be added to a student record and can be completed independently of (before or after) the primary program of study on that record. |
| Standard Academic Period | Fall Semester, Spring Semester, Winter Term, Summer Term, including accelerated sessions within each semester/term. Refer also to Academic Period. |
| Student Cohort | Collections of students that share characteristics such as program of study, academic unit, special population, tuition rate, etc. |
| Student Note | Can be used to capture notes to include on a student’s record. Note categories are segmented by security groups and/or Academic Unit. |
| Student Onboarding | A business process that moves new first-time students through steps that enables them to register for their first term. It is primarily used for self-service tasks, uploading documents, and reviewing items required after an applicant is matriculated. |
| Student Profile | The central location for information specific to a particular student. |
| Withdrawal (Deadline) | The last day to withdraw students from a course section with a W grade appearing on their transcripts. Students cannot withdraw from the course section after this date without administrator assistance. |
| Workday Student | Workday Student is designed to serve students, faculty, university leaders, and parents. It includes modules for admissions, financial aid, advising, student finance, and student records. |
| Banner/Miami Term | Workday Term |
| Academic Calendar | Academic Calendar |
| Catalog | Course |
| College Department School |
Academic Unit (AU) |
| Course Description | Course Definition |
| Course Drop Date | Withdrawal (Deadline) |
| Course Offering | Course Section Definition |
| Course Prerequisite | Eligibility Rule |
| Course Section | Course Section |
| Degree Audit | Academic Progress Report (APR) |
| Degree Audit Report (DAR) | Academic Progress |
| Degree Requirements | Academic Requirements |
| Final Grades | Final Grades |
| Grade Mode | Grading Basis |
| Graduation Degree Completion |
Program Completion |
| Majors Minors Certificates |
Programs of Study |
| Midterm Grades | Interim Grades |
| Minor Double Major |
Addable Program of Study |
| Part of Term | Non-Standard Academic Period |
| Primary Major | Primary Program of Study |
| Registration Override Request (ROR) | Academic Requirement Override(s) |
| Requirement (uAchieve) | Eligibility Rule - Combo |
| Schedule Type | Instructional Type |
| Scheduling Priority Scheduling Window |
Registration Appointment |
| Section | Course Section |
| Section Crosslist Stacking |
Overlap |
| Section Link | Cluster |
| Semester Term |
Standard Academic Period |
| Sub-Requirement (uAchieve) | Eligibility Rule (Course of Unit) |
| Time Tickets | Registration Appointments |
| Legacy Term/Acronym | Workday Field Name | Business Object |
| Academic Term | Academic Period | Academic Record |
| Banner ID (+ Number) | Other IDs | Student |
| Cell Phone Number | Primary Institutional Phone Number | Student |
| Class Level (Senior, Graduate, etc.) | Latest Class Standing | Academic Record |
| Confidential Indicator | Privacy Block | Academic Record |
| FAFSA | ISIR | ISIR Transaction |
| Full or Part-Time Student Status Based on Enrolled Credit Hours |
Load Status | Academic Period Record |
| Full or Part-Time Student Status Based on Financial Aid Hours |
Load Status | Financial Aid Period Record |
| Major | Program of Study | Academic Record |
| MU Email Address | Primary Institutional Email Address | Student |
| Permanent Address | Primary Home Address | Student |
| PIDM | Other IDs | Student |
| UG or GRAD Level Code (UG, GR) |
Academic Level | Academic Record |
| Unique ID | Other IDs | Student |
Platform
The Workday Platform is the collection of financials, human resources, and payroll components within the Workday system.
| Term | Definition |
| Finance Module | A component module within the Workday Platform system. This encompasses all of our budgetary and financial transactions and the various reporting needs for internal and external uses. |
| HCM | Human Capital Management: the HR component module within the Workday Platform system. This encompasses every action for an employee at the university from recruitment through retirement. |
| Platform | The Workday Platform is the collection of financials, human resources, and payroll components within the Workday tenant. |
| Banner Term | Workday Term |
| Account Code | Spend Category Revenue Category Ledger Account |
| Applicant | Candidate |
| Approval Process | Business Process |
| Budget Transfer | Budget Amendment |
| Capital Property | Capital Business Assets |
| Clock In/Clock Out | Check In/Check Out |
| Department | Supervisory Organization |
| Direct Deposit Info | Payment Elections |
| Index | Cost Center |
| Job Labor Distribution | Default Org Assignment Costing Allocations |
| Labor Distribution | Costing Allocation |
| Leave | Time Off/Absence |
| Organization | Cost Center |
| Paystub | Payslip Work Period |
| Property Tag | Asset Identifier |
| Query | Report |
| Salary | Pay Rate Type |
| School College Academic or Administrative Department |
Unit |
| Vendor | Supplier |
Workday
| Term | Definition |
| Avaap | Based in Columbus, OH, Avaap is the Workday implementation partner for Miami's implementation. Avaap has been a Workday Certified Implementation Partner since 2015. |
| Build | A term referring to the pulling together of independent workstreams into a tenant for viewing, assessment of configuration, and testing. |
| Business Process (BP) | Tasks that you can initiate, act on, and complete to accomplish a desired business objective. |
| Employee | A person working for the university, otherwise known as “We couldn’t do this without you.” All university employees are an integral component of this Workday implementation effort, whether directly involved or indirectly impacted. |
| ERP | Enterprise Resource Planning system, such as Banner (migrating away from) and Workday (migrating to). |
| Functional Area | A collection of domain or business process security policies that are related to the same set of product features. For example, Benefits or Student Records. |
| Security Role/Group | Access in Workday is based on user role and security groups. These roles and groups are given access to data, tasks, and information as appropriate. |
| SOR/SOT | System of Record/Source of Truth: the authoritative data source for a given data element or piece of information. |
| Tenant | This is the term for a single Workday environment consisting of all modules in use. Tenant types typically include Implementation, Preview, Test, and Production. |
| Workbook | An Excel file that is leveraged to load data into Workday. |
| Workstream | A term referring to a defined set of project efforts (functional or technical). |
| Department | Supervisory Organization |
Contact the Workday Team
Miami University
501 E. High St.
Oxford, OH 45056
