A new online human resources and payroll system planned for initial launch in January 2015 will streamline the way UChicago faculty and staff members make their benefit elections, access payroll information and update personal information.
The new system, named Workday@UChicago, will be rolled out in stages to support multiple human resources functions.
In January, the first phase of Workday will replace the Employee Database and Employee Self-Service. In subsequent phases, Workday will replace UChicago Time, now used by a portion of the University staff to track work, vacation and sick time, and recruiting systems such as UChicago Jobs, currently used by HR and prospective UChicago employees to manage job applications. There also are plans to implement Workday’s talent and performance management module.
“Workday is a robust HR system used by many educational institutions across the country,” said Rich Iorio, vice president and chief human resources officer. “It will ensure that the University is providing the latest technology to support core human resources for our faculty and staff. Workday also gives us the ability to add functionality over time as we learn what will most effectively support our work.”
Workday will replace current systems—many of which are outdated and include paper-driven processes—and it will provide many advantages, including the provision of more accurate and timely HR information to the University community. Moreover, Workday@UChicago will allow for easy access to all the functions that University personnel now perform on the Employee Self Service website, including updating personal information and electing health benefits during Open Enrollment, reviewing payroll advices or setting up direct deposits.
The Workday@UChicago project team, composed of staff from Human Resources, IT Services, Financial Services, and the Office of the Provost, has been preparing for the transition over the past year. That team has met with representatives from across all UChicago academic and administrative areas to advise on system development. In addition, nearly 300 individuals who currently perform an HR and/or payroll function for their respective division, school or department have been introduced to the project.
Training and educational opportunities will be provided starting this summer for HR and payroll administrators, and will continue throughout 2014 and early 2015 for all other University personnel who will begin using Workday@UChicago in January 2015.
—Prof. Jacqueline Stewart
