Create a New Course in Workday Student

Tutorial

This resource is primarily for Workday Student. If you are looking for information related to this process for workers, refer to the Create Course in Workday Learning tutorial.

This tutorial explains how to create a new course in Workday. For guidance on course and course section management, visit the Office of the University Registrar’s (OUR) website.

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. In Workday, search for and select the Create Course task.
  2. For Effective Date, enter the standard start date of the academic period you want the course to begin (e.g., for Spring 2026, select 12/26/2025). To find this date, you can use the View Academic Period Date Controls task.
  3. Click OK. In the next window, you will set the parameters for the course.
  4. For First Available, enter the first day of classes of the academic period you want to begin offering the course. To find this date, use the Academic Calendars page of the OUR website.
    • Course sections can only start on or after this date. It impacts academic requirements if a course is unavailable.
    • Warning: You’ll get an error message if the steps aren’t followed in the order below.
  5. Leave the Last Available Date blank. A last available date should not be entered at course creation unless there is already a time-limited offering; otherwise, this is entered only when you want to end a course and no longer offer it.
  6. For Academic Level, select either graduate or undergraduate.
  7. For Typical Periods Offered, select the academic period(s) the course will be offered. This field is required by WashU as it is important for reporting purposes and planning purposes.
    • Warning: Do not select the Create Academic Period option. Academic periods may only be added by Workday Student Support Team and OUR after routing through governance and testing.
  8. (Optional) Select the Hide Course checkbox if the course will not be offered for self-service student enrollment and is a placeholder experience that is not necessarily a part of the WashU curriculum but, rather, for tracking and supporting other experiences (e.g., study abroad placeholder and transfer credit courses).
    • Independent study and CAPS prison education courses should be hidden at the section rather than at the course level, since they are a part of the curriculum.
  9. Choose the academic unit that is offering the new course. 
    • Danforth courses are owned by the school academic unit. There are a few exceptions like for course offering units not in schools (e.g., ROTC courses). The School of Medicine course inventory owner is the department academic unit. 
  10. Select the Course Inventory Owner box to assign course ownership to the chosen academic unit. This is always required.
  11. Select the Allowed to Offer checkbox. This is always required to ensure that the academic unit selected above can create course sections from this course.
  12. Ensure the Default Offering Percent that automatically populates as 100 remains at 100.
  13. For Allowed Locations, select all campus locations.
    • Warning: If campus locations are not selected, when course sections are created, classrooms cannot be properly assigned.
  14. Choose the subject. Departments should only choose a subject that is offered by your school or unit.
    • The Major Programs mapping table includes a list of legacy’s major programs and their corresponding programs of study in Workday.
    • Warning: If you need a new subject, contact OUR. Do not create a new subject.
  15. For Course Number, enter the associated course number following the university number guidelines. All courses should be four numeric digits long with the first digit denoting class level (e.g., enter 1001 in the field, not BIOL1001).
    • Course number combinations can be used sometimes, in consultation with OUR and the Workday Student Support Team. 
  16. Do not click Add.
  17. Enter the course title and the abbreviated title.
    • Course titles should only include acronyms if they are commonly understood by both students and third parties. Limit dependent clauses to support rapid comprehension. Title length should be under 80 characters to display properly for system users and transcript readers.
    • Workday automatically generates the course title as the abbreviated title for the course. The abbreviated title shows on a student’s transcript.
  18. (Optional) Select the Special Topics Course checkbox if you want to create a special topics course. Arts & Sciences primarily uses special topics courses. 
    1. After selecting the Special Topics Course checkbox, click + Add and enter the Topic Title in the table row.  
    2. Add as many topic titles as you wish for this course. Only these entered topic titles can be selected when creating a course section for this course. 
    3. Course section titles will display as the course title followed by the selected topic title in parentheses.
  1. Do not add course tags at the course level; instead, add them only at the course section level, unless you need to exclude the course from the Bulletin. That course tag can only be added to the courses, not sections.
    1. (Optional) From Course Tags, select Office of the University Registrar:: Exclude from Bulletin to exclude the course from the Bulletin.
  2. (Optional) Select the Auto Generate Course Section Number checkbox if you standardize section numbers.  This will automatically generate section numbers when course sections are created.
  3. For Course Section Overrides, select All Overrides Allowed.
    • Course sections inherit certain course attributes automatically. This field specifies which inherited course attributes can be overridden when creating a course section.   
    • Because courses offered during an intersession do not have uniform start/end dates, when course sections are created, they need to have their start/end, and add/drop dates overridden.
  1. For Description, enter a course description.
    • Public means viewable in Workday, not the course bulletin. However, this description is integrated into the Bulletin and the class schedule public website.
    • Exclude pre- and co-requisites and details about meeting patterns and modalities. Avoid special characters that may not work correctly in reports and downstream systems.
  2. In the Course Components table:
    1. Select only from the below instructional format options for the course sections. You can select more than one format.
      • Clinical: Medical/health programs only.
      • Discussion: Small-group section associated with a lecture course.
      • Experiential: Practicum, field work, music practice/performance.
      • Independent Study: Independent study, independent research, research project participation, journal publication.
      • Internship: Internship or co-op.
      • Laboratory: Research conducted under controlled conditions.
      • Lecture: Formal oral presentation.
      • Research: Systematic collection, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of data/information.
      • Seminar: Stand-alone, small discussion-oriented section.
      • Service Learning: Learning through community or public service.
      • Thesis: Thesis or dissertation work.
    2. For Allowed Delivery Modes, select hybrid, in-person, or online.
    3. Do not enter contact hours. This is monitored and maintained locally as a part of the curriculum processes.
    4. (Optional) To add additional formats, click + Add and complete the fields. 
    5. The Default Instructor Load Percentage automatically populates as 100.
    6. The Required Format and Controls Grading checkboxes are automatically checked for the first row. If adding additional rows, determine whether each Instructional Format should be required, and which should control grading. You can select only one instructional format to control grading.
  3. Confirm that the Location Not Required checkbox is deselected. Selecting this checkbox interferes with the EMS integration. Courses and course sections without traditional locations will have that represented in the delivery mode and other section details. 
  4. For Credit Hour Type, select Credit Hours.
  5. For Minimum Credit Hours, enter the minimum hours for which a student can take the course. The Maximum Credit Hours field automatically populates based on minimum credits; however, you can change the maximum credit hours if it’s a larger number than the minimum credit hours. 
    • Courses that do not allow variable credit should have the same minimum and maximum values (e.g., 3 minimum and 3 maximum). 
    • If the number of units for billing or calculating financial aid load differs from the number of units earned (e.g., zero-unit remedial course can be billed for 3 units), OUR will select the Other Credit Hour Values checkbox. Only OUR should select this checkbox to ensure curriculum policies are updated and match compliance standards. Schools must request this from OUR well in advance to ensure coordination with financial aid, immigration, and campus services.  
  6. (Optional) If students can receive credit each time they complete the course, select the Repeatable for Additional Credit checkbox. This field impacts a student’s academic progress and is used to calculate load status for financial aid. All transfer placeholder courses should be marked as repeatable. 
    1. Select the Repeatable for Additional Credit checkbox.
    2. For Maximum Attempts, enter the number of times the course is allowed to be repeated. Maximum attempts include the first registration. For example, if a student is allowed to take a course two times, enter one that includes their original registration as well as one more attempt.
    3. For Repeat Maximum Credit Hours, enter the total repeatable maximum credit hours including the first course registration. For example, if a course is three credits and a student can repeat the course once, the maximum credit hours are six which includes the first course registration plus the second attempt. This works well for repeatable courses like music lessons. Workday will prevent registration when the student exceeds the repeat maximum attempts and credits.
  7. Do not select the Unlimited Capacity checkbox. Courses that can have high enrollment should be listed with 999. 
  8. Enter the default course section capacity and default projected enrollment, if the limits are approved by the curriculum process.
    • The Default Projected Enrollment must be equal or greater than the Default Section Capacity to ensure appropriate classroom assignments and utilization. 
  9. Do not enter the default wait list capacity during course creation.
    • Warning: Do not select the Manually Manage Waitlist Promotion checkbox as this will prevent Workday from automatically managing the waitlists. Selecting it will override the configured registration promotion schedule.
  10. Select the Allowed Grading Bases applicable to this course.
    • WashU grading bases include Quality Graded Credit, Audit, and Pass/No Pass Credit. Do not select other grading bases.
    • When multiple options are selected, students can choose their grading basis when registering for the course.
    • Students will either select a grading basis or it will automatically populate for them based on their academic unit or program.
  11. Do not select the Graded Anonymously checkbox.
  12. (Optional) Use the Eligibility Rule menu to configure prerequisites that restrict who can enroll in the course. Only OUR and the Workday Support Team can create new eligibility rules.
    • Choices made regarding available overrides will affect whether school registrars assign eligibility rules here. If requirements are consistent for every section offering, the rule may be added here. If they vary by section, section overrides must be allowed above so that accurate eligibility rules can be added at the section level. 
    • If the eligibility rules vary by course section, add them to the course section, not the course.
    • If selecting a class standing eligibility rule, note that class standing can be inflated by pre-matriculation credits.
  13. (Optional) To configure Co-Requisite Courses, select the applicable courses that students must be enrolled in to enroll in this course.
    •  Warning: Do not use the Course Fees or Additional Fees sections. Fees will be specified, as needed, when creating the course section. Course fees are automated in Workday and need to be added to course sections by Student Accounting prior to publication. Course section managers need to notify Student Accounting or their school financial offices (depending on the school) if a course section should have a course fee assessed.     
  14. For Public Notes, only enter notes sparingly to describe situations that Workday cannot.
    • For example, enter a public note to a) note alternate meeting dates or locations that cannot be scheduled in Workday, (b) describe course materials not available via traditional outlets such as Follet or Canvas, or (c) note limited details about the course topic if the title/course description allow variance by instance/instructor, such as identifying a time period of focus, genre, or current events focus. For more guidance, contact OUR.
  15. Lastly, review the course information for accuracy. Confirm that you have not entered anything for the following fields: Course Fees, Additional Fees, CIP Code, Educational Taxonomy Codes, Learning Outcomes, Competencies, Contact Hours, Graded Anonymously, Private Notes, and Course Materials. 
  16. Click Submit.  
  17. The course routes to OUR for approval.
    • To view the status of a newly created course, use the SRPT0042 – Find Course Definition Details report. When created but not yet approved by OUR, it has an In Progress status. Once approved, the course will have an Approved status. 
  18. Once the course is approved, course sections can be created by school registrars and/or those in departments, and the course can be viewed in the the SRPT0038 – Find Courses and SRPT0040 – Find Course Definitions reports. 

Additional Context

Key Changes
  • Courses must have a single academic unit owner. 
    • Danforth courses are owned by the school academic unit. There are a few exceptions like for departments not in schools such as ROTC courses. The School of Medicine course inventory owner is the department academic unit. 
  • Course creation is handled by course managers and routed to Office of the University Registrar (OUR) before they are viewable within Workday; course sections can be created off the course by program or department administrators or school registrars. 
  • Courses will be renumbered to a 4-digit number scheme. Numbering should demonstrate a progression of difficulty and/or depth in coursework
    • 1000 to 1999 indicate introductory undergraduate courses, usually without college pre-requisites.   
    • 2000 to 2999 indicate introductory or intermediate undergraduate courses, sometimes with a pre-requisite in the same or related subject.   
    • 3000 to 3999 indicate upper-level undergraduate courses, often with a pre-requisite of a prior course or class standing (e.g., junior standing).   
    • 4000 to 4999 indicate courses or seminars with advanced content for undergraduates, in which graduate students may be eligible to register.   
    • 5000 to 9999 indicate graduate courses; advanced undergraduates may seek permission to register. 
  • Course numbers should not be used to account for academic requirements or degree auditing, or to indicate course details like instructional format (lecture, lab), instructional mode (in person, online), grading basis, pre/co-requisites, credit hours, etc. These components are accounted for elsewhere in the system either by specific fields or functionality. 
  • With the transition to Workday, we now have a consistent set of grade options (called grading bases) and grade elements across the university. WashU grading bases now include Quality Graded, Audit and Pass/No Pass. Do not select other grading bases
    • The Credit/Letter Grade basis is now called Quality Graded. Credit is relabeled as quality graded credit and include the letter grade scale: A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D- and F.
    • Pass/Fail has changed to Pass/No Pass. An F in this grading scheme will now be NP.  
    • Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory and X grades have been discontinued. 
Considerations
  • Pre- and co-requisites built within Workday are visible to students on the course/section.  

Reports

  • SRPT0040 – Find Course Definitions 
  • SRPT0042 – Find Course Definition Details  
  • SRPT0601 – Course and Course Sections Status Denied

Related Resources