Programs of Study

Programs of study are used to organize academic functions (such as course requirements), people (such as faculty or students) and/or credentials (such as degrees or certificates) within Workday Student. A major program (MP) in SIS is the analogue to a program of study in Workday. 

Programs of study overview 

Within Workday Student, programs of study are used to organize academic functions (such as course requirements), people (such as faculty or students), and/or credentials (such as degrees or certificates). Credentials may be conferred when a student completes a program of study. When a new program of study is created and students are admitted, the educational credential – or credentials awarded at completion – are placed on the student’s record with the associated academic requirements. 

A major program (MP) in WashU’s legacy student information system (SIS) is the analogue to a program of study in Workday. In Workday, majors, minors, second majors, certificates, non-degree programs, master’s degrees, and PhD degrees are all considered programs of study. A student’s academic record(s) in Workday will track all programs of study a student has pursued or is currently pursuing at WashU. 

In Workday, students may have more than one academic record, which is not possible in SIS. As an example, a student who is starting their graduate program while wrapping up their undergraduate program would have two academic records.

Program of study types 

Workday offers several categories and types of programs of study. Functionality is different for each program of study type. The table below outlines the types. 

	Credentialed program of study*	Required at admission	Can stand alone for admission**	Required to earn degree	Can be student’s sole educational objective	Offered at Undergraduate Level	Offered at Graduate Level	Additional Information
Certificate	✔️	Sometimes	Sometimes		✔️	✔️	✔️	Typically, standalone for admissions but may be restricted such that it is only awarded alongside a degree.
Concentration		Sometimes		✔️		✔️	✔️	May be required at point of admission, but if not, would be selected post-matriculation.
Minor						✔️		In most instances, a second minor may be pursued in the primary/home school or another school offering undergraduate programs.
Non-Degree Program			✔️		✔️	✔️	✔️	In legacy SIS, these were often labeled as SNCD, student not candidate for degree.
Program	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	✔️	Formerly known as MPs, major programs.
Second Major						✔️		Students may complete more than one major. In most instances, a second major may be pursued in the primary/home school, or another school offering undergraduate programs.
Specialization						✔️	✔️	Optional
Undeclared			✔️			✔️		Can accept students for admissions but a student can’t graduate from this program type. In order to graduate, students must change their educational objective to an official program of study.

Programs called joint programs or joint degrees in SIS are called dual programs or dual degrees in Workday. 

Primary programs 

Workday requires one program to be a student’s “primary” program per academic record. The primary program is the first active program the student matriculates into. For students with only one major, their major is their primary program. 

A program must be able to stand alone to be a primary program. Minors, second majors, and some of the certificates that are not standalone cannot be a primary program. 

Example of a primary program that can stand alone and is the student’s only major: 

• Student’s primary program of study: Bachelor of Arts with a major in Chemistry 
• Example of a minor and second major that cannot stand alone: 
• Student’s primary program of study: Bachelor of Arts with a major in Chemistry 
• Student’s second major (must be bundled with the primary): Second major in Biology 
• Student’s minor (must be bundled with the primary): Minor in English 

Addable and stackable programs of study 

The ability for students and administrators to add a program to a student’s record is determined by the addable programs configured on the program of study set as “primary.” 

• Addable programs of study must be completed at the same time as the primary program. 
  • For example, a student with a bachelor’s degree with a major in history would be able to add any minor or second major from Olin, Sam Fox or McKelvey or a minor or second major from Arts & Sciences except a minor or second major in history. 
• Stackable programs of study do not have to be completed at the same time as the student’s primary program. 
  • All credentials on stackable programs are conferred.  
  • For example, an undergraduate certificate would be “stackable” so that a history major could earn a certificate (e.g., teaching certificate) separate from the bachelor’s degree.  

Relationships between programs 

Workday enables the creation of relationships between programs of study, and students have clear visibility into which combinations are possible and how the programs interact. Some degree programs require a corresponding concentration, either at the point of admission or post-matriculation. 

Example of relationship between two programs of study 

This setup reduces the burden on administrators to change programs and maintain degree requirements and makes it possible for students to change concentrations on their own. 

Programs of study & academic units 

In Workday, a program of study is housed in a school’s academic unit (AU) but may have a coordinating AU  to support reporting and business process routing. For example, a major in chemistry is housed by the Arts & Sciences AU, and the Chemistry AU is the coordinating AU. As the coordinating AU, Chemistry could initiate a change to a course section and the request would route to Arts & Sciences as the main AU.  

Academic policies control the rules and processes that students follow based on their primary program. These policies are inherited based on the AU that houses the student’s primary program of study. 

Academic divisions as programs of study 

Most academic divisions in SIS translate to AUs, which are used in Workday to represent WashU’s schools or any other unit that admits students and offers programs of study or courses.  

However, a few academic divisions are more appropriately categorized as programs of study in Workday because the system has specific criteria for what should be an AU, and some of our legacy academic divisions don’t meet those criteria.    

Programs of study naming conventions 

In SIS, program names lead with the credential, which creates a challenging search experience. For example, A.M. IN ENGLISH and AM. LIT.  

In Workday, programs start with the academic discipline and list the credential as a trailing element following this pattern: <Discipline or subject>, <program of study type name if needed>, <credential>. Examples include:  

• English and American Literature, M.A.  
• Business, Undergraduate Non-Degree Student  
• Finance, M.S.  
• Chemical Engineering, B.S. (ABET/EAC)  
• Design, Second Major  

Having consistent and clear program of study names improves the search experience for students, faculty, and staff viewing program of study information.

Programs of study & effective dating 

Programs of study, as with most concepts in Workday, have effective dates. When a new program is created, a first entry date is the earliest date a student can matriculate into the program. Similarly, the last entry date is the last date a student can matriculate into a program. This would be used if the program is being discontinued.  

Effective dating may have an impact on the records and admissions processes. For example, when reporting on programs, it is imperative a user is aware of effective dates as the data viewed will be as of a certain date, like snapshot in time.