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Vermont State Colleges CIO outlines Workday rollout timeline, testing and data risks
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Summary
System CIO Wilson Garland told trustees HR/finance/payroll phase is nearing deployment after extensive testing; the student module will roll out iteratively through 2028. Trustees heard about integration, data‑quality challenges and consultant turnover; training and parallel payroll testing are scheduled ahead of a June launch for phase 1.
Wilson Garland, chief information officer for the Vermont State Colleges, gave trustees a detailed progress report on the multi‑phase Workday implementation, saying phase 1 (human capital management, finance and payroll) is finishing end‑to‑end testing and payroll parallel testing and is on track for a June go‑live.
Garland said the project team has executed more than 1,500 test scenarios and is completing payroll parallel testing (running two January payrolls through Workday to detect variances). He identified several risks: a small core team that must stretch between testing and change‑management deliverables, data‑quality gaps inherited from the legacy UKG HR system, a recent vendor partner added to process invoices (which added testing work), and turnover among Workday consultants that has in places delayed integrations.
On training and change management, Garland said instructor‑led training will begin the week of May 4 to prepare employees before cutover and the team is packaging job aids and cutover plans. He described the implementation as “foundation for the future,” emphasizing that Workday is intended to enable process improvements and new data‑driven work beyond replacing legacy systems.
Trustees asked why the student module takes longer; Garland explained that Workday Student covers financial aid, student records, advising, curriculum and other complex datasets and must align with academic calendars. The student implementation was officially kicked off and is planned to proceed iteratively with multiple tenant builds and staged move‑to‑production phases that will carry work through 2028, with applicants for fall 2028 using the new student instance.
Garland said the steering committee for phase 1 was kept lean and will expand for the student workstreams; he estimated the steering committee at about a dozen senior leaders and noted additional project management and program director hires to support the student phase.
The committee heard no motion or vote on Workday budget details at this meeting; Garland said a detailed budget update will likely be provided to the full board in June.
