Northwest Missouri State University faculty and staff leaders got an early look at the institution’s new Workday system – including its functionality, sample business processes and foundational transactions – during a Dec. 5 preview session.
Representatives of Northwest’s human resources and finance offices highlighted how Workday will enhance operations in areas such as hiring, time tracking, expense management and purchasing.
The session provided attendees with a walkthrough of Northwest’s current system configuration, demonstrations of core processes and reports, and discussions of current pain points and how Workday addresses them.
“Workday is a solution that is really going to be for every Bearcat, every day,” Mary Collins, Northwest’s assistant vice president of finance and controller, said. “We are revolutionizing the experience for our people, our employees and our students.”
Once fully implemented in 2028, Workday will replace fragmented systems at Northwest and reduce manual processes, giving the University modern tools for budget management, hiring and onboarding, payroll and benefits, timesheets and leave balances, updating personal information as well as student information system functionality. Access to processes will occur in one place, on any device — with fewer logins and fewer paper forms.
“We are super excited that we are going to be able to get rid of a multitude of disparate systems, and a lot of things are going to be at your fingertips within Workday,” Collins told session attendees. “If you think about why you go to CatPAWS now, why you go to MyNorthwest now, why you go to WebFocus now – you’re not going to have to go to three or four different places. You’re going to go to Workday.”
Through a phased approach to implementation, Northwest expects to deploy the system for employees in July 2026. Deployment of the student system will begin with course registration in 2028.
