By Angie Ramirez

UAConnect is a student information system that University of Arkansas students, faculty and parents use when navigating their college experience. This spring will be the last time students use UAConnect. Students will still be able to register for summer classes through the system, but starting fall 2025, the new student information system will be Workday. In February, students started to receive emails from Workday about the new change and were provided instructions on how they can start the onboarding and financial aid processes. However, instructions to register for classes have yet to be sent to students. 

Laura Tilley-Stagni, the Workday Student Change Management Lead, explained how the university is one of the 15 schools who are part of the University of Arkansas System Office and the system established a group called Project One and that their mission is to have the System act more like a system where the schools work together. 

“One of the ways all 15 schools can work together is by having the same student information system,” Tilley-Stagni said. “Having everyone on one system means that students will have an easier time moving between schools and that all of our schools are using up-to-date technology and information. Another goal of moving registration to Workday is that this will let students see their campus employment and registration all in one place.” 

Students have used UAConnect since they first began in the university. The system has made it easier for students to find all information about their academic records, and about financial aid or payments. It is also a great way for students to be aware of the classes they are required to take and stay on top of that each semester. For many years, students have also used UAConnect to register for classes. They would add the classes they want to take in the “shopping cart” and wait until their given time to enroll. But with the change for the upcoming school year, it may affect the habits students might have developed over the years while using UAConnect. 

“I’m not too conflicted about it,” said Macey Hunter, a U of A freshman. “I have been previously introduced to (Workday) during my high school career, but since I am a freshman this year and was introduced to something else, I know the switch can be different.” 

Workday is a system that employees working a job correlated with the university use. It is a financial management tool that includes payroll, accounting, position management and budgeting. All of the on-campus jobs use Workday to receive their pay. 

“I have experience with Workday because I use it to fill in my hours, so I am a bit used to it that way,” said Shamiah Sheppard, a sophomore at the U of A. “I feel like it’s going to be something new for many students because not everybody (has) a work study that uses Workday for work, so it’s inconvenient for a lot of people.” 

Freshman Cameron Guerra also has a job on campus and said she thinks that registering for classes on Workday will be stressful. 

“As a student worker, I think it is inconvenient because I feel like it’s going to be overwhelming to split (work and school responsibilities) up,” Guerra said. “I don’t think registration is going to be as easy as UAConnect, but I feel like making advising appointments will be easier and more direct.” 

As the enrollment time nears, students continue to make appointments with their advisors to discuss the upcoming semester and the best choices for their classes. It is in their best interest to ask about the transition to have a smooth path in enrolling. 

“I feel like if you’re a person that doesn’t pay attention to emails, it may be easy to miss this kind of change,” said  Ashley Rico, a U of A freshman. “I have no issues with this transition, but I could see how some may run into some.” 

Some students run into the issue of not checking their email as often as they should, and missing important emails from school. With this transition, students are advised to be on the lookout for upcoming emails since they can contain valuable information about enrollment. 

“Don’t hesitate to ask for help,” Tilley-Stagni said. “Students can use the training website, submit a Help Ticket, visit a Workday help table during registration, or email wstudent@uark.edu.” 

Students should be aware of the current tasks on Workday. There are downloadable guides for completing the onboarding and accepting financial aid tasks, and can be found on the Student Information System website. Though not much information has been released, students should keep a close eye on their emails and logging into Workday for any new student activities. 

“The only thing that I would personally add is for students to go ahead and start exploring Workday Student before registration,” Shane Barker, assistant dean for academics said. “Click around, learn how it works, and ask for help.”