May 2026 Project Updates
Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff Members,
I’m reaching out with more information on Swarthmore’s upcoming transition to the Workday platform, which will replace Banner and impact operations across the College. This project represents a major change to Swarthmore's administrative infrastructure, one that will affect how nearly everyone at the College works.
Tools and Operations That Will Transition to Workday
As I’ve shared, our transition to Workday will happen in two phases. Phase 1 will see the College transition Banner-related operations in Human Resources, Finance, Payroll, and student job functions to Workday by Thursday, Oct. 1. We are currently in the middle of Phase 1 testing, working closely with teams in these areas to transition data into Workday and update their internal workflows.
Workday will eventually replace several operations across campus that most of us interact with regularly, including but not limited to:
mySwarthmore items on the “Employee Menu” of mySwarthmore for employees (including student employees) will migrate to Workday on Oct. 1; other mySwarthmore self-service links will remain available to students until Phase 2 completion in the fall of 2028.
APEX Applications, including Faculty Services, Major/Minor Portal, ACES Portal, and AppGarden will be migrated to Workday during Phase 2 through the spring and fall of 2028
Argos, for data reporting will migrate throughout the project as functions move to Workday
Attendance on Demand, for non-exempt employee time entry
BenefitFocus, for benefits elections
Chrome River, for invoices and expense reports
eMarket Portal, for purchasing
JobX, for student workers
PageUp, for hiring
Workday Training Timeline
All of the above functions will look and feel quite different in Workday, and will be a marked change from the Banner-based functions so many of us are familiar with using. To support our community and help prepare for the October launch, our ITS team, in collaboration with teams from across the College, will offer training on the many processes and operations that will shift to Workday. Training will be accessible in various formats, including in-person and online sessions, self-paced courses, and additional resources, offered at different times to accommodate schedules. Drop-in office hours will also be available for anyone with questions.
In the coming months, please look out for invitations to trainings in the following areas:
Workday Essentials Training
Offered throughout August and September
Open to all faculty and staff members
Benefits Elections
Offered throughout October
Open to all benefits-eligible staff and faculty members
Finance (Expenses, Procurement, Budgets)
Offered throughout late September and October
Open to anyone who submits expense reports or manages budgets
Hiring
Periodically throughout the fall
Open to hiring managers
Performance Review Process
Offered in alignment with fiscal year and calendar year review cycles
Open to all faculty and staff members
Student Employment (Applications and Time Entry)
Offered throughout October
Open to all students
Supervising Student Workers
Offered throughout October
Open to staff members who supervise student workers
Time Approval For Managers
Offered throughout September
Open to all managers
Time Entry for Non-Exempt Employees
Offered throughout September
Open to all non-exempt employees
Questions and Resources
As our transition to Workday continues, we will keep you informed of key dates and milestones. In the meantime, I encourage you to visit our Workday Project website (login required) for more information, including frequently asked questions. You can also reach out to our Workday project team with any questions: Project Manager Mark Dumic, Change Management Lead Jess Stockett, Training Lead Clare Grundstein, and Learning and Development Manager Lindsay Raclaw are all reachable at workday@swarthmore.edu.
Sincerely,
Jason Parkill
