The Challenge
Disparate Systems Creating Operational Inefficiencies
Prior to implementing Workday, Miami University faced challenges with disparate systems across human resources, finance, and student management domains:Â
- Manual Processes: Manual data entry, mail merges, retro payroll calculations, and benefit administration wasted time staff could spend helping studentsÂ
- Fragmented Data: Critical information was siloed across multiple systems, making it difficult to generate comprehensive reports and analyticsÂ
- Limited Self-Service: Employees and managers had restricted access to self-service functionality, increasing the administrative burden on HR and IT teamsÂ
- Compliance Concerns: Meeting Ohio state compliance requirements, particularly for programs like OPERS (Ohio Public Employees Retirement System), required complex manual oversightÂ
- Inefficient Financial Operations: Financial processes like depreciation calculations, bank reconciliations, cash flow reporting, and expense management were manual, time-consuming processesÂ
These challenges hindered Miami University’s ability to operate efficiently and provide a modern experience to students, faculty, and staff. The university recognized the need for a unified, cloud-based solution to transform their operations.
Key Highlights
Comprehensive Workday ImplementationÂ
Miami University selected Workday as their enterprise platform of choice and partnered with Avaap to lead the implementation. The decision to choose Workday was driven by Miami’s desire for a unified platform that provides a single system of record for HR, finance, and student information. With Workday, Miami can empower users with self-service capabilities, eliminate silos, and automate manual processes. Workday’s cloud-based modern solution is secure, and the bi-annual updates are easily managed by Miami’s IT department.Â
Miami selected Avaap as their implementation partner due to their strong presence and expertise in higher education, especially in Ohio institutions. Miami also liked Avaap’s perspective and processes for managing the people-side of the technology implementation. The HCM, FIN and Payroll implementation went live successfully in July 2024, with Workday Student scheduled for deployment in October 2026.Â
Transformative Efficiency and Enhanced User ExperienceÂ
The Workday implementation delivered substantial benefits across Miami University’s operations, including human capital management, compensation and benefits, talent management, absence and time tracking, and finance and operations. In terms of human capital management, automated document generation now saves hundreds of administrative hours, while standardized job profiles ensure consistency and accelerate hiring. Employees benefit from enhanced self-service options to manage work arrangements and career profiles independently.Â
In the area of compensation and benefits, the university achieved complete OPERS compliance with automated enrollment processing, while automating HSA contributions, benefit premium calculations, and wellness program administration saved over 1.15 FTE annually combined.Â
Talent management processes were consolidated into a unified platform where employees can manage their career development. The fully integrated Job Enrichment Program provides automated threshold tracking and transparent progress visibility. In addition, improvements were made in absence and time tracking, including automated conversion of sick hours to PTO for approximately 1,000 workers and retroactive processing capabilities that eliminated manual payroll workarounds. Â
For finance and operations, streamlined procurement processes, OCR invoice processing, real-time project tracking, and automated expense management were major improvements to the previous systems. Banking operations became nearly automatic, while the university eliminated numerous journal entries through Workday’s inherent functionality.Â
Overall, Miami University’s Workday implementation delivered:Â
- Significant Time Savings: Over 1.15 FTE annually through process automationÂ
- Enhanced Compliance: Automated adherence to state and university policiesÂ
- Improved Data Quality: Consolidated systems for more accurate informationÂ
- Self-Service Empowerment: Direct access for faculty and staffÂ
- Financial Control: Streamlined operations with better visibility and trackingÂ
- Mobile Accessibility: Expanded system access across campusÂ
- Data-Driven Decision Making: Enhanced reporting for leadership insightsÂ
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Looking Forward: Workday Student ImplementationÂ
Building on the success of the Workday platform implementation, Miami University is now working with Avaap to implement Workday Student, scheduled to go live in October 2026. This additional module will further enhance the university’s digital transformation by creating a unified platform for all student information and improve the student experience with self-service capabilities.Â
Miami University, a prestigious public research university in Oxford, Ohio, partnered with Avaap to implement Workday’s comprehensive enterprise platform to address challenges stemming from disconnected legacy systems. Miami University successfully deployed the full Workday platform in July 2024, and is currently deploying Workday Student, with a scheduled go live in October 2026. With Workday, Miami University has streamlined operations, improved data accessibility, and enhanced the user experience across the institution.Â
Client Overview
Founded in 1809, Miami University is a public research university with a main campus in Oxford, Ohio. As one of the oldest public universities in the United States, Miami University is committed to providing an exceptional educational experience through a combination of liberal and professional education, high-quality teaching, and engaged scholarship. The university serves approximately 20,000 students across its campuses.Â
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