Workday Academic Period Start & End Dates

A comprehensive overview of academic start and end dates, for faculty and staff, as maintained in Workday.

These dates are provided to support accurate transactions in Workday Student. They play a critical role in supporting key academic and administrative functions, including course scheduling, registration timelines, grading periods, and degree conferral. Understanding how these dates are structured in Workday ensures alignment across departments and helps maintain consistency in academic operations.

Workday refers to academic terms like semesters as Academic Periods. The Standard Academic Period Start Date indicates the date to use in Workday for the first use of new course offerings and incoming students’ first entry dates. While it may not align with the first day of classes, it does mark the beginning of the overall term in Workday and this date is important for administrative readiness and data accuracy across academic systems.

The Conferral Date is also the Academic Period End Date in Workday, aligning with the last day of the semester and the final assessment period. By policy the university uses the last day of the semester as the effective date for degree awarding and is listed on transcripts and diplomas. Ceremony dates are typically different. This is the date to use to record Expected Completion Dates in Workday.