
As university students, we (naturally) have to study. But we also have to register for specific courses that suit our schedule. We need to check our grades to see if we are on track to graduate. And we (unfortunately) need to pay our tuition. A student information system (SIS) allows us to do all of these things and more.
UBC has recently switched to a new SIS, called Workday, replacing the 35+ year old Student Service Centre (SSC). If you’re anything like me, learning how to use a new system can be confusing. Here is Part 1 of Workday Student Tips: Working with Workday!
1. Know the Terminology

Workday uses different terminology for things that we might normally have a different name for. For instance, what we call Year Level is called Class Standing on Workday.
Other examples are:
What we normally say | What it is on Workday |
Term/Session | Academic Period |
Full course sections | Closed course sections |
Major/Minor/Option/Specialization | Program(s) of Study |
Registration date & time | Registration Appointment |
More information about these terminology changes can be found on this website.
2. Downloading your Unofficial Transcript (in 2 ways)
In my experience, some job or volunteer applications will ask you for an unofficial transcript. Through Workday, you can download an unofficial transcript as a PDF or as an Excel Spreadsheet file.
You can download your unofficial transcript by:
- Go to your Academics App -> Within the “Academic Records box”, select “View My Academic Record” -> Then near the top right, click on either the Excel and PDF symbol.
- The unofficial transcript download through Workday is formatted in a way that can be inaccessible and difficult to read. So an alternate way to download your unofficial transcript would be to save the Academic Records webpage as a PDF, by following the instructions here.
Whether you decide to download through Workday or take a screenshot, the transcript will not include your currently enrolled classes.


Screenshots from the Workday website
3. Finding your UBC Contacts
For anything finance related (tuition, awards, bursaries, loans), your Enrolment Services Advisor (ESA) is your go-to person. Each student at UBC has an assigned ESA.
Finding your ESA’s information can be kind of tricky because it’s not actually within the Finances app.
To find your ESA: You would need to go to your Academics app -> Select the “Support” tab -> Select “View My Support Network” within the ‘Contacts’ box
If you are registered with the Centre for Accessibility, this is also where you would find your Accessibility Advisor’s information.
This website has a list of quick contacts at UBC and it could be useful to bookmark this for the future!
4. Updating your Personal Info

With Workday being a new system, some information from the SSC was not automatically transferred into Workday. This means you will need to re-enter this information again:
You can also update the following information yourself:
- Preferred Name
- Contact Information (including *preferred email)
- Pronouns, Gender Identity, Trans Experience
- SIN/TIN
*Activating your student email does not automatically make it your preferred email. You can view and update your preferred email through Workday.
Some information can only be changed after contacting your Enrolment Services Advisor. These include:
- Legal name
- Residency Status
- Birthday
Hopefully some of these tips will help you work out Workday. Want even more tips? Let us know in the comments!
References
Nguyen, Hung. (2024, August 7). How to Save a Webpage as a PDF. https://smallpdf.com/blog/save-webpage-as-pdf
UBC Integrated Renewal Program – Student. (2024, May 27). Students’ most frequently asked questions about Workday Student. https://irp.ubc.ca/student-faqs
UBC Integrated Service Centre. (n.d.). About Workday. https://isc.ubc.ca/about/workday
UBC Integrated Renewal Program – Student. (n.d.). About IRP Student. https://irp.ubc.ca/about
UBC Integrated Renewal Program – Student. (n.d.). What is Workday Student. https://irp.ubc.ca/what-workday-student
UBC Integrated Renewal Program – Student. (n.d.). Workday Student Vocabulary. https://irp.ubc.ca/wdstudent-vocabulary