Workday Student Glossary
Browse and search common Workday Student terms and definitions to quickly understand the language you’ll see across registration, academics, and your student record. This glossary helps translate Workday terminology into familiar GVSU concepts, making it easier to navigate tasks and find the right information when you need it.
| Workday Term | Description | GVSU Term |
|---|---|---|
| Academic Calendar | Provides the time framework for creating academic years and academic periods (semester). | Provides the time framework for creating academic years and academic periods (semester). |
| Academic History | A list of all completed courses and grades. Also shows transfer/test credit,GPA, units attempted and earned, class and academic standing. | Academic History |
| Academic Level | The level of study of the program: undergraduate, graduate, doctorate | Academic Level |
| Academic Override | Allows one course to be swapped for another to meet a specific academic requirement. | Substitution, Waiver |
| Academic Period | Typically referred to as term, a length of time with defined start and end dates (i.e. Fall semester, Winter semester, Summer semester). Also includes accelerated sessions within a semester. | Semester |
| Academic Plan | Optional tool to help students plan out what courses they should take during an academic period (semester) to satisfy academic requirements for their program of study (major). | Four-Year Curricular Guides |
| Academic Progress | A list of requirements to complete the student's program of study (major, minor, certificate, badge). The report indicates which requirements are satisfied, in progress and not satisfied. | MyPath |
| Academic Record | Collection of student's academic activities (GPA, registrations, academic history), at specific level. | Student Academic Record |
| Academic Requirement | An element of the academic progress tool that outlines the requirements to complete a program of study (major). An academic requirement is a required course or set of courses that enables advisors, staff, and students to track and verify student's progres | Degree Requirement |
| Academic Standing | To remain at GVSU, students must meet certain academic requirements such as a minimum GPA. Students can have good standing, be on probation, jeopardy of dismissal, or dismissal. | Academic Standing |
| Academic Unit | The primary organizational structure in Workday Student. Used to represent school, division or any other unit that admits students and offers courses. Academic units are organized to manage business processes, security access, and reporting. | College/Department/School |
| Academic Year | The academic year includes Fall, Winter, and Summer semesters. GVSU awards financial aid based on academic year. | Academic Year |
| Business Process (BP) | Automated workflow that routes tasks to designated users. | Workflow |
| Class Standing | First-year, sophomore, junior, senior, non-degree or graduate. For undergraduates, the standing is determined by the number of credits earned including transfer/test credits, not by the number of years in attendance. | Class Standing |
| Class Standing | First-year, sophomore, junior, senior, non-degree or graduate. For undergraduates, the standing is determined by the number of credits earned including transfer/test credits, not by the number of years in attendance. | Class Standing |
| Course | A class. For example, BIO 120 | Course |
| Course Definition | Central source of data related to an individual course, such as title, credit value, description, eligibility rules. | Course Definition |
| Course Section | An offering in a specific academic period (semester) of a specific course. For example, BIO 120-01 | Course Section |
| Course Subject | Area of study for a course, such as Accounting or Biomedical Science. In Workday these align with "departments" and can be used to filter courses. | Deptarment Prefix (i.e. BMS) |
| Course Tags | Custom identifiers that attach to courses or course sections to categorize them and make easier to track and manage. | Attribute |
Page last modified February 11, 2026