UBC students warn Langara about incoming Workday system
UBC is the only other local school using Workday Student, and students there say the transition has been rough
By ZOE LI
Langara is spending $13.5 million next fiscal year on Workday Student, an administrative information system that has drawn criticism from students at the only other B.C. school that uses the system.
Workday Student will replace Banner, which the college has used since 1996. Banner’s developer released its latest version in 2017, but Langara has been using an outdated version that lost support in 2025.
UBC is the only other post-secondary B.C. institution using Workday Student, which it launched in 2024. Students at UBC say the transition has been rough.
David Savage, a fourth-year cognitive systems student at UBC, said his graduation was delayed after transfer credits from a previous degree failed to appear in the system. His academic adviser was unsure about how to fix the issue.
“It’s not going to ruin your life, but it’s constantly annoying,” Savage said.
He said the previous system used at UBC was easier to navigate, while Workday requires multiple clicks to find documents like a transcript without clear instructions on the same page.
UBC has over 70,000 students, while Langara has approximately 19,000 students.
Shunsuke Ogawa, a fourth-year English student at UBC, said the platform doesn’t show schedule conflicts when students register for courses, forcing them to track their timetables manually.
“You have to open five tabs to make sure that you can register for a course without it conflicting with other courses,” Ogawa said. He said a fellow student even built a Chrome extension to facilitate course registration.
Ogawa said his advice for Langara students is to be prepared.
“Triple check everything before you close the site,” he said.
Faculty unhappy with Workday
Langara faculty and administration already use Workday, designed to handle finance and human resources tasks for organizations. The college launched the system in 2020 to manage payroll, benefits, time entry, hiring, budgets and expense claims.
Avram Agov, an Asian studies instructor who has taught at Langara for 10 years, said the transition to Workday generated complaints from faculty. He said the system has complex operational requirements for submitting reimbursement applications.
“It was supposed to work better,” he said.
Agov said Workday is more efficient for the college overall, but not for individual faculty.
“It’s a step ahead, but not a revolutionary step,” he said.
Spending comes mid-crisis
The spending on Workday comes as Langara faces a projected $15.5 million deficit for the 2027 fiscal year. The college has laid off staff and cut student services to address the deficit.
Michael Koke, Langara’s vice-president of administration and finance, said in an email to the Voice that the $13.5 million covers testing and change management to prepare the system for launch.
The faculty understand the need to upgrade college systems, said Nina Winham, a Langara Faculty Association vice-president.
Despite this, she said they are “utterly dismayed and disappointed” by the spending.
An LFA report estimated the total cost of Workday will exceed $63 million, with $35 million already spent.
Akash Rattan, an instructor at Langara’s school of management, questioned whether the investment makes sense during a financial crisis.
“No new students are going to say, ‘I want to choose Langara because they’re using Workday,'” he said. “It’s a back office, back of the house system.”
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