NextGen at Minnesota State
Guided by the Minnesota State North Star – student success – the NextGen Project is the large-scale technology modernization initiative that aims to create a technology landscape that supports students, faculty, and staff across our colleges and universities. The NextGen digital transformation project will enhance systems and drive student success at every stage of their higher education journey-from application to graduation and beyond. NextGen is one of many efforts moving Minnesota State toward strategic goals of providing equitable, accessible, and valuable educational experiences for all students.
The buttons below are resources for Minnesota State faculty and staff:
NextGen Hub for Faculty and Staff Workday Login
The NextGen Journey
The NextGen modernization project will replace the Integrated Statewide Record System (ISRS), which has been the cornerstone data system of Minnesota State for over 20 years, with Workday – a cutting-edge technology solution. Minnesota State recognized the need for a native cloud-basedSoftware as a Service (SaaS) solution that provides long-term sustainability and adaptability. Implementing a new technology experience will affirm our commitment to adopting and maintaining the technology needed to support our vision: providing students with a seamless experience that helps them achieve their hopes and dreams.
Minnesota State went live with Workday Adaptive Planning on March 1, 2024, and was closely followed by the implementation of Workday Human Capital Management (HCM) and Finance on July 1, 2024. The foundational implementation of HCM and Finance began in 2021 and was the first major step in Minnesota State’s journey to a modern technology landscape that will support students, faculty, and staff at each college and university.
The NextGen Journey Continues
The Student Project officially launched in spring 2025 and seeks to bring core operating systems together by uniting Student with Human Capital Management and Finance in Workday. The Student Project will include implementing Workday Student and Student Worker. The implementation will be carried out in stages including a phased go-live approach beginning in fall 2028 and culminating in fall 2029.
- Workday Student is a comprehensive student lifecycle application equipped with powerful engagement tools designed to inform and guide students at key moments on their educational journey.
- Workday Student unifies all student service applications and business processes into a single cloud-based platform. This enables all Minnesota State colleges and universities access to real-time data and a modern interface.
The Student Worker project incorporates student employees into existing Workday processes: compensation, recruiting and hiring, expenses, payroll, and time tracking. The project is a collaboration between Human Capital Management, Finance, and Student workstreams. It will be deployed during Workday Student.
Check out the latest highlights of the NextGen Journey to create a modern technology landscape for Minnesota State.
Seamless Student Experience
Enhancing the experience of students at Minnesota State is foundational to providing extraordinary education in Minnesota. Student success is a core value of Minnesota State. Optimizing our student’s ability to be successful requires a focus on making the student experience more accessible, flexible, and available on demand – anywhere, anytime – while working to close the educational equity gap.
The NextGen Strategy and Objectives capitalize on the pillars of student success, enhance higher education opportunities in Minnesota, and seek to provide a better future for all Minnesotans while bringing Minnesota State closer to realizing the vision of Equity 2030.
NextGen goals include:
- Seamless Experience for Students – Ensure a smooth, unified experience for students across the Minnesota State system.
- Student Outreach – Implement targeted outreach throughout the student lifecycle, using multiple channels and devices, including mobile.
- Data and Analytics – Foster integrated data sharing and improve decision-making by streamlining data flow across the system.
- Integration of Solutions – Ensure full integration of all Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and third-party solutions to offer a superior experience.
- Maintain Competitiveness – Keep Minnesota State competitive with other higher education options, including private and online institutions.
- Systemwide Processes – Standardize operational processes across the system using cloud-based technology, and update policies to improve efficiency and consistency.
- Security – Implement a stable, maintainable, secure, and intuitive suite of applications.
Guiding Students from Application to Graduation and Beyond
Implementing Workday Student will not only transform the digital landscape at Minnesota State, but it also affirms our commitment to supporting the North Star vision: providing students with a seamless experience that helps them achieve their hopes and dreams – from application to graduation and beyond. Building upon Workday Finance and Human Capital Management functionality, Workday Student will also help support employing student workers.
Workday Student is a student lifecycle application equipped with powerful engagement tools that inform and guide students in moments that matter. It unifies all student service applications and business processes into a single cloud-based platform, enabling all Minnesota State colleges and universities to access real-time data in a modern interface. Workday Student is divided into several functional areas: Academic Foundation, Advising, Financial Aid, Recruiting and Admissions, Records and Curriculum Management, and Student Financials.
- Academic Foundation – Components and processes used throughout Workday Student, such as the academic structure, programs of study, and academic calendars
- Advising – Academic requirements, advisor management, academic planning, managing student appointments, degree audit, and credit transfer
- Financial Aid – Federal student aid program policies, ISIR processing, cost of attendance, awards and packaging, disbursements, satisfactory academic progress, and work study
- Recruiting and Admissions – Processes to manage prospective students, to enable prospective students to apply for admission, and to evaluate applications for admission
- Records and Curriculum Management – Curriculum, student course registration, student academic records, and academic policies
- Student Financials – Student charges, student payment and payment plans, third-party billing and payments, student waivers, student refunds, tax reporting, and related processes
Over the next few years, Minnesota State will work toward implementing Workday Student. The implementation will be carried out in stages and will be fully implemented by fall 2029.