Johns Hopkins’ Workday launch in summer 2027 consolidates how grants and other external funding (sponsored projects) will be managed after they are awarded. Shari Swisher, Senior Director of Sponsored Projects Integration at Johns Hopkins, shares where sponsored projects touch everyday work at Johns Hopkins and how Workday will support tracking, reporting on, and managing this work to completion.
Q: Can you start by explaining what type of work is covered by Sponsored Projects in Workday at Johns Hopkins?
A: Sponsored Projects in Workday supports the post-award lifecycle of externally funded research and other sponsored activities across Johns Hopkins. While proposal development and submission occur in separate systems,Workday will be used to manage activities that begin once funding is awarded, including award setup,financial management, effort reporting, compliance monitoring, sponsor invoicing, financial reporting, and award closeout. Workday will provide users with greater transparency into these activities, more timely access to information, and intuitive tools that make it easier to support research across the institution.
Q:For employees who do not manage grants directly, what are some ways Sponsored Projects connect to everyday work across the institution?
A:Research touches nearly every part of Johns Hopkins and supports not only groundbreaking discoveries, but also the institution’s academic mission. Even employees who don’t work directly in sponsored projects may support activities funded by grants through hiring and onboarding employees, purchasing equipment and supplies, managing payroll, approving transactions, supporting departmental operations, or helping administer programs that provide research and learning opportunities for students.
Q:What are some aspects of managing Sponsored Projects today that can require extra coordination or effort across systems and processes?
A: Today, information related to sponsored projects often lives across multiple systems and processes. As a result, employees may need to navigate different tools, coordinate across teams, or manually compile information to understand the status of a request, monitor financial activity, or prepare reports. While our teams do an excellent job supporting the research enterprise, there are opportunities to simplify these processes, shift some processes out of individual email inboxes,and provide more direct access to information.
Q: What does Workday reporting offer and what improvements in data access can Sponsored Projects teams look forward to
A: Workday reporting provides teams with real-time access to sponsored project information through a variety of operational reports and dashboards. Users will be able to quickly view sponsored financial activity, monitor budgets and expenditures, review billing and receivable information, and drill into transaction-level details without relying on manual data gathering or specialized reporting. This increased visibility into day-to-day project activity will help sponsored projects teams proactively manage awards, identify issues earlier, and support compliance and financial oversight throughout the project lifecycle.
Q: Is there anything else that you want to share or are there any other surprising benefits to managing sponsored work in Workday?
A:Beyond the technology itself, one of the biggest benefits is the opportunity to rethink how we support research across the institution. Workday is helping us standardize processes, strengthen collaboration between administrative teams, and create a more connected experience for faculty and staff. We aim to provide our research community with better tools, better information, and a stronger foundation for supporting the incredible work being done by our faculty, staff, and students.
Want to learn more about Workday? Check out the Workday Year of Learning for demos, webinars, and e-learnings.