Workday's Foundation Data Model (FDM) provides the foundational structure for financial transactions, reporting, and internal controls at the University of Washington. To ensure that FDM remains accurate, sustainable, and aligned with university-wide standards, a formal governance framework defines roles, responsibilities, and escalation pathways.
This page outlines key roles, functional ownership, and how to get support or request changes.
Roles and Responsibilities
FDM governance is supported by a combination of university-wide policy owners, functional leaders, and Shared Environment support staff. These roles work together to ensure that data is accurate, reporting needs are met, and any changes are consistent with university policy and system design.
Each FDM element has defined governance responsibilities across four areas:
- Value Input and Maintenance (R):
The group that manages the values and approves changes in Workday (often the functional owner). - Design and Structural Oversight (A):
The group that makes decisions on the overall design, structure, and restrictions of the worktag. - Collaborative Decision-Makers (C):
Groups whose input is considered in decisions because of meaningful cross-functional or institutional impact. - Informed Stakeholders (I):
Groups that must be notified of changes or restrictions, even if they are not directly involved in the decision-making process.
These responsibilities are detailed in the FDM Governance Roles Matrix, also known as the FDM RACI, which outlines who governs what across all worktag types.
First Points of Contact
For academic units, the first point of contact for questions or requesting changes is your local shared environment. For UW Medicine units, contact your Medicine FDM Coordinator.
Escalating Questions or Requesting Changes
If the question or issue cannot be resolved at the local level in the shared environment, it will be escalated through the appropriate UW Connect ticket pathway. Reasons for escalation may include:
- Worktag questions or changes with cross-unit impacts
- Worktag policy interpretation
- Enterprise-level worktag configuration or design decisions
The following linked table is a simplified extract from the FDM Governance Roles Matrix (RACI), designed to highlight the primary point of contact and responsible functional owner for each FDM element. It is intended to support local users in quickly identifying where to direct questions or requests. For complete governance, refer to the full RACI matrix linked above.