Assignments vs. Enrollments

Some feedback I hear often from Learning Admins in Workday is a lack of understanding of how Workday handles Learning Enrollments vs. Assignments.

Have you ever dropped a Learner from an Enrollment, only to have them report that the course is still showing as “required” for them?
Having a better understanding of Enrollments vs. Assignments can help Learning Admins resolve issues like this quickly.

Learning Assignment – An Assignment is the functionality to deliver training to one or more learners, usually as required.  Campaigns assign learning to a user but do not enroll the learner. This creates the assignment record. Assignments do not appear on a learner’s transcript.

Learning Enrollment – An Enrollment is the action taken by the learner to start a course, or select an offering – the course may not necessarily be assigned to them. This creates the enrollment record. Enrollments appear on the learner transcript.

Enrollments and Assignments, while separate concepts, may occur simultaneously.

For example: a Manager or an Admin can mass enroll a learner in a course, which creates the enrollment record, but a mass enrollment by these parties will also create an assignment record, often with a required status and due date.

Dropping a learner from an Enrollment will not automatically waive the Assignment for the learner.
When Dropping a learner from an enrollment, it may sometimes be appropriate to waive the Assignment as well.

This is why robust reporting on Assignments as well as Enrollments can be a valuable tool for Learning Admins to easily identify whether an Enrollment has occurred relative to an Assignment and manage both more easily.