Discovering New Academic Possibilities with DawgPath’s Topically Similar Majors Feature

Since 2021, DawgPath has been a key tool for improving a Husky’s academic journey. Now, a new feature—Topically Similar Majors—makes it even easier for UW students to explore programs that share common themes, topics, and subject matter.

Whether a student is facing capacity-constrained major admissions, rethinking their academic interests, or still deciding on a direction, this tool offers a curated list of majors that align with a student’s interests. It’s designed to spark new ideas, highlight alternative pathways, and support informed decision-making.

Advisers across all three UW campuses can also use this feature to guide students toward programs that fit their aspirations. With Topically Similar Majors, DawgPath continues its mission to support every Husky in discovering relevant, rewarding academic options.

Note: The Topically Similar Majors project was sponsored in part by a grant from the Student Tech Fee Committee.

Below is a screenshot that shows majors that are similar to Biology, filtered by admission type.

How does it work?

DawgPath uses advanced language-based semantic modeling to uncover meaningful connections between academic programs by analyzing multiple data sources. The dataset includes comprehensive textual information for each major offered across UW campuses—such as degree titles, credential codes, program and option descriptions, and course details. Each major is represented by a unified document that also incorporates enrollment-restricted courses and the top 50 frequently taken courses by students in that major and option.

Note: Suggested majors are presented as exploratory samples rather than ranked recommendations and should be considered alongside personal goals and guidance from academic advisers.

For more information, refer to DawgPath Overview.

Cross-unit collaboration

This project leveraged expertise across the Data & Applications division of UW-IT, including Data Scientists and Engineers from Reporting and Analytics, Application Engineers and a Service Manager from Student Educational Technology Services, and User Experience Designers from Coordination & Design.

How to access

Anyone with a NetID, including graduates and applicants, can access DawgPath at https://dawgpath.uw.edu/.

Questions

If you have any questions or ideas for similar DawgPath features, please contact help@uw.edu with “DawgPath” in the subject line.

Connecting Campus with Space Data via the Enterprise Data Platform

UW Facilities manages more than 15 million square feet of owned space on the Seattle campus and over 2 million square feet of leased space across the greater Seattle area. These spaces are essential to the University’s academic, research, and administrative operations. To effectively manage them, UW Facilities relies on a Space Management System that supports data-driven decision-making and ensures compliance with federal and state reporting requirements—including the Facilities & Administrative (F&A) rate proposal, which depends on reliable research space data.

When UW Facilities began the project to replace its Space Management System earlier this year, it opened the door for UW-IT to expand how space data is managed and shared across the University. Together, the teams delivered two major outcomes for enterprise data customers: the introduction of space data into the Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) and the transition of the existing Space Web Service to the new system as its data source.

About the Solutions

Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW)

UW Facilities needed a more scalable, dependable, and integrated way to manage and share space data across the UW. Previously, customers accessed this data directly from Facilities’ systems—creating extra work for Facilities staff and limiting the ability to combine space data with other enterprise datasets.

To address this, the project team moved space data into the EDW and established a new database—SpaceDataStore—to house the data in a comprehensive relational structure designed to support a wide range of reporting and analytics needs.

This solution:

Standardizes data access and security
Ensures reliability and consistent uptime
Reduces operational overhead for Facilities
Enables integration with other EDW datasets (for example, HR, Finance, Academics, and Core Data)
Supports strategic planning, spatial analysis, and indirect cost recovery
Provides Space Data customers with a familiar, standard approach to both EDW change management and customer support.
Consolidates direct-access customers into the EDW, improving data consistency and simplifying how space data is managed across campus.

Notes:

Existing EDW customers have access to most of the new Space Data through their existing EDW data access role. No need to put in a new data access request.

Definitions for all the new Space Data remain under development and will be published in Knowledge Navigator soon.

For more information about SpaceDataStore, refer to Announcement: Launch of the New SpaceDataStore Database in EDW.

Enterprise Web Services (EWS)

In parallel, the EWS team transitioned the Space Web Service to use FM:Systems as its new data source. Despite a tight timeline and complex dependencies, the transition was completed seamlessly—with no disruption to customers or downstream systems.

The updated solution:

Preserves existing customers’ integrations with no interruptions or changes
Ensures stability and continuity for web service customers
Reinforces UW’s commitment to dependable, enterprise-scale solutions
Continues to protect Space Data customers (such as Workday) from upstream changes

Collaboration Across Teams

This project demonstrates the power of collaboration—both across UW-IT and with campus partners. What began as a system replacement became an opportunity to modernize how space data is connected, managed, and shared across the University. By combining technical and operational expertise, UW-IT and UW Facilities delivered a streamlined, enterprise-level solution that strengthens the foundation for smarter planning and more connected data at the UW.

The effort brought together the following groups, each contributing essential expertise to make the project a success.

Enterprise Data Warehouse Solution:

Analysis & Design, UW-IT – Trina Mosher, Daniel Kim, Robert McLaughlin
Enterprise Data Warehouse, UW-IT – Dre Tanner, Ian Stewart, Rosalie Leano
UW Facilities – Jay Dahlstrom, Corey Chan, LaMonte McGraw

Enterprise Web Services Solution:

Analysis & Design, UW-IT – Trina Mosher, Daniel Kim, Robert McLaughlin
Enterprise Web Services, UW-IT – Gary Lu, Dominic Ho
UW Facilities – Jay Dahlstrom, Corey Chan, LaMonte McGraw

Questions?

Email help@uw.edu and include “EDW” or “EWS” in the subject line.

Announcement: Launch of the New SpaceDataStore Database in EDW

A new database SpaceDataStore is introducing the initial set of Space Data views, which are obtained from FM Systems, the space management system of record. The Space Data Store is a comprehensive relational database designed to support spatial analysis, facilities management, strategic planning and indirect cost recovery. SpaceDataStore contains the following views:

BuildingFloor
BuildingInteriorSpace
EmployeeInSeat
FacilityAddress
FacilityStatus
FacilittyTable
FacilityType
FunctionalUse
PistoRooms
ShareSpace
Site
SpaceClassificationLevel1
SpaceClassificationLevel2
SpaceWorktag

Definitions for the views and columns will be made accessible in the Knowledge Navigator

Questions?

Please contact edw-help@uw.edu with “SpaceDataStore” in the subject line.

UWSDBDataStore Reorg on October 18, 2025

UWSDBDataStore Reorg on October 18, 2025

The student database (SDB) will go through a reorganization on October 18, 2025 which will cause changes in the Enterprise Data Warehouse database, UWSDBDataStore. These changes to the objects will be available in the UWSDBDataStore on October 20, 2025
However, data on the new objects will be available as soon as the Data Custodians submit the security role definitions and the SIS team loads the data.

Last Updated – 10.19.2025

Columns to be Added

Table	Column	DataType
SA_WD_DET_TRANS	WD_DET_BATCH_NO	smallint
SA_WD_SUM_TRAN	WD_SUM_SYSTEM_KEY	int
SA_WD_SUM_TRAN	WD_SUM_BATCH_NO	smallint

New Tables

Table	Column	DataType
SR_DEC_RESULTS	SR_DEC_NAME	char(45)
	SR_DEC_DOB	datetime
	SR_DEC_SYSKEY	int
	SR_DEC_SSN	int
	SR_DEC_SLATE_ID	int
	SR_DEC_CAMPUS	tinyint
	SR_DEC_APPL_TYPE	char(1)
	SR_DEC_APPL_STATUS	char(1)
	SR_DEC_MESSAGE	char(50)
	SR_DEC_POSTED_DT	datetime
	SR_DEC_SPARE_1	int
	SR_DEC_SPARE_2	int
	SR_DEC_SPARE_3	int
	SR_DEC_SPARE_4	char(10)
	SR_DEC_SPARE_5	char(10)
	SR_DEC_SPARE_6	char(10)
	SR_DEC_BOOLEAN_1	bit
	SR_DEC_BOOLEAN_2	bit
	SR_DEC_BOOLEAN_3	bit
	SR_DEC_BOOLEAN_4	bit
	SR_DEC_BOOLEAN_5	bit
	SR_DEC_BOOLEAN_6	bit
	SR_DEC_BOOLEAN_7	bit
	SR_DEC_BOOLEAN_8	bit

Table	Column	DataType
SR_MINI_MASTER_MINOR_PROGRAM	MM_YEAR	smallint
	MM_QTR	tinyint
	MM_PROC_IND	tinyint
	MM_STUDENT_NO	int
	INDEX_1	smallint
	MM_MINOR_BRANCH	tinyint
	MM_MINOR_COLLEGE	char(1)
	MM_MINOR_ABBR	char(6)
	MM_MINOR_PATHWAY	tinyint
	MM_MINOR_CAT_YR	smallint
	MM_MINOR_CAT_QTR	tinyint
	MM_MINOR_DT	datetime
	MM_MINOR_USER_ID	char(12)
	MM_MINOR_EVENING	bit

Columns to be Removed

Table	Column Name
SDBDB01	LAST_RUN_NUM

Columns to be Renamed

Table	Column Name	New Column Name
STUDENT_1	S1_BOOLEAN_08	NO_MAC_NAME_CAPS
STUDENT_1	S1_BOOLEAN_09	PEND_RESIDENCY_ST

Table to be Renamed

Table Name	New Table Name
SR_ADV_SYS_SET	SR_ADVISER_NOTES

Advancing Accessibility: A New Dashboard for Tracking Progress

The ADA Digital Accessibility Initiative (DAI) ensures that UW’s digital content is accessible, providing equal information, interactions, and services to people with disabilities. Additionally, the Initiative is leading UW’s work to comply with Department of Justice regulations by April 2026 and setting up the mechanisms to ensure accessible content thereafter.

To support this Initiative, the ADA Digital Accessibility Compliance Progress dashboard is now available to track implementation and monitor digital accessibility compliance by:

Improving leadership access to clear, relevant digital accessibility data.
Highlighting areas with challenges that may increase risk.
Providing a consistent but flexible source of progress data to support data-driven decision-making for training, resources, and other institution-wide support.

This dashboard highlights key metrics such as accessibility scores, common website accessibility issues, opportunities for improvement in video captioning, and overall compliance with accessibility standards over time.

Collaborating to Meet Requirements

Creating this dashboard was a team effort! Staff from the Civil Rights Compliance Office and UW-IT’s Accessible Technology Services team defined the requirements and provided feedback, while UW-IT’s Web Applications and Business Intelligence (BI) teams built the data pipeline, developed the dashboard, and refined it through testing.

About the Data

This dashboard reflects data from the following sources:

DubBot – An automated website accessibility checker that runs more than 100 checks on web pages and provides feedback to site owners. It also flags broken links, spelling errors, compliance issues with governance policies, and search engine optimization (SEO) best practices. For more information, refer to DubBot Web Accessibility Checker.
UW YouTube Caption Reports – These reports help YouTube channel owners monitor and improve the accessibility of their videos. They are generated by the YouTube Caption Auditor (YTCA), which is an open-source tool developed by UW-IT’s Accessible Technology Services. For additional information about how to caption videos, refer to the Captions.

About the Dashboard

The ADA Digital Accessibility Compliance Progress dashboard answers key questions with the following four visualizations.

Website Compliance Progress

This visualization shows digital accessibility score trends for the selected Unit, compared to the baseline of UW Core Sites within the chosen date range.

Accessibility scores are generated by DubBot, which monitors websites for specified accessibility issues, including Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) criteria. Score changes reflect progress, but a high score does not guarantee full compliance.

Website Accessibility Scores

This table displays digital accessibility scores for UW websites filtered by the selected Unit and sorted by score. This helps identify sites that may need remediation support.

This section also displays the total number of sites for the selected unit. Use the Number of Rows dropdown to choose how many sites to display. By default, the table shows 5 sites.

Website Accessibility Issues

This bar chart displays common web content accessibility issues, filtered by the selected Unit and sorted by number of occurrences. It helps users to prioritize fixes with the greatest impact for their Unit.

Use the WCAG Level filter to view issues by WCAG 2.1 conformance level (A, AA, AAA). By default, A and AA issues are shown, as these must be addressed for ADA compliance.

Video Captions by YouTube Channel(s) and Scan Date

This trend line shows the percentage of captioned videos over time for the selected channel, compared to the average for all UW YouTube videos. Because captions are required for ADA compliance, it helps identify channels with videos that need captioning.

Use the Channel Name and Scan Date Range filters to explore captioning performance for specific content owners, teams, or time periods.

Access Information

The Civil Rights Compliance Office manages access to this dashboard via a UW Group.

To request access, email ada504@uw.edu and include “Access Request: ADA Digital Accessibility Compliance Progress” in the subject line.

Questions?

If you have questions about this dashboard or would like to inquire about a similar solution for your department, please contact help@uw.edu with “BI Portal Dashboards” in the subject line.

Preserving Access: BI Team Supports Retirement of Legacy Finance Systems

In FY 2024, the University of Washington officially transitioned to Workday Finance as its primary financial system of record. To minimize disruption during the rollout, several systems slated for retirement were temporarily placed in read-only mode, allowing users to retain access to legacy financial data.

As users adjusted to the new Workday environment, UW-IT launched a major project to fully retire these read-only systems. The Business Intelligence (BI) team played a key role—developing reporting solutions to ensure continued access to legacy financial data after system retirement.

BI Team Contributions: Technical Solutions and Strategic Support

The BI team contributed to the technical development of reports and helped users transition to new solutions, ensuring uninterrupted access to legacy financial data.

Key contributions included:

Collaborating with business/technical owners and end users to understand requirements.
Developing and maintaining reports and data cubes to access legacy data.
Creating templates and tools to preserve key functionality.
Supporting communication and change management efforts to guide users to the right tools and resources.

The following table summarizes the new and existing BI resources for each retired system:

Retired Finance System	BI Resources for Access to Legacy Data
Ariba	UW Spend Cube (PAS/Ariba/PDR) Resources
BGT	Grant and Contract Accounting Budget Revisions
Electronic Faculty Effort Certification System (eFECS)	Cost Share Commitments and Contributions
Financial Accounting System (FAS)/FIN	UW Finance Cube Resources – Legacy Data UW GL Cube Resources UW Spend Cube (PAS/Ariba/PDR) Resources Budget Number Index Audit Trail
JD Edwards	Contract Status and Master Revisions Receipt Detail
My Financial Desktop (MyFD)	MyFD Budget List MyFD Budget Profile MyFD Budget Summary MyFD Journal Voucher Detail MyFD Reconciliation MyFD Transaction Summary
OASIS	OASIS Asset Lookup OASIS Closing Award Property
Purchasing Accounting System (PAS)	UW Spend Cube (PAS/Ariba/PDR) Resources

To explore the full crosswalk of retired systems and their corresponding BI reports, refer to the Legacy Finance Data page. This central resource outlines what was retired, what replaced it, and how to continue accessing legacy financial data.

Questions?

Email the BI team at help@uw.edu and include “BI Portal” in the subject line.

Announcing Updates to the UW Finance Cubes

The Reporting & Analytics team (R&A) and Finance DATAGroup have released new versions of the UW Finance Cube for FY 2024 and FY 2025 and the UW Summarized Cube! Thanks to user feedback, the following updates are now available!

This release adds new fields, consolidates related data, and removes some dimensions to enhance clarity and usability.

Summary of Changes by Dimension

Award

This dimension was removed in this release. The following fields, which were previously grouped under it, have been moved to the Grant dimension:

Award Contract Owner
Award Contract Owner Name
Award Name

Award Line

This dimension and its associated fields were removed in this release; however, a similar field (Award Line Type) was added to the Grant dimension.

Grant

The following fields have been added to the cubes, under the Grant dimension.

Field Name	Description
Award Line Type	A flag that indicates whether the award is Cost Reimbursable (billing is based on actual expenses) or Fixed Amount (a set funding amount).
Originating Sponsor	The specific organization that originally awarded the grant/funding. This field displays the Award Prime Sponsor, if available; otherwise, it displays the Sponsor.
Originating Sponsor Top Level	The parent or top-level organization of the originating sponsor, which can be used to aggregate data at a higher organizational level.
Originating Sponsor Top Level Type Federal	A flag that indicates whether the top-level originating sponsor is “Federal” or “Non-Federal.”
Sponsor Parent	The organization that provides funding directly to the UW.
Sponsor Top Level	The top-level organization of the sponsor, which can be used to aggregate data at a higher organizational level.
Sponsor Type Federal	A flag that indicates whether the top-level sponsor is “Federal” or “Non-Federal.”
Subaward Flag	A flag that indicates whether the funding originates from a subaward (Y) or directly from the originating sponsor (N).

The following fields were previously grouped under the Award or Sponsor dimensions but are now consolidated under the Grant dimension.

Award Contract Owner
Award Contract Owner Name
Award Name
Sponsor
Sponsor Name

Resource

The following field has been added to the cube, under the Resource dimension.

Field Name	Description
Resource Code	This code identifies the source of funding in Workday.

Sponsor

This dimension was removed in this release. The following fields, which were previously grouped under it, have been moved to the Grant dimension:

Sponsor
Sponsor Name

Questions?

Please email help@uw.edu with “BI Portal Finance Cube” in the subject line.

New Dashboard Sheds Light on the Sponsored Program Lifecycle

The sponsored program lifecycle at the UW spans multiple systems and teams—including SAGE, Workday, the Office of Research, and Finance Planning & Budgeting. Historically, there was no way to view processing data from award setup through closeout, making it difficult to identify delays, monitor workloads, or plan proactively. In the absence of comprehensive data, teams often had to rely on limited observations, opinions, or the most visible parts of the process—leading to reactive planning, misaligned priorities, and missed opportunities for improvement.

The new Sponsored Programs Setup Metrics Dashboard helps close this gap by providing data to support better decision-making, anticipate processing times, allocate resources effectively, and strengthen cross-team collaboration. It also gives campus users visibility into where their specific awards are in the process.

Collaborating to Meet Requirements

This dashboard was developed through the Awards Improvement and Development Effort (AIDE), an initiative between Finance Planning & Budgeting, the Office of Research, and UW-IT, which aims to transform grant management at the UW. The dashboard directly supports AIDE’s goals, by promoting transparency, coordination, and efficiency across the sponsored program lifecycle.

About the Dashboard

The Sponsored Programs Setup Metrics Dashboard displays in-progress items at each stage of the lifecycle, in two different views:

Sponsored Programs Setup Metrics
Request Processing Time

Request Processing Time

This view shows the average time a request spent in each status for recently processed SAGE requests. Hover over a value to see a monthly breakdown graph. Use filters to adjust the date range and request type.

Questions?

Email DATAGroup at datagrp@uw.edu and include “Sponsored Programs Setup Metrics” in the subject line.

Streamlining Registration Tracking with Tableau

Development of the new Period 1 Registration Metrics Tableau workbook started with a question: “can we make this process easier?”

For Ammy Phuwanartnurak, a Service Manager/Business Analyst on UW-IT’s Student & Educational Technology Services (SETS) team, this question surfaced during her quarterly push to gather Period 1 registration metrics. Every Fall, Winter, and Spring quarter*, she compiled registration data on student groups, transactions, and courses, then calculated the year-over-year growth rate for each day in the Period 1 window.

*Note: Summer quarter Period 1 registration is different than other quarters and does not have a high traffic load, so it is excluded from this tool.

This process, while important for her stakeholders, required hours of gathering data and working through spreadsheets. The new Period 1 Registration Metrics workbook automates this task, while providing stakeholders with accurate, timely insights into how students are registering during Period 1 window.

This workbook is hosted on UW-IT’s Tableau server with access managed via a UW Group. Although not widely available, this workbook shows a powerful data solution that emerged from cross-team collaboration.

What is Period 1 Registration?

Period 1 registration is the first window when continuing students can register for classes, with access opening on different dates based on class standing, earned credits, and other considerations. Students receive assigned registration dates and can make schedule changes throughout the period. For more information, refer to Registration Periods.

Collaborating to Meet Requirements

Creating this workbook was a cross-team effort! Ammy Phuwanartnurak from the SETS team provided the requirements and feedback, while Grzegorz (Greg) Grabowski from the Business Intelligence (BI) team developed the workbook and the dashboards within it.

About the Workbook

The Period 1 Registration Metrics workbook displays data in multiple dashboard tabs, each tailored to answer specific questions, which are explored below.

Student Registrations by Student Groups

This dashboard answers the following questions:

Which student groups participated in Period 1 registration?
How many students registered during the current quarter’s Period 1 window and how does this compare to the same period last year?
What’s the daily and cumulative registration headcount (both unique and duplicated)?

Transactions by Student Groups

This dashboard answers the following questions:

How many successful registration transactions were completed each day during Period 1?
What’s the total volume of transactions (successful and unsuccessful)?
Are transaction volumes increasing, decreasing, or consistent compared to last year?

Registered Students by Course

This dashboard answers the following questions:

What courses are students registering for during Period 1?
How many students are registered in specific courses, on a daily or cumulative basis?
What are the most and least popular courses during this registration period?

Questions/Feedback/Ideas?

Do you have a question about this workbook and/or a request for a new resource in the BI Portal? Please submit a ticket to help@uw.edu with “BI Portal” in the subject line.

Announcement: New Data Addition to the RAD2 Database in EDW

The RAD2 database is introducing the second set of Research Administration Data views, which are obtained from the Research Integration Platform in the Office of Research Information Services (ORIS), whereby data from the SAGE system and associated datasets are integrated.

vAdminAction
vAdminActionSubtype
vAdvance
vAward
vAwardRequest
vAwardSetupRequest
vComplianceQuestion
vComplianceResponse

Definitions for the views and columns will be made accessible in the Knowledge Navigator shortly.

The EDW team will incorporate an additional set of views into RAD2 in the near future as soon as the source data has been verified to meet Production quality standards.

Tentative list:

vComplianceSubResponse
vModification

The announcement of the RAD2 launch in April can be found here:

https://it.uw.edu/service-news/announcement-launch-of-the-new-rad2-database-in-edw/

Questions?

Please contact help@uw.edu with “RAD2” in the subject line.