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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2026-05-15
Maintain Packaging Reaction Policies

Maintain Packaging Reaction Policies

Security:
  • Set Up: Merit Packaging
     domain in the Financial Aid functional area.
  • Set Up: Need Packaging
     domain in the Financial Aid functional area.
Configure how Workday responds when a student experiences an event that affects their financial aid packages. Example: a change in their citizenship, residency, or campus location.
You can instruct Workday to automatically package the student again or to wait until you review the triggering event before repackaging.
  1. Access the relevant task:
    • Maintain Merit Packaging Reaction Policy
    • Maintain Need Packaging Reaction Policy
  2. Select an
    Effective Date
    .
    Workday automatically populates the prompt with today's date. If you want your reaction policy to be effective for the current academic period, select a date that corresponds to the standard start date of the academic period. Workday uses the standard start date of the academic period to determine when your reaction policy takes effect.
    Example: During the Fall 2024 academic period, you want to add a
    Citizenship
     reaction reason to your reaction policy, effective immediately. Select an
    Effective Date
     that corresponds with the standard start date of the Fall 2024 academic period.
  3. Select the
    Academic Unit
     and
    Academic Level
    , or
    Program of Study
     for which you want to maintain packaging reaction policies.
  4. Add a row for each packaging rule. As you complete the task, consider:
    Option Description
    Reaction Reason
    Select a reaction trigger. When an event occurs that sets off this trigger, Workday reacts according to the
    Reaction Method
     selection.
    When you select these reaction reasons, specify the objects or groups you want to trigger the reaction for on the
    Maintain Financial Aid Reaction Policy
     task:
    • Custom Object Change
    • Student Groupings
    Reaction Method
    Select whether Workday automatically repackages financial aid or waits for you to review the triggering event manually.
    When Workday automatically repackages financial aid for an academic period, we also repackage the other periods in the same packaging period.
    Manual Review Date Control
    If automatically repackaging, select the date when you want automatic processing to switch to manual review.
    If you configure this field, set up the corresponding date control on the
    Maintain Academic Period Date Controls
     task. Otherwise, Workday automatically uses
    Review
     as the
    Reaction Method
    .
  5. When you configure the
    Student Groupings
     or
    Custom Object Change
     reaction reasons on your policy, access the
    Maintain Financial Aid Reaction Policy
     task and select the student groupings or custom objects for which you want to trigger a reaction.
  6. To stop Workday from creating new packaging reactions after a certain date, configure the
    Merit Packaging Reaction Evaluation End Date
     and
    Need Packaging Reaction Evaluation End Date
     using one of these tasks:
    • Maintain Academic Period Date Control
    • Maintain Academic Period Type Date Control Rules
    If you use the
    Maintain Academic Period Type Date Control Rules
     task, the date control will only impact future academic periods of that type. For past academic periods, you must configure the reaction evaluation end date using the
    Maintain Academic Period Date Control
     task.
    For more information, see Steps: Manage Date Controls and Reference: Date Controls.
If a student experiences an event that triggers manual review, you can resolve the reaction using these reports:
  • Merit Packaging Reaction Review
  • Need Packaging Reaction Review
  • Total Financial Assistance
    . Access this report on the Financial Aid profile group of the student's profile, then click the
    Reaction Options
     button to resolve the reaction or run a packaging process.