Banner is explained to students
Utah State University gave students and faculty the opportunity on Tuesday to view what Banner could look like once it is implemented.
It is important to note, however, Rory Weaver, Banner Project manager, said, that Banner will not appear exactly as demonstrated. Many decisions are yet to be made regarding which features inherent in the Banner system will and will not be used when USU implements Banner. These decisions will most likely be based on what will serve the university the best.
Ray Quattlebaum, Collegis Project manager, said these demos were designed to help students and faculty see the benefits they will be receiving from the Banner implementation.
Weaver said students especially should be interested in this because they have agreed to pay about $1.4 million to support it.
Collegis sent Michal Bethea, Collegis consultant, to conduct both interviews before the demos and then to produce the actual demos.
“I hope that the Banner demos answered some preliminary questions about the system and what users have to look forward to,” she said. “I think that, of the demo attendees, many were pleased by the capabilities that they saw.”
From interviews, Bethea said she learned that the students’ main concerns included the elimination of Social Security numbers, 24-hour, seven-day accessibility to Banner Web for registration and other services, elimination of capacity issues with regard to the Web, availability of degree audit on the Web, and the ability to view course requirements on the Web prior to and during registration.
In response, she said, “Banner will be accessible, to all users [with login IDs and PINs] 24-seven, with [virtually] no capacity limitations. Students will also be able to view degree requirements online and the ability to view a course syllabus is also a part of the baseline system.”
She said faculty, on the other hand, “were interested in the ability to view and enter student data online, including class rosters, degree audits, student e-mail addresses, etc. They were also concerned about the ability to enter students’ grades online, and course scheduling and room assignments.”
And, similarly, Bethea said that these concerns could be met by the Banner system USU is implementing, but it does depend on what features the university determines will benefit the university.
“I definitely enjoyed my visit to USU. The campus is beautiful, the people were warm and friendly, and I’m encouraged by the level of excitement about the Banner implementation,” she said. “I hope that the enthusiasm continues.”
For more information on the Banner project, visit www.usu.edu/banner.
-dhegsted@cc.usu.edu