University gears toward Internet system
After two years of reviewing and preparing, Utah State University is geared to begin a multi-year transition to SCT Banner, its choice for new administrative data-management software.
SCT Banner’s functions will be accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week via the Internet. The program includes a solution to the QUAD’s restricted capacity. It provides a way to track recruitment and enrollment, and online forms and signatures. Banner also has the ability to issue ID numbers independent of Social Security numbers.
This week USU chose Collegis as the company to help implement the new software system. The university made its decision after looking at the bids and proposals of three companies.
“The selection of Collegis as an implementation partner and our continued relationship with SCT as the product vendor puts Utah State in the right position to move forward,” said Rory Weaver, Enterprise Resource Planning project manager. “It’s a winning combination.”
The SCT Banner system will provide all-day, everyday access to university administrative operations via the Internet. The fully integrated platform will consist of four main parts – administrative finance, students, financial aid and human resources – that will place key university operations on one common
system.
Everyone at USU will have better communication, since the system will provide greater efficiency, as well as less redundancy and confusion among software products and networks, Weaver said.
The Legislature authorized the license to install the new system and the state purchased it. The USU Board of Trustees approved $6.5 million over the next five years to be applied to the Banner migration. Costs will comprise implementation, operation and training.
“Collegis is looking forward to partnering with Utah State University to implement the SCT Banner administrative system in order to help achieve its goal of providing improved services to the campus community,” said Collegis President and CEO Tom Huber. “We are impressed with Utah State’s vision for teaching and research and are committed to helping make this migration to Banner as smooth a transition as possible.”
Barbara White, USU vice president for Information Technology, said everyone involved across campus will be represented in committees, teams and focus groups over the next few years of the transition.
Weaver said, “All departments involved in the migration will be disrupted to some degree.”
Fred Hunsaker, vice president for Administrative Services, said Banner will mean more timely information, increased convenience and consistent access all of the time.
“Most important, it means more accuracy,” he said. “These are all huge issues for everyone.”
All four parts of SCT Banner will be fully integrated. Data, such as a student’s name, only has to be entered one time and will be accessible by every part.
“The whole university will be on the same system,” said Judy LeCheminant, director of Financial Aid. “We will be able to talk back and forth. It will give us a chance to review how we do what we do.”
Among the three vendors that vied for the contract, Weaver said, Collegis gave the clearest direction about how USU ought to proceed and succeed with implementing Banner.
“Having Collegis will be extremely helpful,” LeCheminant said. “They have been through it before.”
The next significant step for the SCT Banner migration will be a business process analysis for each of the program’s four parts, beginning in June with the finance portion.
“The business process analysis gives Utah State a chance to clearly know which processes we need to hold on to and which are out of date,” White said. “Here’s a chance before we implement the system to clearly know what we do well, what is not necessary and what is unique to Utah State University. There will be changes in the way we do business.”
The rest of the timeline is structured so completion dates coincide with critical university dates. For example, Banner Finance will be implemented by the end of the university’s fiscal year.
White said analysis of Banner Student is scheduled to start in July. It will focus on areas including registration, fee payment and Social Security numbers.
“Students recognize the importance of a Web-enabled world and being able register and fill the required business processes of the university,” White said. “They have become key partners in the Banner migration and committed over $1.4 million to help implement Banner Student.”
The Associated Students of USU agreed to one-time funding from Tier II Tuition projected moneys of $1 million to help with the migration.
For more information about USU’s relationship to SCT Banner, visit www.usu.edu/cio/banner.htm.
-dhegsted@cc.usu.edu