The registration component of the new Banner student information system was put to the test by student volunteers.
“We had over 500 students register or attempt registration and approximately 50 faculty members participate in grades and overrides. Our test results were exactly as expected. We are testing the system and looking for improvements for go-live,” said Debbie Parker, Banner project lead and Associate Vice Chancellor, Business and Financial Affairs. Dr. Clint Smullen, Academic and Research Computing Services, also serves as project lead.
Students who stepped up to help with mock registration received priority registration for fall 2010.
Banner is comprehensive software for higher education and is already in use by many educational and private institutions. The undergraduate and graduate component of the Banner student information system was implemented at UTC in October 2009.
“With the registration and fee assessment part of the system, we are very far along in the process. We still have components to complete. These are mostly third party integrations such as credit card payments,” said Parker.
Barbara Perez, Principal Functional Consultant for Sungard Higher Education said, “good leadership, dedication on the part of the staff, and their ability and willingness to adapt to change,” are all assisting UTC in the Banner transition.
By the end of the UT system completion of Banner software, all Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia public higher education systems will be using the Banner system.
Many of the third party systems used by UTC are also Banner partners. That makes integration easier, Parker said. “In addition, higher education schools and systems work very well with each other so sharing information on how best to work with Banner is a plus,” Parker added.
The next practice for registration is the first week in March. Banner will go live with registration March 29. The next major milestone will be to bring up accounts receivable July 1, 2010.
To learn more about the Banner transition, visit http://www.utc.edu/Administration/Banner/
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