Doing Pre-Registration Advising in the new Banner environment (for faculty/staff)
March 29, 2007

Yesterday Jon Lewit provided a helpful overview of the changes we will be facing as we do Banner Registration for the first time. This email is designed to provide advisors with more nuts and bolts details and tips about how to advise students in this new environment.

*Course numbers are now three letter department codes followed by three numbers designating the course. A chart comparing the alpha codes to the numeric codes is available at, http://www.newpaltz.edu/academics/descriptions.html. Because Progress Reports still list the numeric codes, you might find having this conversion chart helpful as you review your advisees' course selections.

*Each course has a Course Reference Number (CRN) attached to it. This is a unique identifier for a specific section of a specific course. The CRN is the number listed in the left hand column of a course listing in the schedule of classes. The number of digits in the CRN varies; most are four but some are three. Students are required to enter the CRN on a Registration Worksheet, not the course number and section number, as in the past. The Registration Worksheet will be the first screen students will see when they select Drop/Add classes.

*In addition to registering using the CRN, students have the option of searching for classes using the Class Search button, and then selecting a course by clicking in a box to the left of the course. This is a nice feature if students are selecting multiple classes in one department, as a student can select several classes and submit them all at once. As long as the courses are open, do not have time conflicts and the student is eligible for the course, all selections will be added to the student's schedule.

*The way in which students will search for general education courses has changed. There is now a field called ATTRIBUTE, referring to all of the various characteristics a course may have (GE, LA, WI, etc.) Students will now use the attribute pull-down menu to find courses that meet the requirements they need. Caution: if you select multiple attributes the result will not only be the courses with those multiple attributes, but any course that has any of the attributes selected.

*When selecting courses students need to be mindful of course restrictions and pre-requisites. Course restrictions (majors only, permission of chair, must be a certain class, i.e. seniors only; sophomores or higher) will be enforced during registration. Pre-requisite checking will not be turned on this round, but students should be advised to complete pre-requisites prior to taking a course that expects them to have that knowledge.

*To find course restrictions and pre-requisites do the following: click on the CRN of a course; click on View Catalog Entry; click on the course title. This will enable you to get to the level of course detail that contains the course restrictions and course pre-requisites.

*Courses that are in progress will not be considered when a student's class (freshman, sophomore, etc.) is calculated. This round Banner will allow freshmen (those with fewer than 30 credits completed) into 300-level courses. They will not, however, be allowed to register for 400-level courses.

*Students without a major that have completed 75 credits will not be allowed to register until the major is declared.

*Students requiring special approval(s) for a course (majors only, permission of chair, class restrictions), should be referred to the department offering the course. In most departments the approvals will be entered into the Banner system, thereby allowing students to register for courses despite the restrictions (when it is their assigned day and time, assuming space is still available). In departments that do not have the ability to add on-line approvals, PI cards will be given, which the student will submit to Records and Registration.

*Special approval will be required if a student wants to register for more than one special topics course at the same level (293, 393, etc.) Unfortunately Banner sees any 393 (or 293, etc.) course as a duplicate course. The override that the department will provide is permission to register for a duplicate course.

*Time assignments have been posted to students' my.newpaltz.edu accounts. After logging in, students should select the Student Services Tab. In the lower left hand corner there is an area called Web Registration. From the Time Assignment link, students can learn not only their assigned registration day and time, but also if they have any holds or restrictions on registering. Financial and medical holds WILL NOT be ignored during the week of Advanced Registration, which had been our practice in the past.

*ARN's have been posted to faculty members' my.newpaltz.edu accounts. When students attempt to register on their day and time, they will be prompted for an alternate pin. The alternate pin is Banner language for ARN. In future semesters it will say alternate pin on both the faculty and student sites. Time assignments do not appear on faculty members' my.newpaltz.edu accounts. The Offices of Records and Registration and Academic Advising do have a complete list of time assignments.

Still have questions? Let us know what they are! An FAQ link will be added to the Banner webpage to assist with the transition. In addition, I will be sending a version of this information to the All-Student list.

Contributed by Ann Minnick