Banner Briefs: October 17, 2006

Update on Courses:

• The last Banner Briefs e-mail noted that the course numbering convention was changing from 5 numbers to a three letter department code following by a 3 digit course code. Please note this change had little to do with the conversion to Banner. People reading our current transcripts need to guess from course titles what the first two digits mean. After checking among SUNY colleges, we found that we were the only one not using alphabetic subject codes (BIO, ENG, etc.). The move to Banner will require a number of changes, so it seemed like a good opportunity to make this minor one as well.
• Our current system does not enforce course prerequisites (they are basically descriptive). Under Banner, there are a number of ways to control which students can register for a course including checking a student's level, major, class, special permissions, and course or exam prerequisites. As we move our courses into what Banner calls the "Catalog", we will be transforming our current descriptions into appropriate and enforceable course restrictions.

Last Week:

• Student Accounts was closed so the entire staff could receive accounts receivable training. The regular three full days of training stretched into the evening as the rules for assessing charges and determining refunds were worked out. The staff learned everything from how to generate a correct bill to how to take and process money through Banner during these sessions.

This Week:

• Training on the connection between fsaATLAS, the system we use to track foreign students, and Banner.
• Student Self-Service training for technical staff. What's Self-Service? Visit our Web site for more information.

In the Works

• Undergraduate Admissions "go live" is just under 3 weeks away (yikes!) . . . more details to come next week.
• The Banner Catalog is being built - this includes course descriptions, attributes and restrictions - and the legacy data is being loaded into Banner. Department chairs are currently working on splitting our current 'prerequisites' into Banner restrictions. These will then be reviewed by the chair of the Curriculum Committee, and finally input into Banner Catalog. And then it's on to the Summer schedule of classes.
• And speaking of Summer, we are working on a way to use the sophistication built into Banner to redefine the current one, three, four, five, eight, and ten week courses spanning two sessions into one summer session with overlapping 'parts of term'. More details to follow...

Bribe Time!

• This week we'll take lucky number 20 (the number of days until undergraduate admissions goes live)! The 20th person to respond to me telling me they've read this e-mail will win a free lunch at Hasbrouck Dining Hall!
• UPDATE: Congratulations to Ligia Aldana, Assistant Professor of Spanish in the department of Foreign Languages! She wins the free lunch at Hasbrouck Dining Hall!