TO: Deans, Directors and Department Heads FROM: Marianne Woodside, Executive Assistant to the Chancellor and Provost Chair, Banner Policy Board and Implementation Committee RE: Banner 2000 Student Information System During Spring term, 1997, a task force along with various subcommittees was assembled to assess our current student information systems and to conduct a thorough review of a variety of commercially available student information system packages. The need for such an assessment was precipitated by the acknowledgment that our current systems consist of fragmented processes and separate databases, which are difficult to manage and often do not provide the necessary functionality for a modern university. As a result of this assessment, the University has purchased the SCT Banner 2000 Student Information System. This system provides two very significant advantages for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville: open access to information and the integration of currently separate databases and processes. This new approach to data access empowers students, faculty and staff to obtain information as needed, via formats and interfaces selected by the user. Secure access to information is provided via a WWW interface, over the telephone, or through queries from standard application packages, e.g. Microsoft Access or Excel. Functional highlights of The Banner 2000 Student Information System include: Admissions: a system which provides automated procedures to provide more accurate and timely information to prospective students and applicants. Registration/Records: a fluid, maneuverable, user-friendly, and secure system which is flexible and comprehensive enough to cover the university's existing academic policies. Accounts Receivable: a system that allows for recalculation of fees in real time, flexible queries and retrieval of data via WWW or voice response. Financial Aid: a system that will meet and surpass the current system capabilities including on-line inquiries and reports, automatic scholarship selection and earlier notification of awards. Curriculum Advising and Program Planning: the module incorporates client server architecture with WWW capabilities such as on-line display of a degree audit evaluation, excellent report writing capabilities and on-line entry and update of waivers/substitutions. The implementation of Banner SIS will require a significant amount of effort by the University community. This product is a rule-based system and the client or user defines those rules. Faculty, staff and students have been appointed to "work groups" who have defined the functions and rules on which we operate. The work groups report to the Banner SIS Advisory Committee. I am the chairperson of an implementation committee composed of Vice Chancellors and key staff who will clarify policy and implementation issues as they arise during the implementation phase. Several of the Banner modules are in production or will soon be in production. The Financial Aid module of Banner moved into production as scheduled on February 15, 1999. By the end of April, the Financial Aid Office had mailed about 7,000 award notifications to students two to three months earlier than had been possible with the legacy system. Earlier notification allows prospective students to compare UTK aid offers with those of other schools. In addition, the Master Curriculum was converted to Banner production on May 5, 1999. When completed, it will provide the complete history of each course, both active and inactive, for academic units and advising centers to view. The academic units can use the Course Catalog when planning curricular changes. During summer 1999, the Undergraduate and Graduate Recruiting modules will move into production. Implementation of Banner 2000 is a major step towards the 21st century for the University in terms of its student information systems and its ability to provide timely, accurate and easily accessible data and services to the members of this community. There will be additional information concerning this system posted on the UTK Banner Web Page linked to the UTK home page, and a series of articles will appear in our university publications. It is the intention of the Banner Advisory Committee to keep the members of the University community informed of the implementation progress as well as answer any questions. Please contact the staff and faculty listed as resources on the web page if you have any questions concerning Banner SIS or the implementation of this product. Disclaimer: The purpose of this site is to provide information on Banner 2000 training, implementation, and documentation, as well as news and announcements.

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