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[Archives: 2009 / 2008 ]
April 2011
- Registration Continues in Banner
Registration for fall courses in Self-Service Banner continued through April 19th. Registration for Temple Japan students began on April 7th. Law School registration in Self-Service Banner started on April 20th and the process includes prerequisite checking. The next move forward is to consider prerequisite checking in other areas.
Team representatives met with the Educational Programs and Policies Committee (EPPC) on this issue. There is a need to understand the different categories and types of registration checking available, the schools and college prerequisite submissions, and the current rules as configured in Banner.
- Cognos Upgraded / Reports Delivered
The Cognos reporting system was moved to new hardware, upgraded to 8.4.1, and put in production on April 26th.
A number of community reports were delivered for Admissions, Scheduling, Orientation User List, and Registered Student List. Departmental reports for Admissions, Accounts Receivable, and Financial Aid were also delivered.
Community reports for Student Holds, New Student Orientation/Testing Summary, and Current Student Enrollment are in development.
- New Process Implemented for Student Refunds
All refund processing was moved to PNC Bank servers. The new student refund process was launched on April 25th. Students now enroll for direct deposit via TUportal to obtain refunds.
- Committee Formed to Discuss Mainframe Shutdown
A Committee of representatives from the Student Technical Team, Enterprise Reporting Services, MARC, and Institutional Research was formed to help plan for the elimination of the mainframe and ISIS.
March 2011
- Self-Service Banner Launched for Students
On March 17th, the transition to Banner Student moved ahead with the launch of Self-Service Banner (SSB) for all students (37,000 +) and about 700 to 800 advisors and faculty members. Undergraduate, graduate and some professional school students were notified that they can log in to TUportal and click on SSB to view account balances, pay tuition bills, and update addresses and phone numbers. Until the transition is completed, functions such as viewing grades, undergraduate advising session reports, and enrollment verification continue to be available in OWLnet.
An introduction to the new Banner channel was made available on TUportal listing the student functions available in SSB along with an 18-minute training video on the new registration process.
- Registration Moves to Banner
Banner registration for summer courses went live on March 21st in Self-Service Banner. The system was monitored and there were no performance issues.
New students also used Banner to register for new student orientation, make deposits, and take the placement test.
Fall registration in Banner began on March 29th. It was the first day of a 16-day registration period for undergraduates, graduates and some professional school students. The busiest registration time was in the morning between 7:00 and 8:00 a.m. Student feedback was positive.
Due to the natural disasters that occurred in Japan, registration for Temple Japan students was delayed.
- Account Receivables Goes Live with Cashiering
The initial Account Receivables conversion process was completed for 3.3 million ISIS records. Conversion of the ISIS Account Receivables tables also occurred.
The new Accounts Receivable/Cashiering system was implemented and successfully went live. All student balances were migrated to Banner and it is now the system of record for financial information. Students were notified by e-mail that TUpay was available on Self-Service Banner (SSB) for tuition deposits.
- Banner Advancement in Full Swing
Banner Advancement is fully operational with gift processing and acknowledgements. The first meeting of the Advancement Competency Center was held. The team obtained great user feedback and a long list of post go-live action items. Training is shifting from large groups to teams and individuals.
Development is also under way on the Advancement Analytics Component. This component offers functionality similar to the Banner Enrollment Management dashboard.
- Retreats Focus on Moving Forward
The first of two Banner retreats were held starting on March 30th. Attendees included representatives from the Provost Office, Office of the Registrar, Undergraduate and Graduate Studies, Advising, and Computer Services. The purpose of the retreats is to review and clarify policy and its design within Banner, gain guidance and input for implementation direction, and facilitate communication across the project team.
February 2011
- Banner Financial Aid Goes Live
The Financial Aid implementation went live on the targeted date. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) data from the Department of Education was loaded on schedule. The PHEAA rosters for PA residents were received and the roster/ awards were posted upon validation. Electronic versions of the financial award letters were generated and posted in TUportal and the prospective student portal.
The Financial Aid implementation is considered one of the most important items of the ERP project. Since the announcement was made that PHEAA would no longer processed financial aid, it became Temple’s responsibility to manage this process. The University could not have implemented a financial aid system in time without the Banner project.
- Banner Advancement Onboard
Banner Advancement went live replacing the Millennium system. Online documentation was made available for staff. The team is working through some issues with the gift warehouse, which is the primary repository for reporting.
- New Cashiering System Launched
The NelNet cashiering system went live as scheduled. A document outlining new procedures for cashiering in Banner was developed and distributed to all offices. An e-mail memo regarding the new procedures was released on February 17th.
Accounts Receivable training for administrative staff was held two days a week through February with staff required to take Banner Basics as a prerequisite. Training on the NelNet cashiering system began the last week in February.
- Class Schedule Released on Banner
The new class schedule in Banner went live on February 28th. The public can browse undergraduate and graduate courses at tucourses.temple.edu. The new format has enhanced searching capabilities which include browsing by instructor, credit hour range, and specific start and end times on specified days.
- Getting Banner Ready for Registration
The Student Team worked on converting Academic History from 2006 through 2010 for the new system. The records were then validated in a test environment. Once validation is complete, records will be loaded into production.
The Team also worked on tuning the infrastructure and database to produce an optimal registration experience for students. The times students will be eligible to register will be based on the number of credit hours that they have. Students will register starting at particular times, such as 6:45 and 7:15 a.m. and registration will expand from 13 to 17 days. The extension was requested by Academic Advisors and approved by the Provost. Registration will occur over four days starting on March 21st though March 24th.
A decision was made to postpone Banner prerequisite checking for Summer and Fall 2011 registration. More discussion is needed to make the most effective use of this feature. The Provost requested that a faculty committee be convened to define guidelines for creating and maintaining pre-requisites. Prerequisite checking will be turned on for the Law School.
- Travel and Expense Development Continues
The Travel and Expense module was made available to a limited pilot group of 65 staff members. Several requests were processed and the team is refining the workflow.
- Technical Upgrades Installed
A major hardware and database upgrade took place February 12th. The team installed new Dell hardware and a new release of the Operating System (Red Hat Linux 5). They also upgraded the Oracle database to 10.2.05 and implemented all Oracle & SGHE tuning recommendations.
January 2011
- Conversion of ISIS Student Records
Many hours, including weekends, were spent on data conversion. There are 47 years of academic history to convert. Conversion of academic history began on January 24th with data from 1963 and continues through to current students who registered for Fall 2010. This process took place over 2 weeks.
Next month, there will be dual processing both in ISIS and in Banner and Advancement data will be also converted. Spring 2011 registration and student financial data are scheduled for conversion in March.
December 2010
- Special Banner Student Preview Presented for Advisors
In preparation for the Banner Student system, a special Banner preview event was held for Academic and Faculty Advisors on Main Campus on December 10th and at the Ambler Campus on December 15th. Approximately 150 Academic and Faculty Advisors attended. The preview offered an overview of the new prospective student process, how students will search and register for courses, how prerequisites will work, and the training timeline. Processes were not covered in detail, but will be in training, which begins in February. Attendance at the training sessions is required before access to Banner is granted.
- Preparations in Progress Behind the Scenes
Registration requirements for the Gradual School are almost complete and requirements for the Law and Medical Schools are being gathered. Workflow and imaging tasks have been identified. A list of reports has been developed and Web Focus reports are being evaluated as a basis for developing standard Cognos community reports. Development of documentation and training materials conintues. Functional consultants have been added to help in this area. Training topics have been identified and evaluation is underway to present them in the classroom and as online videos. Academic standing policies (Warning, Probation, Dismissal, Repeats, Withdrawals, Academic Forgiveness, and Leave of Absence) were finalized and approved.
- System Performance Testing Begins
Load testing began on December 6th to make sure that the new system can accommodate a large number of students registering concurrently. The testing continued for 10 days on the portal, Self-Service Banner, and database layers. The team tuned the database and evaluated hardware performance and also looked at comparable schools for statistics.
- Faculty Meet to Learn about Banner
The Faculty User’s Group met on December 9th. The group was formed to obtain a better understanding of the Banner system by participating in discussions and attending training. Topics for discussion included hiring procedures, payroll, timekeeping, and effort reporting.
November 2010
- Town Hall Meetings Held at Main Campus, Ambler, and HSC
An e-mail invitation was sent to all faculty, administrators, and staff to attend a series of Town Hall meetings on Main Campus Main Campus (November 16th), the Ambler Campus (November 17th), and at the Health Sciences Center (November 18th). The presentations focused on how the upcoming Banner Student and Advancement implementation will affect the University Community. Major topics included how prospective students apply to Temple and how students will search and register for courses and pay their bills.
The invitation also announced a special preview event for Academic Advisors to be held on December 10th on Main Campus.
- Communications Committees Formed
Faculty and Student Communications Committees were formed and met to discuss how to communicate upcoming changes regarding Banner Student. The Student Committee includes the President of Temple Student Government. Discussions centered on publicizing policy changes, registration, and financial aid.
The Faculty Communications Committee meeting focused on Self-Service Banner for roster, classes, grading and other resources faculty need to access. There will be special faculty and professional advisor training. Online training will be available too.
- Students Participate in Mock Registration
In order to help test the new Banner Student system, student mock registration sessions were held on November 15th, 18th, and 23rd. There were 20 students participating in each session. Students gave feedback and issues were recorded for review. Overall, the comments were positive. Students felt that extensive training is not necessary.
Full mocks of academic processes for the Law School were held on November 29th and the Medical School on November 30th. Mocks were also conducted at Dentistry on November 15th, at Pharmacy on November 15th, and at Podiatry on November 17th.
- Significant Work Required to Implement Continuing Education
The Intensive English Language Program will be the first Continuing Education unit to go live in January. There are now 18 units are targeted for migration to Banner. The implementation will require a significant amount of data conversion, interfaces, and reports for licensing and accreditation. The team is building a questionnaire to learn when programs need to come online. The plan is to try to finalize this information by January.
Continuing Education courses will no longer be taught at TUCC, as announced by Bill Parshall. The courses are being moved to Ambler and Fort Washington.
- Human Resources Announces Online W-2 Forms
With the implementation of Banner HR, the Office of Human Resources can now provide W-2 Forms online for Temple University employees beginning with calendar year 2010 to be issued in January 2011. The forms will be available through Self Service Banner (SSB) on the TUportal. Employees need to click on a consent link on Self Service Banner (SSB) to confirm that they wish to obtain their W-2 form online. This new service was announced via e-mail with instructions for providing consent.
- Technical Team Keeping System on Track
The Student Technical Team is fully engaged in converting student data and academic history. They are also preparing for December registration load/performance testing.
The Team completed a successful disaster recovery payroll check printing test and the bank validated checks that were produced from the test. In addition, Banner Report Management was upgraded on the pre-production server to version 1.4. This is a new version with significant updates. It is needed for Financial Aid processing.
October 2010
- Catalog and Scheduling Moves to Banner
Catalog and Scheduling went live on October 18th for the Summer and Fall semesters, 2011. Conversion was on schedule. There were 10,377 course records and 13,847 CRN section numbers converted into Banner, including the professional schools courses. Schedulers are attending training.
- Banner Student Team Reviews Project Status
The Student Team met with SunGard to determine overall project status and what is needed to launch Records &Registration, Grading, Graduation, Transcripts, and Academic History. The team has set aside other projects to work on preparation for go live.
- New Priority Registration Dates Announced
Summer registration is normally set to begin on March 14th. With the new Banner system, the date will be pushed back by a week to March 21st. Also, since March 28th is the last day a student can withdraw from Spring classes, Fall registration will open after withdraws on March 29th. This date change is being put in place to accommodate the new Banner prerequisite checking feature. Also in the future, registration for Summer and Fall semesters will start on the same day. Students and advisors had requested this change in the past.
- Advancement Moves Forward
Advancement conversion activities continue and report writing activities are underway. The team is working on reducing the number of reports from 600 to 50-75. The team continues to train Directors of Development (DOD) and internal stakeholders. DoDs are being introduced to Self-Service Banner, Internet Native Banner, and Advancement Performance Management. Stakeholders are validating test scripts and security is under review. In addition, the team is addressing inter-department interfaces.
- Development Continues in Finance
The Temple Board of Trustees approved the fiscal year 2010 financial statements. Since these are the first set of statements to originate from the new system, it demonstrates that Banner financial processing has come full circle.
The Finance team continues to work on implementing the Travel & Expense (T&E) module. Workflow is the biggest part of this process. Parameters have been set and a prototype is working. The team is leveraging the HR hierarchy and signature authority to establish approvers.
The first T&E Focus Group meeting was held. The group is charged with examining current processes and policies and suggesting improvements. This implementation is on target for a pilot February rollout with completion by June.
- Retirement Planned for Legacy Systems
Temple’s legacy financial systems, FMS and FMS-on-the-web, will be retired on October 31, 2010. Also, meetings are being held with TU and TUHS Human Resources departments on moving their historical HR and payroll data off the mainframe and onto a staging area.
September 2010
- New System Replaces Feith for Admissions
The QuE system, a custom developed workflow process incorporated into Banner, replaced the former Feith admissions workflow process. Banner Document Management System (BDMS) imaging is utilized to capture documents associated with the Admissions process.
- TUportal Access Available for Prospective Students
As part of the new Enrollment Management, Recruitment, and Admissions system, prospective students are invited to visit the prospective student portion of TUportal to activate an account and view information regarding Temple. Once a prospective student has activated an account, he/she can also apply for admissions via TUportal channel.
- Getting Registration Components Ready
The Banner Student Team conducted mock or test run registrations during the week of September 27th. Additional mocks are scheduled for October and November. The team is also working on catalog and scheduling. The course catalog and ability to schedule will go live in Banner next month. Schedulers, when ready, can then begin to create the Spring 2011 course schedule in Banner for their school or college.
- Center to Focus on Human Resources System
The HR Competency Center has been organizationally defined and structured. Like the Finance Competency Center, the center was established to promote the accurate and efficient departmental and community use of Temple’s Banner HR system. The Center is staffed by seven Computer Services members and five HR members. The CS staff members are moving into the HR area at TASB.
Also, the HR team processed September new hires and worked through the first start of a new academic year payroll in the new Banner Human Resources system. Electronic Personnel Action Form (EPAF), a process used for terminations, is in the final phase of modification and testing.
- Finance Team Continues to Work on Additions
The Finance Team continues to develop the Travel and Expense module. The members attended training sessions and the Accounts Payable staff identified decision points. This new process will automate the process of handling T&E pieces of paper. Last year, there were 16, 220 transactions by 3,623 travelers impacting 6,105 cost centers.
A base group of users was recruited to initially use the new Travel and Expense system. This group will serve as the basis for setting up and testing an approval workflow. The Finance Team recruited six members including several business managers. Faculty member and Principal Investigator representation is still needed.
The team is also working on converting historical endowment and gift documentation into Banner Xtender. Historical data has been converted and is contained in an Oracle table. Finalization of the access method is underway. Current/new data is now being added directly into Xtender. The target date for converting historical endowment and gift documentation is October 31st.
- Technical Team Implements New Process and Considers Innovation
On September 15th, Temple University Enterprise Identity Services (TEIS) was implemented. With TEIS in place, all AccessNet usernames are generated via Banner. Employees are automatically assigned a username in the format TUDxxxx.
Temple is also spearheading a community source project with SunGard to develop enhanced Banner billing functionality. SunGard has assigned a functional and technical staff member to work with Temple team members on this project. If successful, the bill generation process will be added to baseline Banner.
August 2010
- First Banner Student Module Launched
Enrollment Management, Recruitment, and Admissions went live on schedule. This module will provide the University with contemporary technology tools for managing inquiries and applications, processing decisions, and viewing operational and performance management reports.
Banner Relationship Management (BRM) reports were installed and staff training was conducted. The process of imaging paper applications has begun. Files are stored in Banner Document Management Systems (BDMS) DMS/Xtender. The Apply Yourself third party system is no longer used for the Graduate School applicants.
- Policy Review Continues
Various academic policies are under review, particularly the warning, probation and dismissal policy. How these policies affect grades and how a student’s change in academic status impacts financial aid is under consideration.
- Advancement Team Focuses on Conversion and Training
Advancement conversion activities continue. The team is working on prospect and events management information. Internal stakeholders and Directors of Development are attending introductory training. Stakeholders are attending meetings to work on validating test scripts. The team is also addressing inter-departmental information sharing between Student and Advancement modules and also a Finance interface.
July 2010
- Getting Ready for Launch
The Banner Student Enrollment Management, Recruitment, and Admissions modules were moved into production. The conversion from the legacy SRIS recruiting system to Banner was completed. A final mock or test run of processing for Admissions occurred the third week of July. A total of 13 mocks were conducted. Launch of the new system is scheduled for August 1st.
On July 12, a memo was sent to Enrollment Management, Recruitment, and Admissions personnel announcing training sessions offered during July. The sessions were well attended. Staff members who attended were given their official login access to the Banner Student system. Additional training will be offered during the August and September timeframe before things get busy.
- Testing Continues on Upcoming Modules
Mocks or test runs are being conducted on Catalog and Scheduling and Records and Registration. Load testing was performed on Resource 25 event scheduling software. A decision was made to develop Self-Service Banner (SSB) for Academic Advisors instead of requiring use of Internet Native Banner (INB).
- Advancement Data Conversion Continues
The Advancement team continues to hold weekly meetings and conduct Banner demonstrations. The team is also working on conversion. Conversion of general person and pledges and gifts data have been completed and the team is working on prospect data conversion. Also, a decision was made to purchase SunGard’s Advancement Performance Management (APM) module. APM includes high level dashboards, scorecards, tracking, and weighted measures. The plan is implement APM during the initial Advancement go live or shortly thereafter.
- Finance Continues to Move Forward
The Travel and Expense module was installed in a test environment. An implementation plan for fiscal year 2011 is in development. Also, year end close of the general ledger went well and balances moved into the new fiscal year.
- Technical Work in Progress Behind the Scenes
Over the July 23rd weekend, the TUmarketplace quarterly SciQuest upgrade was successfully installed. Also, the Banner Disaster Recovery test conducted for Finance and Human Resources data was successful. The technical team was able to bring up the second database with access to Banner INB and various processes worked from TASB. In addition, the flexible registration program was installed and will be implemented for non-credit courses. It will also be used for new student orientation registration in the spring 2011.
June 2010
- Preparations Underway for Banner Enrollment Management, Recruitment, and Admissions
The Banner Enrollment Management, Recruitment, and Admissions modules are scheduled to launch in August. A special Banner preview event was held on Main Campus on June 17th and 22nd for personnel who work in these areas. Over 160 staff members attended.
The preview offered an overview of the modules. Processes were not covered in detail, but will be in training, which begins in July. Attendance at the training sessions is required before access to Banner is granted.
Admissions will go live on August 1st with the final Admissions/ISIS cut over completed on September 25th. Once the process is completed, Admissions processing will be in Banner but registration and billing will continue in ISIS through February 2011.
- Policies under Review in Student Area
Review of the leave of absence policy and process is occurring. Currently, there is no undergraduate policy and policies differ among schools when a student steps out of the academic year. Policy revisions are also pending on course repeats, warning probation, and dismissal, substituting GPA status and eliminating use of deficiency points. Recommended changes will be sent to the Provost and President for approval.
Also use of flexible registration for non-credit programs, including continuing professional education, new student orientation, and online placement testing scheduling is under discussion, as well as centralizing and standardizing transcript processing.
- Advancement Activities Continue
The Advancement team is meeting with focus groups and giving presentations to demonstrate and discuss Banner functionality. All Directors of Development have seen the presentation. The team is narrowing down required reports to 50 - 75. Team training will be completed this month and selective user training will begin next.
- Enhancements Added to Finance Area
Staff members can now use TUmarketplace to place Facility work orders, requests for internal photographs, orders for copy and print services and TUbookstore requests. Work is in progress on an online check request form.
Since the implementation of Finance, the journal entry workflow has been completed. Paper journal entries are no longer accepted.
- Human Resources Work Continues Behind the Scenes
Faculty data was migrated from legacy Human Resource System to Banner. Slice approval, which helps track information on students with multiple jobs, went live the first weekend in June. Kronos processed the first payroll with the implemented slice feature.
- SunGard Commits to Community Source Initiative
A few team members attended the SunGard Large School Consortium in Malvern, PA. Topics included technology and product trends and enhancements. SGHE is showing a greater commitment to their community source initiative, which allows institutions to submit enhancements that they have programmed. Currently, SunGard has committed to incorporating five community enhancements into baseline Banner. There are a few in the Finance and Human Resources area.
May 2010
- Major System Upgrades Completed
Major system upgrades were implemented on May 14th, 15th, and 16th. Banner Human Resources / Student / Advancement version 8.3, Banner Finance version 8.4, and TUportal version 4.2.4.3.4 were installed. These upgrades support the implementation of the Student modules.
- Finance Focused on First Fiscal Year-End in Banner and More
The Finance team tested Banner fiscal year-end processing in preparation for the first fiscal year-end in Banner. Rollovers and encumbrance processing was validated. Also, the interface from the Effort Report System (Maximus) is now working with Banner. Previously, labor adjustments went into legacy HR, then Banner Finance. Adjustments for the April 30th reporting cycle were fed into Banner Human Resources /Finance.
- Kronos Officially On-Board with Banner
The upgrade of Kronos legacy to Kronos Banner occurred over the May 1st weekend. Also, training classes for Introduction to Kronos Slice Approval and a Kronos review were held on Main Campus, HSC, and at TASB. Slice Approval allows managers to view information on students who hold multiple jobs.
- Advancement Activities Moving Forward
Advancement conversion activities are underway. A first round of previews for Directors of Development began this month. The previews include a demonstration of Self-Service Banner functionality.
Recommendations for report consolidation are also taking place. There are close to 600 Millennium reports. The Advancement team anticipates that many of these reports will be consolidated or eliminated.
April 2010
- Center to Focus on Finance System
The Finance Competency Center is taking shape. The center was established to promote the accurate and efficient departmental and community use of Temple’s finance information systems. The Center accomplishes this through a team of functional and technical staff embedded within the functional departments of the University. Through a process, problems and enhancements are identified, prioritized and resolved.
- Faculty User Group Formed
A Banner Faculty Users Group has been organized. The group, comprised of ten members, will attend two days of hands-on training to understand the Banner Finance system and TUmarketplace. They will then become the liaison for PIs (Principal Investigators), especially those who do not have business managers.
- Training Preparation Underway
The Student Team met with SunGard consultants to begin preparing training materials for the University community on catalog, scheduling, registration and records, and non-credit areas.
- Data Transferring from iGreentree to Banner
The iGreentree to Banner interface was implemented. New hires are entered in iGreentree and the data is electronically passed to Banner.
- Access to Banner Human Resources Information under Review
With the recent implementation of Banner Human Resources, there were a number of issues regarding access to Banner information. Security is complex to administer because there are different rules/layers for each area. Teams are meeting and moving forward on resolving outstanding access issues so community access to data can be granted.
- Attendees Report News form SunGard Summit Conference
Over 6,200 representatives from higher education attended the SunGard Summit Users Conference. A number of Enterprise team members attended. Attendees reported that SunGard is changing the look and feel of Internet Native Banner and Self-Service Banner. Temple will take advantage of the new designs sometime after the student modules go live in 2011. SunGard also introduced “The Commons.” This resource is social networking space available for the Banner user community to share information. Institutions can submit open source code for technical review by other Banner community members.
March 2010
- Payroll Forms Updated and New Work Study Channel Introduced
The number of payroll forms was reduced and the reporting of payroll time and adjustment data was simplified. Also, a new TUportal channel enables authorized employees to conveniently view work study awards, earnings, and balances. A memo announcing these updates was released on March 11, 2010.
- New Way to View Your Paycheck and More: Introducing Self–Service Banner
As part of the transition to Banner Human Resources, the Employee Self-Service (ESS) web site was replaced by Self-Service Banner. Just as the ESS web site enabled employees to view/update personal, work and leave-related information, Self Service Banner offers the same familiar functionality, as well as additional options and the capacity for future expansion. A memo announcing Self-Service Banner was sent out starting on March 4, 2010.
- Student Team Focusing on Processes
The Student Academic Team is meeting formally every week to work on the scheduling and catalog processes. Weekly checklist meetings are also being held to focus on recruitment and admissions. The Student Team is also working on mapping the new and transfer student orientation process.
- Technical Upgrades Completed and in Progress
The Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) was installed for Enrollment Management Performance Analytics. The EDW, along with the Operational Data Store (ODS), will produce high-level statistical models used to deliver approximately 70 or 80 analytical reports.
The Technical Team is testing Banner 8.3 and version 8.2 of the ODS. The team is also working on integrating NelNet (cashiering system) with Banner.
- New Training Facility Opens
A 30-seat training room opened at Temple University Administrative Services Building (TASB). The room is set up like the training room in the Bell Building and it’s on Temple’s network.
February 2010
- Banner HR Goes Live!
The final HR legacy data conversion occurred on February 20th. Banner Human Resources is now live and in production. Post conversion activities include data cleanup, training the staff, and inputting additional data.
Kronos interfaces were run on February 3rd and 17th to reconcile and validate this interface for Banner payroll processing in March. Some coding adjustments occurred and this interface and the reconciliation process were made production ready. The Finance team also re-validated the encumbrance and finance reconciliation.
The HR team finalized the conversion of year-to-date dollar balances prior to February 20, 2010 and validated these dollar balances through a small test payroll run.
The conversion from Employee Self Service (ESS) to Self-Service Banner (SSB) is in progress. A memo was distributed to staff announcing that ESS is in view mode only during the transition. Pay stub history from legacy HR, is being incorporated in SSB and will be made available to employees early March.
Ultimus termination workflow is still functional and the iGreentree system has not changed.
- Technical Team Completes Conversion Process
The Technical Team worked on the Human Resources conversion to Banner. Behind the scenes, the team moved tables, channels, and reports from development to production. The SDE (Supplemental Data Engine) fields were migrated to the Operational Data Store (ODS) for reporting purposes. Supplemental data fields were added so Temple specific HR data could be tracked and incorporated into Cognos. The bulk of reports will be available after March 3rd.
- Number of Ready Reports Available
A large number of reports have been developed over the last eight or nine months. There are 17 Finance community reports available via TUportal. Finance and Computer Services staff members have written 327 internal Finance departmental reports. Human Resources staff members, with the assistance of the Enterprise Reporting group, have written over 90 HR reports. Also, a series of position control reports will soon be published.
- Advancement Team is on the Move
The Advancement team is in the process of finalizing roles and overall project organization. The team is also moving to the Bell Building now that the Human Resources team has moved back to the Temple University Administrative Services Building (TASB).
January 2010
- Progress Continues on Banner Human Resources
Testing and reconciliation of the December monthly payroll was completed. A final biweekly parallel payroll is scheduled for February. Reconciliation of gross and net payroll is in progress. Encumbrances were also evaluated. Banner handles encumbrances by e-class and earnings or how an employee is paid, and so, the reconciliation with the legacy system is a challenge. Since Banner Human Resources did not go live on January 1st, 2010 Year-To-Date dollar balances must be converted into Banner. An adjustment payroll was also run successfully. In addition, iGreentree was upgraded to version 8.4 and use of a Banner Position Number or Position Control Number (PCN) was implemented.
Self-Service Banner (SSB), which will replace Employee Self Service (ESS), was tested using the December monthly payroll. The testers looked at their pay stubs, deductions and the various services currently available ESS. The data mapped beautifully and looked good.
- Student Area Attending Training and Reviewing Policies
The student team attended Financial Aid, Self-Service Banner, Enrollment Management, and Records and Registration training. The Admissions team is developing a go-live checklist. A checklist for the catalog and scheduling components is next up.
A number of policies are under discussion to determine how best to implement in Banner. The policies include the conditional status, warning, dismissal, and prerequisite policies and good academic standing and financial aid when students take remedial courses during the summer. There will be no changes to the incomplete policy.
- Non-Credit Courses to be Called Continuing Studies
Non-credit courses will be referred to as Continuing Studies. There are long range discussions about how system changes will be made. The team is in the process of evaluating flexible registration options.
- Operational Data Store Upgraded
The Oracle database that houses the Operational Data Store (ODS) was upgraded on January 14th.
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