LEWIS Lines #10

October 2001

  1. DARS

    2. It may sound a little like Darth Vader, but DARS, Degree Audit Report System, is really most benign and will be very helpful for faculty and students as part of the advising process.
    DARS was purchased from the University of Miami, Ohio, and was integrated with the Banner Web for Student product. Lehigh is only one of two Web implementations of DARS in Pennsylvania. Training sessions for faculty were offered this past week and student demonstrations will be announced shortly. 

  2. Banner Finance--Successes and Future Goals

    3. July, August and September have now been successfully closed in Banner, and plans are to close October and subsequent months on the first business day following the end of each month. One very significant milestone completed in September was the conversion of the legacy system's automated entry process. This process generates more than 6000 automated entries each month that distribute building costs, employee benefits, interest charges and credits, etc. etc. Goals for the next few months include full implementation of the grant billing process, online requisitioning for departments (January 2002 with pilot projects beforehand), and setting up approval queues for department and research expenditures.

  3. Reports--Saving the Trees!

    4. As part of a short term strategy to address department needs for financial information and the learning curve associated with accessing this information using the new Banner Finance system, paper reports will be distributed to all persons responsible for Banner accounts. Selected baseline Banner reports have been modified to more closely resemble legacy FRS reports and will be distributed for September. In the future, in an effort to encourage Banner users to make use of information visible online and to be environmentally friendly, hard copy financial reports will only be sent to those who request them. Longer term plans include expanding desktop access to financial information to appropriate individuals using the necessary security features.

  4. Benefits Enrollment Online!

    5. In November, staff and faculty will be encouraged to do their flexible benefits enrollment online using the Web for Employees product. More details will be forthcoming. In the meantime, you might want to look up and dust off your PIN.

  5. Financial Aid Update

    6. Work is going smoothly in the financial aid office and, as sometime veterans of Banner, they are finding this year is better with things working more quickly than last. In the spring, they hope to be able to offer Student Aid information on the Web.

  6. PABUG

    7. The Pennsylvania Banner Users Group met October 16-17th in Harrisburg, and several Lehigh staff made presentations. Jerry Lennon (IR) and Willa Ostrosky (Development Office) did a presentation on Web for Development Officers. Phil Lawrence (IR) did a presentation entitled "Using Perl in the Banner Environment," and co-presented with Bob Siegfried (Controllers Office) on "Re-Occurring Entries in Banner Finance." John Early and Ron Wagner, both in IR, assisted Bruce Correll (Registrar) in presenting a DAR's/Banner Web for Student product interface demo. In addition, staff from Financial Aid, Registrar's Office, Controllers Office, Payroll/Human Resources Office, Purchasing Office, and Information Resources attended the seminar.
     
  7. Training
    To paraphrase, "you can never be too rich or over-trained!" Although the Banner implementation phase of the LEWIS Project can be considered at an end, there will always be a need for more training--both for new employees and for current staff in new features and new releases. The LEWIS Web page contains a list of training opportunities. It's worth noting that there will be follow-up training sessions on Banner forms for finance and Web for Finance as well as specialized training on request provided by staff in the Controller's Office. Watch for an online user manual for Banner Finance in the future.


If you have comments or questions on this newsletter or about communication about LEWIS, contact Jean Farrington at jwf3@lehigh.edu