1. Hearts and Flowers--Financial Aid Goes Live!
The financial aid office has the distinction of being first to go into
production with Banner. On Valentine's Day, the financial aid staff began
reviewing online the 1,500 to 1,800 expected applications for aid from
members of the Class of 2004. Banner Financial Aid will replace ZFAM, an
automated, but non-integrated system installed in 1988. According to Linda
Bell, LEWIS project team leader for financial aid, the integration of records
and processing from student admissions to housing is a significant gain
for their office.
2. Mock II
As the implementation of LEWIS continues to accelerate, the Student
system has now reached "Mach 2". The second mock registration was conducted
during the week of February 14th and was a success with 1,200 students
registered. Fees were assessed, and all types of residence hall rooms,
classroom, and meal plans were tested. Cross listing of pairs of courses,
class capacities and faculty assignments all worked as expected. This puts
us well on the way toward the third and final mock registration which will
be the week of March 27 just before Banner Student "goes live."
3. "How Sweet It Is"
Training for key staff in the departments and the deans' offices got
underway the week of March 6th with an initial group of forty-five individuals
broken down into four groups. The training consisted of 2 three-hour sessions,
one on general navigation in Banner and the general person database, and
the second on working in the Banner Student system, with emphasis on general
student records and the course catalog. The training program is under the
direction of Sherri Yerk-Zwickl with sessions so far taught by Sherri,
Bruce Correll, and Bruce Gardiner. For those who participated the rewards
are sweet indeed as the power of Banner is revealed.
4. Answers, Anyone?
In order to provide a consistent set of basic answers to more commonly
asked questions about LEWIS, there is now a set of FAQ (Frequently Asked
Questions) files on the LEWIS Web site. The set includes a general FAQ,
and one each for faculty and students. The faculty FAQ sheet was distributed
at the March 6th faculty meeting, and each faculty member received a paper
copy as well. Additional FAQ files are being developed.
5. Security
A revised Lehigh University Policy on the Use of Computer Systems and
Facilities is being developed. All potential users of Banner will be required
to sign this statement and receive the appropriate training before receiving
their account names and passwords for the production system. Watch for
more information on this.
6. Quote of the Month
Lucille Bavaria-Kozsey, who has worked for 25 years in financial aid
and is currently the associate director, recently had this to say about
her experience with the new Banner system. "It's been a very positive experience.
The system is quite easy to use and we are able to be much more productive
than with the old system. We can review files more quickly and there are
many fewer screens involved. I'm enjoying it."
If you have comments or questions on this newsletter or about communication
about LEWIS, contact Jean Farrington at jwf3@lehigh.edu