1. New Paychecks
Although no one got any unexpected windfalls, paychecks for all faculty and staff were successfully printed out of the Banner system for the first time in January.  There were a few minor issues, but all seem to have been resolved including the information on earnings year to date.

2. Web for Employee on the Horizon
SCT personnel have been on campus recently training Lehigh staff in the Web for Employee product.  The target date for rolling this out is April 1st .  Bob Siegfried and others are pleased with how smoothly this implementation is going.  When Web for Employee goes live, faculty and staff will be able to see some basic job information, view benefits and deductions, and look at pay stubs for prior pay periods.  They will also be able to update some basic information.  Stay tuned for more information.

3. Banner Finance--Webs of Summer
The Banner Finance module will go into production as of the beginning of the 2001/02 fiscal year on July 1st.  The current plan is to have all staff do their work in the Web for Finance product.  Training for staff is anticipated to begin in April after Web for Employee is up (the latter has to be in place before Web for Finance can be used).  Given Lehigh's complex organizational structure, there are security issues and concerns to be worked out to be sure that staff have the appropriate access to the pieces of the system they need to do their work.  Watch for upcoming announcements about training sessions.

4. Portal Previews--Windows on the World
The Portal Committee led by Tim Foley in Information Resources, received a number of proposals from portal software vendors.  Representatives from Blackboard, Computer Associates, and Campus Pipeline were on campus the end of February to give open demonstrations to the Lehigh community. A portal is a customized Web home page tailored to provide specific university information tailored to you as a Lehigh faculty member, staff member or student.  A portal also includes specific information or services that you have selected based on your individual interests and preferences.  Portals are designed to give you the information you need and want quickly and easily without having to click through many Web pages to find it.  The Portal Committee will make a recommendation on whether Lehigh should proceed with one of these three vendors and if so, which one.

5. Banner 5.0—Just When You Thought it was Safe
Please note that SCT has just recently released Banner 5.0.  Specifics are not available yet about all of the product enhancements in this release so be sure to watch for additional information in a future issue of LEWIS Lines.

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