News/Project update page

I. T. Services

What is the current status of our projects?

Update as of November 2009

Banner 8.0

In April 2008, a major upgrade to the Banner system (8.x) was released by SunGardHE. Our current version (7.x) will no longer be supported by them. We must upgrade the hardware and software which supports Banner as well as upgrade Banner itself by November 2010.

Banner 8.x affects all INB (Internet Native Banner) and SSB (Self Service Banner) modules. It also requires a conversion to the new international character set (UTF8) and database format. Since all of the data in the Banner system has to be converted to the UTF8 character set at the same time the 8.x upgrade is installed on the Banner system, significant planning and testing must take place for this project. In addition, all third party systems which interface with Banner will have to be checked and tested thoroughly for UTF8 compliance.

There are several tasks involved. This list is not comprehensive but gives an idea about how much work is involved:
- Install new hardware

- Install new database and application server software

- Review all applications tied to Banner and verify we have the correct versions installed to be compatible with Banner 8.x data.
    > A FormFusion upgrade is required.
    > Intellicheck must also be upgraded. This is not a simple upgrade as the company has gone from a client/server to a web based interface. This will require a separate server for the web service.

- Identify new features of Banner 8.x. Determine their usefulness and learn how to utilize them.

- Identify old features of Banner that were not used in the past due to performance issues and determine what is required to get them working now. Pre-requisite checking is an example.

- Create new instances of Banner for testing and development work

- General training for Banner 8.x
    > Banner 8 has the same look and feel as Banner 7. Most screen names remain the same, but some have added or changed functionality. We do not anticipate users will need to be re-trained as a result of this upgrade.

- We are always looking for better ways to protect Banner and its function, so we are going to enable an Oracle feature called Dataguard which will facilitate instantaneous failover capabilities should Banner's server quit. This means that there will always be a standby version of Banner's database available. Dataguard does not cost extra, so we might as well make use of it! Furthermore, there are many cost free performance management tools available from Oracle that will be installed as well.
    > Application and database performance depend on a number of factors: concurrent users, network speed, server memory, server processor speed and server disk speed among others. Banner 8.x introduces a new "character set" to the Oracle database. SunGardHE has indicated that some programs may run longer under the new character set required by Banner 8.x. Applications Support will work closely with SunGardHE support to address performance issues.

- Test all Banner 8.x modules. Each department will be responsible for getting their forms and processes tested. Applications Support hopes to locate test plans for this process but encourages all Banner data custodians to search for test plans as well.

- There will be tons of research to do for this major upgrade. We may need to bring in others to help us manage and plan for all of the changes.

Replicon

Replicon is the new leave management system. This online system allows employees to see their annual and sick leave balances, and to submit leave requests to their supervisors. It also allows supervisors to see the leave balances and approve the leave request of the employees who report to them.

Applications Support has worked with HR and Replicon to bring this project about. We converted from a 15 year old system that "mostly" worked but was far from user friendly. We all worked hard to deduce all of the business rules which govern leave management here at Shepherd, and the rules for employees of the state of West Virginia.

Next we had to address all of our requirements with Replicon and build some additional functionality in Banner to accommodate our uniqueness. We have planned to create an additional module for managing catastrophic leave. Support is ongoing and will include installing upgrades. Replicon is quickly adding new features and solving problems so being able to test and apply new releases is critical.

BOSS Housing

This software is designed to allow students to submit deposits for rooms and more. It's currently under development with BOSS Consulting.

Hobson's Enrollment Management

This software is designed to aid in communicating with recruited students. Applications Support collects and sends data from Banner to Hobsons for this purpose. Presently this is used with undergraduate admissions. The Office of Financial Aid and Graduate Admissions are soon to make use of Hobsons features too.

We have plans to download recruit data from Hobsons and load that data into Banner thus saving Admissions a huge amount of data entry time. But, before we can do this, we need to be able to manage all of the new recruit records and make sure they are not already in Banner. This is where the Duplicate PIDM Checking Tool (DPCT), from George Washington University, comes in. With the DPCT, we can place records from Hobsons in a "holding tank" until they are reviewed automatically. The DPCT will flag potential duplicates, allow us to ignore the records or merge the data with existing records. It’s quite sophisticated! And this leads me to the next project, the Duplicate PIDM process.

Duplicate PIDM process

This is an internal project to improve the efficiency of handling duplicate records in Banner, resulting in better data integrity in our Student Information System. Required to load any prospects being done.

SAT/ACT data imports

Admissions would like to import this data directly into Banner. As soon as the DPCT is working, we can set this up too. Presently, 5000+ score updates are made to student records.

Onity-Banner Interface

Onity has been used at Shepherd for many years. It provides electronic door security. Facilities would like to make better use of this system. Because of this need, Applications Support is re-writing the process which sends data to Onity.

Sentrigo Hedgehog

This component of our information security project is installed and being configured, as time permits, in our Banner database server.
This product protects against so-called "zero-day" vulnerabilities discovered in Oracle products and reduces the risk of data exposure for our most sensitive information, student records.

Student e-payment changes

This project will replace the current e-payment pages in RAIL with a link to the West Virginia State Auditor's site for payments, and will bring an e-check option to students.
No timetable is set yet with this project.

Virtual desktops

A pilot project originally planned for spring 2008 is now in the Request For Proposal (RFP) process, with an award expected soon.
This project is aimed at improving the efficiency of our limited desktop support staff, and providing additional capabilities to our students, faculty and staff.
With this project, we will be able to offer secured access to on-campus resources (such as network drives) from off-campus locations. This will enable faculty and staff in locations such as the Civil War Center, the Free School, or at home to work as efficiently as at an on-campus office.
Longer term, we may be able to reduce the costs of our computing labs on campus, and redirect those savings into improving other portions of our technology infrastructure.

Expansion of the wireless network

Operational in all academic and administrative buildings excluding Stutzman-Slonaker.

Frank Center wireless

Completed. Now in maintenance phase.

Classroom Technology Upgrades

Completed for White Hall. Snyder, Byrd Science, and Stutzman-Slonaker are also planned for upgrades. There will be additional work in other classrooms as part of the Shepherd Strategic Plan.

Computer Lab Power Management

Done. Labs are now "greener".

Summer lab refreshes

Summer 2009 labs done. Labs tentative slated for replacement in the Summer of 2010 are Communications, White 209, Music, Language, Math (Snyder 38), IES, Education (Macintosh systems).

Tk20 project

In production. Banner interface needs completed.

Student Health Center

As part of a research grant, the SHC will be outfitted with an electronic medical records (EMR) system and equipment to support the new system.

Wellness Center Graduate Student access provisioning

Completed. Moved to maintenance phase.

Projects currently in the maintenance and enhancement phase

- Banner 7.x
- Replicon
- Frank Center wireless
- Computer lab power management
- Summer 2009 lab refreshes
- Tk20
- Wellness Center Grad student access provisioning