A Banner Plan for UNC
Common needs and cutting-edge technology unite 13 campuses on a mission to increase efficiency by transforming the way the University conducts business.
For decades UNC's 16 constituent institutions have streamlined processes and leveraged the power of information technology (IT) to serve UNC students better, to process information faster, and to enable faculty and staff to work smarter with the assistance of technical tools and services. Now 13 campuses are embarking on a landmark, five-year project that will transform the way they conduct the business of higher education, from student enrollment to alumni donations, while dramatically improving the University's overall efficiency. At the heart of this transformational change is the move to SCT's Banner enterprise system, an initiative that will streamline administrative services in five areas: advancement, finance, financial aid, human resources and student services.
In the beginning
In the 1980s all 16 campuses installed a common financial system, one that evolved into the currently used SCT FRS product. Some campuses also chose to use common student and human resources systems, while others developed homegrown remedies to expedite data collection and analysis.
By 2000, the year UNC adopted its first system-wide IT Strategy, many campuses were recognizing that their legacy systems supporting back-end functions might be losing the robust vendor support that had made them successful solutions for decades. At the same time, some campuses were discovering that homegrown systems no longer had the capacity to meet their needs effectively. In short, campuses were trying to figure out how to avoid increasing risks and expenses associated with outdated hardware and software used to manage their administrative services. And more campuses were engaged in redundant development and implementation activities, which meant that collectively, they were unduly spending money and exerting human effort to meet evolving business requirements and service needs.
Making the Banner decision
Responding to the need for increased service requirements and operational efficiencies on each campus and across the system as a whole, the UNC Shared Services Alliance (Alliance), under the sponsorship of the UNC Division of Information Resources, designed a decision-making process to guide the University's search for a new enterprise system for administrative functions. In February 2002, the Alliance approved a resolution to migrate to SCT's Banner, following an RFI which affirmed SCT's integrated software applications as still the "best fit" for the majority of UNC campuses. In April 2002, all 16 institutions, through their representatives appointed to the Alliance board, voiced their support for the University's intent to migrate to Banner. At the same meeting, 13 of the institutions committed to implementing Banner on their campuses over the next five years, with the understanding that the resources to do so would be available. (Another campus will make its decision in May.) In June 2002, UNC sought the endorsement of the State Auditor's Office and received approval from the N.C. Office of State Controller to move to Banner, and later that month UNC signed a contract with SCT to acquire its suite of applications.
Clear-cut objectives
The Banner Project provides the opportunity for institutions to re-think how business is conducted via most major administrative functions on each campus. Ultimately, the project will help campuses integrate and streamline these functions into a highly efficient system for managing day-to-day business affairs, for providing responsive service and for building strong relationships with its constituencies.
The Banner Project has four objectives:
- Transform business processes to find efficiencies and common processes to leverage across institutions.
- Facilitate the development of a unified shared vision through the use of an enterprise process methodology
- Implement and maintain the systems in a collaborative manner.
- Enhance services through a single University-wide solution of integrated databases and automated self-serve processes.
Common needs, common solutions
Campuses have scores of routine business processes in common, from registering a student to collecting library fees. Redundancy exists now, but without added value in most cases. Under the auspices of the Banner Project, campuses will achieve that added value by utilizing common business rules.
Already, project teams on each of the 13 campuses have documented their administrative workflow for 43 common business processes, a task that will help them align those processes to Banner software. In addition, campuses have identified other common functions of significant value that may justify inclusion in the baseline. A common interface to enable the 13 campuses to efficiently respond to University and state reporting requirements will also be included in the baseline.
At the core of it all
With common functions and a common system in place, the University will be able to rapidly and efficiently respond to changes affecting the 13 campuses, making enhancements or upgrades only once, rather than multiple times. In this respect, the Banner Project is, in fact, re-inventing the wheel, one which will enable the campuses and the University to talk to each other more efficiently. The result: the time and resources currently required to collect and analyze individual and aggregate campus data and to interface with multi-campus processes will be significantly reduced, especially in the area of financial reporting. All 16 campuses will develop interfaces to allow information exchange.
The same, yet different
Although increasing efficiency with common business functions is a key objective, the Banner Project also gives campuses ample flexibility in meeting unique needs. For example, campuses can customize their alumni processes to make them more personal, yet still rely on the common core for routine management of functions such as managing solicitations and alumni data. Having the freedom to tweak the common baseline system will further reduce the cost of administrative maintenance and support, while ensuring that campuses retain their ability to meet distinct needs.
More than number crunching
In addition to streamlining the way the University conducts its daily business affairs, the Banner Project will provide campuses with the back-end technology to strengthen collaborative ventures that conserve time and money, while better serving students. For example, Banner will provide:
- More consistent administrative processes which can enable a single campus, or a consortium of campuses, to offer or accept courses or a degree program to and from other campuses, making it easier for campuses to build a responsive community of shared resources.
- Expedite enrollment and grade transfer for a current student wishing to take courses at a constituent institution, opening opportunities for learning throughout the University.
- Make it easier for a constituent institution to serve as a back-up site or alternate administrative platform for disaster recovery and business continuity purposes.
Making it happen
Training is critical to the successful implementation of the Banner Project, and UNC is using a new, yet proven, concept to ensure that campus representatives are well prepared to implement and manage the new system. Four solution centers will serve as regional hubs for training and consulting for three to four campuses. The centers are located at UNCC, UNCW and NCCU. ASU, UNCA and WCU will rotate responsibility for hosting a western center.
Campuses recognize that change as transformational as the migration to Banner initially will increase the workload, and thus require a special commitment from hundreds of functional users in the University. To expedite a smooth transition and protect daily staff responsibilities, campuses will designate representatives to attend Banner training at the solution centers. Then, using the train-the-trainer model, those key staff can pass down their knowledge to their colleagues at their home institutions.
Looking into the future, the regional solution centers may provide a framework for regional service centers, with a single center serving multiple campuses.
Rolling it out
Campuses agreed that the Finance module must be implemented first, in order to define the chart of accounts upon which other modules will be based. Student and Financial Aid modules will come online following Finance. The Human Resources and Advancement modules will be implemented in three groups, with campuses determining the implementation schedule based on their immediate needs. The Banner Project is expected to be fully implemented in Spring 2008.
Communication is key
The Banner Project is another sterling example of how the 16 campuses are working together to maintain and enhance UNC's leadership in higher education. Several years ago, the Division of Information Resources in the UNC Office of the President formed three formal organizations to support IT collaborations. They are successful because they rely on shared governance and they focus on common needs, not centralization. The Shared Services Alliance, which is spearheading the Banner Project, is widely recognized for its guidance in web-enabling student services. The Teaching and Learning with Technology Collaborative facilitates best practices and the effective use of technology in teaching and learning through professional development activities.
The office of Coordinated Technology Management strengthens the negotiating power of the 16 campuses and is saving the University millions of dollars through collaborative procurement. In fact, negotiations led by Coordinated Technology Management reduced the cost of Banner service hours from $220 to $160 per hour, which will save the University about $14 million during Banner's five-year implementation.
The bottom line
Increased efficiency. Economies of scale. Transformational change. These are not buzzwords on UNC campuses. Rather, they exemplify the objectives of the Banner Project. Instructors teach and students learn, but behind those activities are administrative offices, the engines that run the institution. The Banner Project is creating a new, shared vision for the way UNC campuses conduct routine business affairs. By squeezing out inefficiencies, campuses can preserve their resources and energy for high quality teaching, learning and public service.
With the Banner Project, the University has, for the first time in its history, the chance to build an efficient, responsive information systems architecture that will deliver integrated information and self-service capability across the 16 campuses.
