Banner Project

General Information

Banner is a software product (database) that integrates information from Business and Finance, Development, Human Resources, and various student processes, including Student Accounts, Admissions, the Office of the Registrar, and Student and Academic Services into one seamless management system.

The 30-month process of implementing Banner requires us to analyze how we do business in order to organize this information in a way that fits best for the College of St. Catherine. We are implementing Banner along with three other schools: Bethel University, Northwestern College, and Macalester College. This unique collaborative approach allows us to share resources and people, and affords a terrific opportunity for future work together in an area in which Banner is becoming the most commonly used enterprise resource tool in higher education.

About the Banner Implementation

definitions:
Banner: (bnr) n. Labeled generally as an Enterprise Resource Planning System, this is the base software that connects records in the advancement, finance, human resources, financial aid, and student processes. The Banner system will eventually fully replace CARS.
Self-Service: (slfsûrvs) n. This is a tool set up to allow people easy access to frequently used Banner data. For example, there will be self-service access to employees for changing an address or reviewing benefits information, and self-service for students to check their grades. Self-service will be accessed on-line through KateWayl.
Argos: (ärgs) n. Argos is a reporting tool – designed to ease the process of generating reports. When people need information from Banner, such as lists, mailing labels, or summaries of expenditures, in most cases the easiest way to pull this information will be via the Argos Reporting Tool which will allow for easy access to customized reports that are routinely generated as well as ad hoc reports.
KateWay: (ktw) n. KateWay is a website that it is designed for our internal audience. It allows for things such as online course registration, communication among the entire St. Kate's community, the ability to personalize your screen layout and much more. It is a portal through which the college communty will access school and work related information, and which will provide direct links to self-service functions in Banner.

Implementation Team Members

Over the last year, implementation team members averaged about 20 hours of work per week per employee over the 9-12 month process. We are grateful to the employees who have accepted this responsibility in addition to their regular workloads. Additionally, we appreciate the patience of the college community in working with occasional delays and limits as a result. In the coming year, we will can expect to see similar time constraints on members of the Business Office, Office of the Registrar, Student Accounts, Financial Aid, Human Resources, Development, and Alumnae Affairs. Throughout the entire process, the IT staff has dedicated a large number of technology staff to maintaining CARS while supporting the configuration of Banner for the College’s implementation.

If you have questions related to a CARS or other software-related function and would like details on whether and when it can be integrated with Banner, please speak with one of the team leads or contact people:

• On this Web site
• Daily Update
• Any major faculty/staff meeting: the Banner implementation will be a topic of these meetings and we will share information regarding when to expect Banner applications to be available, how you will be affected by the implementation, how you can expect to learn the new system and how much time that will take, etc.

• Business Office
• Development
• Undergraduate Admissions
• Alumnae Office
• Human Resources
• Registrar
• Financial Aid
• Advancement
• Purchasing
• Institutional Research
• Information Technology