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Volume 61, Issue 13

Banner to enhance the student experience Christie Carral

The Southern Digest The Southern University Division of Information Technology is working to enhance the implementation of the Banner system to make the registration process run much smoother. Banner is an integrated information system made up of finance, human resources and student modules. The system was first brought to the university in 2008 and was implemented in Spring 2010. Christopher Rogers, Senior Director of Customer Support Services said that under the new model of Banner, customer service is going to be a key component of the process. “We have a system that has been in place for five years now,” Rogers said. According to Rogers, the system was built from the ground up, it has been tested and is being used. “What we’re doing now is adding enhancements,” Rogers said. Rogers said when enhancements are added to a system that is being used, the users begin to embrace the system. “In order for our customers to start embracing what we’re doing, we’re going to start looking at ways to make the customer experience easier,” Rogers said. Rogers made an example of how the new enhancements would make SU students’ life easier.

DIGEST ART FILE

Pictured above is the SUBR Banner system. The Division of Information Technology is working to make it more user friendly to students by updating the existing system by increasing functionality and making it more accessible to students. “There was a time when a student had a problem and they had to pick up the phone, but now they don’t have to because they could go to either a website or to a virtual portal site, such as instant chat,” Rogers said. Rogers said that the technology is on-campus and everything is a learning process. “Some of the best technology in Louisiana is at SU,” Rogers said. Although Rogers said that the technology is on-campus, being able to adjust to change, use the equipment and technology and also go back to administrative functions are the keys for making the system a success. Rogers said that those functions

have been the biggest process of the enhancement of the system. “It’s something that cannot be done overnight,” Rogers said. According to Rogers, it is a good time to be at SU because of the new technological advances of the university. Carlos Thomas, Chief Information Officer and Assistant Professor of Info Systems & Operations Management, said that the plan for the University’s Banner System is to automate as many processes as possible. “We’ve got some deeply embedded processes,” Thomas said. Thomas said when SU looks at recruiting and admissions,

everything from getting leads of potential students to actually getting them admitted, SU is virtualized and automating that process. Tony Moore, Vice President for Information and Technology Management said that the Banner implementation is to move towards a paperless environment so that students would be able to send their documents electronically. “Anything dealing with student-related information, this process should make life easier,” Moore said. All transcript requests and graduation applications will be processed online with the new

Banner implementations. “We’re moving toward more automated procedures so that things could get processed faster,” Moore said. According to Moore, their department constantly receives feedback about the process of applications being slow to process, with students having to go through various processes to wait for paper processes. “Our major goal is to provide a better user experience for our students and eliminate the need to come on campus and turn papers in or any service that they need related to the Banner system,” Moore said.

Online Tutorial available to SUBR students Brittany Patterson The Southern Digest

To assist students at Southern University, the Center for Student Success now offers Smartthinking, an online tutoring center for students. La’Trina Collins, Academic Counselor in the CSS, discussed what Smartthinking is. “Smartthinking is an online tutorial program that allows our students to access tutoring from Master-level individuals for every class,” Collins said. “There are tutorials for every class, from basic math and algebra up to linear equations. They also have a writing center and have a variety of subjects available for students to assist them in their classes.” Lindsey Butler, Intervention Counselor in the CSS said that there was discussion on the next steps for CSS. “We talked about some ways to get additional programs in the center and we looked at what we already had in place.

We were looking to either improve or add to our program,” Butler said. According to Butler, research was conducted to see how CSS can improve. “I did research on tutorial programs and several times Smartthinking came up. What stood out was that it could be offered 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The training levels that the online tutors go through can benefit our students tremendously,” Butler said. While in Smartthinking students can get tutoring on a whiteboard or do drop-in tutoring which is more scheduled tutoring via chat. The tutors in Smartthinking have either their Master’s degree or PH.D.’s. According to Butler, the proposal for Smartthinking was made in 2011, but was finally approved this semester. Smartthinking is free of charge and can be accessed from any computer or laptop. The link for students has been available for a week now. To access Smartthinking, students

can log in from Blackboard and access Smartthinking through the link found on the homepage of Blackboard. The website is user-friendly and tutorials are available on the website.

Butler said that once students realize how open and accessible the program is, students would continue to use the program. “We are in touch with what our

“I did research on tutorial programs and several times Smartthinking came up. What stood out was that it could be offered 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The training levels that the online tutors go through can benefit our students tremendously.”

Lindsey Butler

Academic Counselor - CSS Collins said that CSS is available for all students and not just for tutoring. “Come, we still have the peer tutoring. We have programs available to help students in negotiations with professors; to how to learn to read your textbook on a college level; and every semester we look for ways to help our school with the issue of retention that we have at SU,” Collins said.

students need and because of that, we are able to help. We find that when students do come for help, they come all the time,” Butler said. Butler said that the CSS helps students with whatever they need help with. The CSS is located in T. H. Harris Annex building right across the street from the Smith-Brown Memorial Student Union.

Inside: News Trayvon Martin Forum; Preparing for finals Page 3 Culture Catfished Page 6 the official student newspaper of southern university and A&m college, baton rouge, louisiana


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