Technology overhaul expected to finish in 2014
University technology officers celebrated a milestone this summer with the official launch of Banner, a Web-based software platform that will completely replace VIP for all student records and services by Fall 2013.
Since July 17, Undergraduate Admissions has been using the system to manage its day-to-day operations, meaning the next freshman class will be selected using the new technology.
The launch was a critical step in the university’s OneCarolina project, a $75 million overhaul of USC’s 30-year-old student, financial and human resources system. Since the 1970s USC has managed its records through its own legacy software, which many USC technicians say was outdated, highly specialized, and expensive to maintain.
In 2008, the board of trustees approved funds to switch to Banner, a market software that is already used by thousands of universities. The project had been delayed for two years due to university budget cuts, but efforts picked back up January 2010. Last month’s launch marks the first step in the five-year project.
“A great university deserves great information systems -— and that’s exactly what we’re building,” USC Chief Information Officer Bill Hogue said following the summer’s Banner launch.
The system is divided into five modules: admissions, registration, billing/accounts receivable, financial aid and graduate student data. Project leaders say now that the system is being used in admissions, the next step will be integrating financial aid and registration. This means that by Spring 2013, students will be using completely new accounts on a new site, not VIP, to sign up for fall classes.
The changeover to Banner will also introduce new features to “streamline” advising and registration, combining the function of VIP with the university’s master schedule and course catalogue.
Students will be able to track their prerequisite courses, communicate with their adviser and see what courses are needed should they switch their major.
“I would say, as a whole, the Banner experience will be much more user-friendly,” Project Director Bob Swab said. “There’s going to be lots of features that are going to be improved and easier to use from the old system — class scheduling, a new advising system in which students will be able to work with their advisor online and look at their degree and requirements completed and new online bill payment.”
Swab says that OneCarolina has a core group of more than 100 university employees from different offices and campuses working on installing the project. Following admissions, the next step is transferring and reporting all student data so that the system is ready for housing applications by December, financial aid by March and class registration by April.
He added that students will still have access to their information on VIP for the remainder of the 2012-13 academic year, but OneCarolina will be making the final break after grades are released in December. Banner is expected to be in full use at USC’s eight campuses by 2014.
“We are extremely excited that the first phase of OneCarolina is now live,” Swab said in a release from OneCarolina. “This is just the beginning of what will prove to be a complete transformation of the way the University of South Carolina does business. Over the next few years, we will see that faculty, staff and students will be able to more easily share and access the information they need, when they need it.”