Self-service software to help students stay on track
Next year, USC’s class of 2017 will be introduced to an entirely new student service system that will replace VIP and, according to university officials, change the way students navigate their own academic progress.
The system is the first visible stage of OneCarolina, a $75 million digital overhaul and streamlining of the university’s 30-year-old Legacy system, which manages financial, human resources and student services. Officially kicked off in 2008 with funding from the board of trustees, the project was deferred two years due to “economic downturn and budget cuts throughout the university,” according to USC Chief Information Officer Bill Hogue.
The initiative will pick back up this June as University Technology Services goes live for recruitment and admissions with Banner, a new student self-service system for academic records, class selection and scheduling. The system will feature tools such as a prerequisite check during registration, early warning grades and its own course catalogue search.
“The purpose of Banner is to make it easier for students to navigate the university,” said Vice-Provost Helen Doerpinghaus. “It’s a much more streamlined way (than VIP) for students to access what’s going on.”
Students in orientation in June 2013 will undergo a training seminar on how to use software, and students who enroll in University 101 will receive further training on how to use both Banner and DegreeWorks, a new degree auditing system. Expected to go live for the entire university by December 2013, neither Banner nor DegreeWorks will require students to use their social security numbers as their login identification, limiting operator access of private information to financial aid and human resources staff.
Similar to the Student Progress Report available for certain majors on VIP, the new DegreeWorks software will track students’ degree completion and also enable side-by-side comparison of different major requirements. This feature will help students who are changing or adding majors, according to Trey Gordner, fourth-year international business student and SG academic services secretary.
“Students didn’t feel like they had up front disclosure of what their degree would entail,” Gordner said. “When you come in to be advised, your adviser can tell you whether you’re on the right track, but unless you really tried hard to go through undergrad bulletins and talked to upperclassmen, it’s hard to get full idea of what you really needed. Hopefully this will help put decisions into students’ hands.”
While the new system will not change advisement protocol among USC’s colleges, Doerpinghaus hopes improving access to degree requirements will make advisement time more productive. Doerpinghaus hopes the OneCarolina overhaul will also establish a universal advisement sign-up along with a universal email system for faculty.
“Students change majors and take classes across colleges; therefore, we need to strengthen advising across campus and make it more standard so students don’t have such a hard time negotiating,” Doerpinghaus said.
That’s good news for Gordner, even though he will have graduated by the time the system is fully implemented.
“The nights I spent taking notes, chasing people down to make sure I was on the right track — this is really addressing all of that in one place,” Gordner said. “I’m excited to know that no one will need to open up five different paths at the same time to plan their semester.”