• New Payment Gateway - New payment gateway software was implemented for student tuition and parking decal payments. The software, licensed from Touchnet, is integrated with Banner. Reports were developed to more effectively analyze and reconcile transaction activity.
• Enterprise Data Warehouse Initiative - Installed and tested SungardSCT's Operational Data Store (ODS) and Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) as part of a controlled release agreement with SCT. Final testing of the ODS/EDW software is scheduled for completion by October 15 with production installation scheduled for November 30. The new software will provide senior administrators with more flexible and improved information for decision support.
• Web-Based Technology Procurement - Implemented a system to automate the technology procurement process. The new software allows buyers to shop online and select University-supported hardware and software from a virtual technology store. Online orders will follow an approval process before purchase orders are created. The new system is fully integrated with the Banner Finance module and replaces a paper-based process that was labor intensive.
• Vendor Budget Query - Implemented a flexible, web-based query tool that allows budget managers to track invoice and purchase order activity for specific vendors. This query will assist areas like Facilities, Athletics and Information Technology who must manage a large volume of purchases from a myriad of vendors.
• New Releases of Banner - Installed, tested and deployed the latest release of Banner on August 7-8. There were a number of HR enhancements included in this release such as distributed salary planning and position budgeting. In addition, the DBA team installed two Financial Aid upgrades and applied 35 Banner patches as requested by the Banner user community.
• Improved DataBase Performance - Implemented
locally-managed tablespaces in the Banner production database to more
efficiently use Oracle table space and to improve database performance
and scalability. This project was broad in scope and took several months
to complete.
• Oracle Upgrade Scheduled - An Oracle upgrade
was completed during the weekend of September 25-26. This upgrade, along
with the application of several security patches, addressed buffer overflow
and SQL injection vulnerabilities in the database and application servers.
• Procurement Card - Provided support to the Office of Financial Affairs in implementing the procurement card (PCard) which will simplify and streamline the purchasing function for University managers. Developed an interface between the vendor application and Banner Finance and developed exception reports to improve tracking of transactions. Created a new Banner form to show PCard invoices.
• Help Desk Contacts - Information Systems addressed 586 help desk calls from January - September, 2004. Eighty percent (80%) of the calls were for Banner support.
• Managing Merged Blackboard Courses - Created a Banner form to track and manage Blackboard courses that are to be merged. The merged course information is used to synchronize course information between MySJU and Blackboard.
• Position Encumbrance Information on HR Manager's Menu - Enhance the HR Manager's web tools to provide encumbrance information for each position and more accurately assess salary savings that may accrue on specific position lines.
• Modified Online Freshmen Contract - Enhanced the freshman contract web form to support new academic interest areas and new residence halls. Modified the Banner Housing contract preference form and created an academic preference validation form.
• Online Admissions Applications - Implemented SCT's Web for Applicant software for graduate admissions. This software permits prospective graduate students to submit their admissions applications via the Web.
• AR System for City Avenue Residence Hall - Developed an accounts receivable system to track charges and payments for students residing in the new City Avenue Residence Hall. The new system is distinct from the University's AR system as manadated by University auditors and counsel.
• Basketball Season Ticket Application - Designed, developed and implemented a basketball season ticket application for students. The software allows students to apply for season tickets, assigns season ticket packages programmatically and collects ticket payments on-line. In addition, students are able to purchase tickets for individual games and sign-up for bus transportation to Palestra games.
• Computer Inventory System - Currently designing an inventory system to track desktop and laptop computers based upon data captured by a computer audit tool. Information on computer make, model, CPU, memory, etc. will be captured and assigned to computer users and/or departments. Implementation is scheduled for late Fall 2004.
• Freshman Orientation - Provided support to Orientation 2004 by updating Banner web forms, loading freshman information into tables and addressing operational issues.
• Learning Resource Appointment Form - Developed a student appointment form for the Learning Resources Office to track student visits and attendance at workshops. The new software allows the Learning Resources staff to analyze student participation more effectively.
• Usage Stats for Selp Service Apps - There
have been 20% increase in the use of MySJU self service applications
in August 2004 as compared to August 2003. On average, monthly usage
has increased by over 34% during the 2004 calendar.
