Banner News and Blog Feed

Visit Us on Facebook

Dec 24 2008

The Banner Support Office has created a Facebook group to provide news, information and support to all members of the campus community using the student information systems and web services. This includes BU BRAIN Self Service, Banner INB, and new tools created to support Banner. Stop by today, and add us to your list of group memberships to receive news and information.

URL: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=46018791366

New Office!

Dec 22 2008

The Banner Support Office has moved to a new office, in SW110, the former Harpur Academic Advising space. Faculty, staff and offices requiring Banner support or development should feel free to visit, or call us at our usual phone number: 607-777-5176. As part of our new location, we now have help workstations in place to assist users, or to provide workspace for users developing system areas or modules. Simply give us a call, or stop to make use of them. We hope to see you in our new location - SW110A!

Semicolons, Commas and Pipes...Oh My!

Dec 11 2008

At Binghamton many users use Microsoft's Outlook to conduct business. When attempting to send email to students using Banner's built in "Email Class" function, you may have noticed that the Banner system automatically uses commas, as opposed to semicolons - which is Outlook's preferred separator. As opposed to manually inserting commas, you can set Outlook to accept the comma as a separator.

Some email clients use different address separators to separate addresses in the TO:, CC:, and BCC: fields on an message. The majority of email programs use the comma (,) to separate email addresses. Outlook, however, uses the semicolon. Outlook's online tool uses either the semi colon or the comma depending on the browser. Because of the various separators, Banner developers aired on the side of caution and used the comma. We cannot change the separator to a semicolon, as it will negatively impact other users, and Outlook does permit the use of the comma once you adjust a setting within the program.

Download a Helpful Training Document (PDF Format, VPN Required)

Training for Faculty and Instructors

Dec 4 2008

The University Center for Training and Development has announced additional training workshops open to all faculty/instructors responsible for grading. The workshops will occur on December 9th and December 11th. Additional details can be found on the UCTD site. These workshops cover the process of entering grades into Banner, and includes basic navigation training to support grade entry. Beginning this semester, all faculty will use the Banner direct entry process, as opposed to the former bubble sheet grade entry. Additional materials, including an online video, can be found on the Banner website (You must use a campus connection or VPN connection to access these materials.)

What is the Campus VPN?

Dec 2 2008

When trying to access some Banner materials from off-campus, or via a cellular or mobile connection (Verizon mobile, AT&T etc...), you may have noticed that you receive an error message indicating that you are not authorized, and are required to use a campus connection or SSL VPN. In order to protect sensitive data, and protect proprietary information, we have moved some tools behind an IP wall, requiring that you validate as a campus user. Don't worry - you can connect even if you are off campus, in a hotel room, or even overseas. You simply need to use the Binghamton University SSL-VPN connection, which securely connects you to the campus network, and makes it appear as if you are connecting from a campus computer or connection. Basically, the VPN (virtual private network) uses a small program on your computer, to remotely connect to the campus network - creating a secure virtual network connection to Binghamton. Because most programs simply authenticate you using a username and password, you may not have used the VPN previously; however the VPN has been in use at Binghamton for many years, and has many positive benefits. For example, the VPN permits connecting to your H Drive and other shared network spaces. Additionally, it permits access to various other campus tools and software, including FTP, Hyperion, Remote Desktop access, and more. VPN provides several additional security benefits to you as well, as you connect to campus resources. Here are a few helpful resources:

Website Changes

Nov 25 2008

In order to provide additional services to the campus community, we have made some changes to the Banner website to protect proprietary data, screenshots and videos. By doing so, we are able to better communicate policy, processes and system changes to the campus community. You will notice that some parts of the Banner website are now behind an IP filter, requiring you to have an on-campus connection, or VPN connection to access data. This is to be assured only our campus community members are accessing materials. If you experience any trouble accessing an area of the site, please be assured you are using a campus connection, as opposed to a mobile connection. Also, be assured you are not using non-Binghamton VPN tools on your system which may conflict. If you are at home, or using a wireless connection, please use the Binghamton VPN to access these areas.

Services and documents that require an on-campus connection, will generally have a small lock displayed next to them, indicating it is a protected resource.

Tweeting About Banner

Nov 20 2008

Check us out on Twitter, a real-time short messaging service that you can subscribe to and view on the web, your phone, your handheld...or a multitude of other devices. We use Twitter to syndicate our blog, and send out informal notes to Banner users all over campus. Subscribe today, and receive notes, status updates and more via Twitter. See us at http://twitter.com/BUBrain.

Introducing Banner House Call

Nov 20 2008

We've developed a support service we are calling Banner House Call, in order to provide additional support and personalized service for Banner users across campus. The Banner Support Office will provide in-person or virtual assistance with Banner business process development, retraining, in-service training, troubleshooting and other business functions. Every week, we have times set aside for one-on-one training, in-service training for departments and offices, and in person demos of Banner functionality and processes. You can sign up for any of the times listed on the site, or contact the office for an alternate or future time. Once you sign up, the spot will be temporarily reserved for you. Shortly thereafter, you will receive a telephone call from a Banner team member to set up a training, or for a referral to a more appropriate team.

Banner Enhancement Requests

Nov 19 2008

We've launched a new request tool to give campus community members the opportunity to make formal requests for Banner Enhancements, changes and modifications. As we move from an implementation phase to a development and support phase we can now begin to focus our efforts on refining and extending Banner to suit our campus needs. The entire Banner team is energized by the new possibilities, and looks forward to refining the system and placing our own unique stamp on Banner. As part of this initiative, faculty and staff are able to submit formal requests online, and then track the progress of the request online. We have established a formal process for reviewing these requests, and taking action on them.

The Banner Support Office will first review the submission to be assured the request does not duplicate services or functionality already present in the system. If the request is a basic modification or adjustment that can be completed internally, the Banner Support Office may act on the request. Requests that require modification, advanced enhancements or system changes must be referred to the Banner teams for review. The Banner teams may either assign their own resources to the request, or seek additional help and resources via the Executive Steering Committee or ITS workgroups and committees.

In some cases, requests may have merit, but cannot be prioritized given competing projects or resource constraints. In these cases, the Banner Support Office we will retain and continue to track, review and revisit the request with the Banner teams at regular meetings. If resource or personnel constraints are resolved, the Banner teams will update the request, assign it to a workgroup, and report progress. To take part in this process, please visit the following resources: