As a service to the Mason community, we have designed this page to answer many of the questions that have arisen during the implementation of the Banner system.

If you have a question and cannot find the answer here, please contact the Patriot Project Team.

This page will be updated often, so please check back to make sure your question has been addressed.

Question:
Will students have G-numbers?
Answer:
Yes, Banner Student will assign a unique G-number to every student. The G-number will be the primary identifies for all students and will appear on the student ID card.

Question:
Will the SSN go away for students?
Answer:
No, we will continue to collect the SSN for students; its primary use at the university is in the financial aid process. Once the Banner Student implementation is complete, however, the SSN will cease to be the primary identifier for students.

Question:
Does Banner offer course evaluation capability?
Answer:
Banner Student has a basic evaluation function in the Web for Students application.

Question:
Does Banner interface with the Resource 25 product?
Answer:
It currently does not, but SCT is investigating options for resource scheduling.

Question:
Will students be held responsible for any errors in advising caused by the new CAPP evaluation?
Answer:
No, we won't hold students responsible for documented errors in systems processing.

Question:
Does Banner provide prerequisite checking?
Answer:
Yes. When we bring online registration up for fall 2004, Banner will check for Math and English prerequisites currently established.

Question:
Will it be possible for faculty to enter grades for some students and not others?
Answer:
Yes.

Question:
How will proxy grading work?
Answer:
Banner does not provide a mechanism for proxy grading, and we are currently exploring our options for this process.

Question:
How will Banner accommodate directed readings?
Answer:
Faculty can use the self-service product to enter registration overrides. Some faculty may prefer to continue using paper for these processes, and we will accommodate that.

Question:
Will tuition waivers be processed in Internet Native Banner?
Answer:
Yes.

Question:
Will web pages for graduate students be the same as those for undergraduates?
Answer:
Yes, web pages are the same for all students, but the data displayed will be appropriate to the student. For example, "class" would show either Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, or Senior for undergraduate students, but would show either Graduate or PhD Advanced to Candidacy for graduate students.

Question:
Will we continue the current practice of assigning priority registration dates when web registration replaces telephone registration?
Answer:
Yes.

Question:
Will Banner keep a record of students' changes to their registrations?
Answer:
Yes, the Student Course Registration Audit form in Internet Native Banner records every action taken during course registration.

Question:
Will faculty be trained in how to use the self-service product?
Answer:
We will build quick reference guides for faculty and offer face-to-face training for those who would like additional guidance.

Question:
When will training begin?
Answer:
We've found with the Banner Finance and HR implementations that training needs to occur just before an individual will use the system, and should cover only those items that an individual needs to do his/her work. We will publish a training schedule and develop targeted training modules after we have determined how individuals will access the system.

Question:
How will we get information to students?
Answer:
We will communicate with students through a number of means: e-mail, student newspapers, class schedules, posters, and the web. The back page of the spring 2004 schedule of classes notifies students that beginning with the fall 2004 term, we will use web registration.

Question:
Does Banner provide both an undergraduate and a graduate application for admission?
Answer:
The undergraduate application for fall 2004 is up and running, available through the Office of Admissions Web site, admissions.gmu.edu. We anticipate that the fall 2004 graduate application will be available in January 2004.

Question:
If a class is restricted, will Banner show the reason?
Answer:
Yes.

Question:
Will the class schedule show how many seats are available in a given section?
Answer:
Yes.

Question:
Will students be able to see how much tuition they owe?
Answer:
Yes, and they will be able to pay their tuition bills online.

Question:
Will the system accept SSN as well as a G number?
Answer:
Yes.

Question:
Will end users have the same security as they currently have with SIS?
Answer:
Users will be given the level of access appropriate to do their jobs. We will make query access widely available through INB (Internet Native Banner), but make update access available only to those whose jobs require it.

Question:
Does Banner produce a waitlist?
Answer:
Yes.

Question:
Does Banner take into account the distance between Prince William and Fairfax when a student registers for classes?
Answer:
No, self-service does not take into account distance between campuses when determining whether a scheduling conflict exists.

Question:
We currently register our students. Will we be able to continue that practice?
Answer:
Yes, staff in academic units will be able to register students for classes through INB (Internet Native Banner).

Question:
How will students taking contract courses register?
Answer:
We will work with units to help them determine whether they want to register students taking contract courses through INB (Internet Native Banner) or have students register themselves through self-service.

Question:
When will the new system be ready?
Answer:
All processing for the fall 2004 semester will be done in Banner. Processing for spring 2004 and summer 2004 will be done in SIS. We will need to work in both systems concurrently for several months. Students who receive financial aid will see information through self-service as early as February 2004. Students will register online for fall 2004 beginning in April 2004. Faculty and advisors will see high-level information about students at that time, but complete academic history will not be available until June 2004.

Question:
Will all information on summer 2004 program be converted into Banner?
Answer:
Yes.

Question:
Will INB (Internet Native Banner) work on a Mac?
Answer:
No. INB (Internet Native Banner) is based on Oracle technology, which doesn't work on Macs. It is possible, however, to access self-service through Macs.

Question:
Will we be able to cross-list courses in Banner?
Answer:
Yes.

Question:
What kind of reports will we be able to get out of the system?
Answer:
Banner delivers a set of reports for each major module. We will be able to use some of these reports to satisfy our need for information about students, but there are a significant number of reports that will have to be developed. We will develop mission-critical reports first. We are working with units to identify their reporting needs and options for satisfying them.

Question:
Will Banner show all courses taken at previous institutions or only those courses which have transferred?
Answer:
The admissions office will enter into a transfer student's record all courses taken at previous institutions regardless of the grade earned. Only those courses earned with an acceptable grade will transfer, however. The web transcript will show only transfer work (or AP/IB credit) accepted by the institution as counting towards the degree. University policy is to accept only courses with grade of "C" or better. As a result, courses with a grade lower than a "C" will not display.

Question:
If a student attended in a non-degree status and then transitioned to a bachelor's or master's program, will she have a separate transcript for each kind of work?
Answer:
Yes, Banner transcripts (web or INB) display work according to level. There will be transcripts for nondegree, undergraduate, and graduate work. The format of the web transcript is normally the same regardless of the level of work taken, but the display of the courses and the cumulative totals will be based on the level.

Question:
How will we train students to use Banner?
Answer:
The self-service product for students is highly intuitive, but we will also provide online reference guides as well as access to the Support Center to help students adjust to the new system.

Question:
Will the system recognize prerequisites?
Answer:
Yes.

Question:
What will happen to the historical data that is currently in SIS for students who have already graduated?
Answer:
Historical data on all students who enrolled in the university will be converted into the Banner database.

Question:
Will staff and faculty be able to access general student information in self-service or will we have to use INB (Internet Native Banner) to get this information?
Answer:
Faculty and advisors will use self-service to access information about their students. Staff in the back offices who have previously used SIS to gather information about students will likely use INB (Internet Native Banner).

Question:
Are there screens in Banner that are equivalent to SIS screens?
Answer:
Banner forms in INB (Internet Native Banner) look quite different from SIS screens, but Banner provides virtually all of the information about students that is available from SIS, and quite a bit more. Training will help users learn how to navigate Banner to get the information they need.

Question:
If only summary data is being brought over from SIS to Banner for continuing students, what does this mean for the degree audit?
Answer:
Summary data is being brought over early next year so that financial aid can evaluate applicants and registration can be controlled by hours. Detailed academic history will be converted in June and again at the end of the summer. Once this is done, degree audits should work just fine.

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