Banner Modernization

 

We are excited to announce that GW is embarking on a strategic project to modernize our Student Information System and Human Resource system with the implementation of Ellucian’s Banner Software as a Service (SaaS) platform.

Through this modernization effort, the university stands to gain significant advantages in efficiency while simplifying and transforming the faculty/staff/student experience, including:

• Near real time data for decision making
• Mobile access and personalized dashboards with notifications and alerts
• High availability, scalability, and security
• Reduction in GW’s carbon footprint

The success of this project depends on the collaboration and engagement of GW community members across the university, and we look forward to kicking off this strategic initiative in 2024.

Scope

Our goal is to streamline and automate as many processes as possible, which means reviewing our business processes for efficiency.  This is our opportunity to shape our enterprise systems to meet the evolving needs of our institution. The scope of this modernization includes:

Approach

Ellucian has adopted a capabilities approach to implementing Banner SaaS which means we start with the end in mind.  Ellucian has adapted the Higher Education Reference Model into the Ellucian Capability Architecture Reference Model (CARM) to align with the processes within Banner.  As part of the Banner Modernization, we started this process in June 2024 by discussing GW’s goals with senior stakeholders.  Now we are mapping the goals to capabilities and then the capabilities will be mapped to specific processes.

Example of how the CARM works:

1. Establish a GW Goal
   •  Sustain and strengthen a diverse and high-quality graduate student and postdoctoral fellow population.
2. Narrow in on the actions to be taken
   •  Create additional fully funded graduate aid packages
3. Determine the Capabilities impacted
   •   Student Financial Aid
4. Identify all of the processes that make up that capability 
   • Preparation and Management
   • Application Management
   • Government Aid Management
   • Communications
   • Packaging Delivery
   • Disbursement Delivery
   • Counseling
   • Analytics
5. Build desired processes that reduce barriers to creating fully funded graduate aid packages

Timeline

The project officially kicked off in March 2024. The project will be a 12-18 month journey that will require us to look for ways to streamline processes by adopting best practices and baseline functionality. We will communicate regularly throughout the project as we define our timeline and hit milestones.

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Major Milestones Complete

• HR and Finance Engagement CARM deep dive onsite - November 14-15, 2024
• Integration Report - October 2024
• DegreeWorks Upgrade - October 2024
• ILP (Blackboard integration) - Oct. 10, 2024
• Student Engagement CARM deep dive onsite - August 28-29,2024
• Strategic Alignment and Readout - July 12, 2024
• Banner SaaS environment deployed - May 2024
• Executive Sponsor Briefing - April 16, 2024
• Project Kickoff - March 28, 2024

Upcoming Milestones

• Change Risk Assessments - Fall 2024

Campus Engagement

Stakeholder Committee 

Chair

• Geneva Henry, Vice Provost for Information Technology

Members

• Terry Murphy, Deputy Provost
• Sabrina Minor, Vice President for Human Resources
• Hemant Bakshi, Senior Associate VP Financial Planning and Operations
• Rumana Riffat, Vice Provost Faculty Affairs       
• Jay Goff - Vice Provost for Enrollment and Student Success
• Neena Ali, University Controller
• Colette Coleman, Vice Provost for Student Affairs
• Suresh Subramanian – Vice Provost, Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs
• Gina Lohr - Senior Associate Vice President for Research 
• Anna Vakulick - Deputy CIO

Events & Presentations

• School Outreach
  • SEAS - November 14, 2024
  • College of Professional Studies - November 4, 2024
  • CCAS  - October 30, 2024
  • GSEHD - October 29, 2024
  • School of Nursing - October 28, 2024
  • School of Public Health - October, 17, 2024
• Office of Student Success - November 6, 2024
• Faculty Senate EPT Committee - ILP Announcement - October 18, 2024
• ESS Leadership meeting - September 6, 2024
• Banner Stakeholder Meeting - August 27, 2024
• Data Governance Meeting - June 7, 2024
• Veteran’s Services - June 5, 2024
• Professional Academic Advisors Network - May 7, 2024
• International Services Office - May 2, 2024
• Graduate Advising - April 8, 2024
• Research Pods - April 4, 2024
• GW Staff Council – March 15, 2024
• Office of the Registrar – March 5, 2024
• GW IT – Feb. 15, 2024
• HR Leadership – Feb. 14, 2024
• Council for Research Administration – Feb 9, 2024
• Banner Advisory Council – Feb 8, 2024
• EAS Advisory Council – Feb 6, 2024
• Faculty Affairs – Feb. 1, 2024
• CRM Advisory Board – Jan 25, 2024
• Grad-C Committee– Jan. 12, 2024

Questions & Feedback

• If you have questions or feedback about this change, please share them with us by submitting the Banner Modernization feedback form, and a member of the project team will be in contact with you.