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:

Banner Student System

Student Enrollment and Admissions
Student Support Services
Student Advising
Student Financial Aid
Student Accounts
Student Assistantships and Fellowships
Blackboard Integration
DegreeMap
Student System related Finance

Banner Human Capital

Talent & Acquisition
Talent & Organizational Development
Compensation
Benefits
Payroll Services
Faculty Personnel
Student Employment
HR related Finance

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.

Our Process

Deep Dive Sessions - Collaboration with Ellucian to map current workflows, systems, and challenges. This helps surface inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and unmet needs.
Analysis - Ellucian evaluates GW’s current state against baseline system capabilities to identify where enhancements, customizations, or new solutions are needed.
Solution Review -Ellucian presents targeted use cases and solution options that address GW’s specific gaps and implementation considerations.
Decision Point - GW reviews the proposed solutions and selects the most strategic and sustainable path forward based on priorities, resources, and long-term goals.
Implementation - Selected solutions are designed, built, tested, and deployed.

Highlighting Wins

With a transformation this large, we must reframe the challenges of today into opportunities for tomorrow. This means we are tackling the complex processes that have fortified how we work. Collectively, we can design our future state. Here are some of our transformational wins.

Blackboard to Banner loading of Grades eliminates the need for faculty to have to enter grades into Banner manually.
DegreeWorks Transfer Equivalency was soft launched today (8/4). This tool is intended to help GW streamline the process of evaluating and applying transfer credits for potential transfer students.
Consolidation of transcripts: we streamlined transcripts formats from 3 to 2 versions with 1) Med and General and 2) Law.
Data Cleanup - old codes and population selections no longer in use
Enabled Global Proxy functionality in the current environment. This new functionality will allow designated administrative staff to view specific student information pages exactly as the student sees them, improving efficiency and enhancing the student experience.
We continue to make progress on converting GW customizations into SaaS safe solutions.