SunGard Banner Summit 2009

Hello from Philadelphia!

As 14 of my Stonehill colleagues converged onto the streets of Philadelphia, we represented numerous modules being implemented at Stonehill College in the upcoming months. We came together with both excitement and anxiety about what awaits us. SunGard Banner hosted almost 6,000 people, who represented 26 countries and the 1600 higher education institutes that are current users of the SunGard Banner System.

On Sunday, the program kicked off with Ron Lang, the SunGard Higher Education's new CEO. As he rolled onto the stage with a backpack and skateboard, he made a renewed commitment to the audience. SunGard will continue to focus on improving their product, services and continue to stay committed to the needs of their customers. Mr. Lang challenged each one of us to use this Summit Conference to “Connect”.

The keynote address was given by Dr. Mya Angelou. The 81 year old poet, author, actress and civil-rights activist opened the conference and shared experiences and perspective on how to be empowered by inspiration and connections. She silenced the crowd’s applause by singing “When it looked like the sun wasn’t going to shine anymore, God put a rainbow in the clouds.” Rainbows in the clouds, which symbolize hope for humanity in times of hardship and change, became the underlying message of her talk. She challenged each of us to go out and make a difference and embrace change.

So, as we left the hall recalling the task put forth from Dr. Angelou and Mr. Lang, we had a mission for our four days:

Connect to possibility:
New possibilities are just around the corner. Participants came to the Summit to learn how to connect their students and colleagues to information that matters to them. And alternatively discovered how their peers are connecting the right data and analytics to drive performance. We had over 600 classes to choose from each designed to provide a unique learning experience.

Connect to community:
We come together as a community dedicated to education. This conference provided countless occasions for us to meet people with similar goals and interests. Gaining both insight and years of hands-on experience, we connected with a common purpose and shared a common vision.

Connect to the world:
As I mentioned above, nearly 6000 participants from 26 countries came to share and learn. Each one representing one of the 1600 institutes that partner with the SunGard family to share their successful implementation stories. Education is changing the world. And the world is changing education.

Connect to the future:
Each one of my Stonehill colleagues is now better prepared for the implementation challenges in front of us. I think I speak for all of my colleagues when I say, we don't have all of the answers yet, but we do have a new found network of colleagues to partner with to ensure a successful implementation on the campus of Stonehill College.

Name That Portal

Perhaps some of you are wondering about the outcome of the contest that we ran for naming the new Banner portal. We had a very enthusiastic response from the Stonehill Community and many creative names were submitted. We would like to thank everyone who participated and as soon as a decision is reached we will post it here! Stay tuned...

Step by Step

Hello!

Here is another installment from Erin Brousseau from the Admissions Office!

So we finally had a Banner training last week that was Admissions-specific and let us get our hands dirty. I even got to sit in the front of the class to be the trainer’s assistant, navigating screen to screen and entering things while he pointed out options on the overhead screen. I enjoyed it because physically working on Banner helps me remember a lot more than just listening to a lecture or reading a PowerPoint presentation.

Instead of speaking in general terms as we had in the past, we began discussing our current business practices and tried to figure out how to accomplish (or improve) them in Banner. Our trainer John reemphasized the importance of documenting everything we do in case we accidentally alter something between test phase, pre-production and production. I now know how to print screenshots, dump validation tables into backup files and take copious notes to avoid having to reinvent the wheel should we have really bad luck and break something. I sincerely hope we’ll never have to rely on these backup measures, but it’s definitely comforting to know they are in place. We will follow these exact steps (screenshots, file backups and note-taking) for every little thing we set up.

The next step is to complete the homework that was assigned to us, due next month. It will be interesting to see what’s next.