Better Banner banter or bust
by Ellen Gladden Jones
To passersby, it may have sounded like a story hour or a kazoo festival, but serious discussions and productive work were happening in room 108 of the Greenblatt Library Jan. 26.
During the January Lunch and Such, hosted by the Banner Project SUCCESS Office, Banner Training Coordinator Lisa Stamper used a children’s book to motivate the over 60 attendees, who are helping roll out Banner, MCG’s new student information management software. By drawing parallels to “Ruby Mae has Something to Say,” written by David Small, Ms. Stamper illustrated that teamwork is paramount to success.
“Ruby Mae had a dream for universal peace and understanding. Our dream is for the successful automation of administration procedures at MCG using Banner,” said Ms. Stamper. “Ruby Mae has trouble communicating. She has trouble getting what she knows she wants into words her audience can understand. We can empathize, because sometimes the mere immensity or complexity of what we are trying to accomplish becomes overwhelming.”
At the end of the story, Ruby Mae speaks in front of the United Nations and is working to promote her dream of universal peace and understanding. “Ruby Mae is not finished though. She has not arrived. She has just begun,” said Ms. Stamper. “When our ‘go live’ dates come for Banner implementation, we will not be done either. We will continue on our next step, continually bettering the institution.”
Lunch and Such attendees were dubbed ambassadors of different nations, and at the program’s completion, the ‘king’ of Sweden, his majesty, King Miguel, entered with a kazoo salute. Formally known as Dr. Mike Miller, vice president of MCG enrollment and student services and project leader of the Banner SUCCESS domains, King Miguel helped Ms. Stamper present Noble awards (not Nobel) and chocolates to testers, data cleaners and course builders who have helped with the Banner Project.
Ms. Stamper’s enthusiastic presentation was part of a monthly lunch-and-learn series for employees training to use Banner. The SUCCESS project is an acronym for Strategic University Collaborative Computing for Effective Student Services. Employees in MCG’s recruiting, admissions and financial aid functions have been working since 2004 to test and implement the Banner information system at MCG. The project represents collaboration from the MCG Offices of Information Technology Support and Services, Admissions, the Registrar’s Office, the Cashier’s Office, the SUCCESS Project and Financial Aid as well as consultants from the makers of Banner, Sungard SCT.
Banner went live for recruiting and admissions functions in October. This month, Banner will be operational for Financial Aid personnel. By July, the program will be functional for registration and records personnel, faculty and students. The culmination of these phases will make Banner MCG’s official system of record beginning with the fall class of 2006.
For more information about Banner Project SUCCESS, contact Ms. Stamper at
lstamper@mcg.edu or Registrar Rita
Garner at registrar@mcg.edu.
"SUCCESS - the real success - does not depend upon the position you hold, but upon how you carry yourself in that position."- Theodore
Roosevelt, |