BannerSunited: Behind the new U#s, Campus Changes

Southern University has been through many changes from new buildings to new students and, now, to a new system for student account and record keeping. Recently, Southern University officials decided to update the old portal system known as “banner” that has been in use by the students. The banner system allows students to access their current academic record and progress, financial aid statues, and their personal student information. The new banner system, called BannerSUnited, is meant to unify the school system’s multiple banner Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems into one single application. It is then shared between the five Southern University campuses allowing for a “seamless” transition for students wanting to attend classes at a campus closer to home.
According to Southern University’s IT support staff, the purpose of this system change is, “…to create a more efficient, consistent, and feature-rich student information system.” This means that regardless of what campus a student is attending, that student’s information will be accessible within the system.
This system is very different from the previous system and there are many positive benefits and opportunities that it will bring. One being that with the newly issued ID cards, students are able to use that same ID on all five campuses. Because each school would be using the same system, it would then be easier for students, new or transfer, to obtain their classes. Students would not then have to go through the long process of getting the verification of what courses they have already taken, as well as being able to get a quicker confirmation if a class previously taken is not accepted in the curriculum.
Other features of BannerSUnited is a new “U” student identification number, a new term code structure, a new student-level code, and the course subject code changes. The “U” student identification number is a nine-digit number that will be mostly used by the new freshman class. It is another variation of the “S” number that students have been using for past semesters. With this number usage, the old identification number will be retained to be an “alternate ID.”
Other benefits include, the new term code structure and student-level code. These changes will give campuses better control over resignations, create unique calendar year identifiers, allows a school to manage its semesterly class schedule better, and helps with student classification and information tracking.
Finally, the new course subject code is a revised version of the Louisiana Common Course Catalog, in which, it will create a clearer path to identifying what classes are apart of the Common Course Catalog matrix and what lessons are transferable within the Louisiana higher education system. Combining all these advantages, students can expect to have a quicker banner that has more frequent updates during the resignation and class selection process.
Mia Anderson, a 22-year-old accounting student, is one of many students who find this new system beneficia saying, “. . . it will bring a better sense of organization.” However, with the sudden announcement of the new system, there was some confusion among the student body.
Ebony O’Conner, a sophomore business management student, states that her confusion was because, “….it was at such short notice, right before school had started.” When considering that, it may have been more beneficial that towards the end of the last spring semester if the administration had notified students of the system so once it is implemented they already know what to expect.
Regardless of the confusion, students seem to be adjusting to the idea of a new system at a good and steady pace. The latest developments of BannerSUnited Southern University were unable to deliver a failproof system, resulting in a temporary revisit to the old Banner system. Hopefully, this is not the end the university’s updates of student and campus life. Southern University students can look forward to having a more modern school that will help them advance more in the field of their choosing.