RADFORD -- Radford University’s Banner Implementation Teams successfully achieved another implementation milestone for the Banner system recently with the introduction of Banner Admissions. The office of Undergraduate Admissions and the college of Graduate and Professional Studies admissions staff worked with the Division of Information Technology to define the processes, forms, reports, codes and rules that drive Banner Admissions and transition from the legacy systems. The process began in September 2008 and the successful “Go Live” occurred on Aug. 7.

“Those who have contributed to the successful launch of Banner Admissions deserve a big “Congratulations,” said Randa McDonald, project coordinator. “To accomplish a successful implementation and keep their offices going during the transition were major achievements by the staff of the Admissions Office and the College of Graduate and Professional Studies.”

McDonald singled out for special congratulations the staff of the Admissions Office and the College of Graduate and Professional Studies:  Amy Jarich, Rebecca Conner, Carrie Callahan, Brian Quesenberry, Minnie Carper, Opal Merchant, Becky Alls; the technical team:  Enterprise Systems staff – John Ford, Don Duncan, Paul Lusk, Jim Graham, Debbie Johnson, Gregg Shadel, Jackie McNabb, Jeff Brewster, T.J. Tamagni; Data Base Administrators: Aaron Weeks and Ron Rojewski; the RUDI Steering Committee and the Executive Committee.

The launch of the Admissions Banner module is part of Project RUDI (Radford University's Database Initiative), a multi-year project which began in January, 2007 and is designed to review, replace and enhance the university's administrative information systems. These core systems include undergraduate and graduate admissions, financial aid, registration and records, student housing, advancement and fundraising, financials, budget and human resources. Together, these systems provide the business processing, data retrieval, reporting and self-service functions critical to providing essential services to faculty, staff, students, prospective students, alumni and the entire university community.

 “Our graduate admissions office will now be able to communicate in real time with programs regarding applicant files, our graduate program coordinators will be able to sort their applicant data to produce more meaningful information for their programs, said Dr. Dennis Grady, dean of the college of Graduate and Professional Studies.  “And we can further reduce the amount of paper flowing across campus as we strive for optimum sustainability.”

The Banner Admissions team sought out the common process flows, worked to make them more efficient and overcame inherent applicant processing differences between the undergraduate and graduate application processes.  The teams, committees and individuals dedicated to implementation were able to achieve additional efficiencies by automating time-consuming manual processes, such as the online application process. With Banner, the application load is electronic and automated to load on demand using the applications collected from CollegeNET.  Previously, this process was a manual data entry process that has now been replaced with an automated process. Functionality will also be introduced this fall that will allow applicants the ability to view and track receipt of their admissions materials via the MyRU Portal.

The successful implementation has resulted in notable new functionalities:

• electronic acceptance of and loading of test scores from College Board and other sources;
• effective tracking and communication with future prospective applicants with the online recruiting module for Undergraduate Admissions;
• scanning and capture of documents via Xtender, and linkage to individual applicant records in Banner for immediate access and review.