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Banner Upgrade Planned for President's Day Weekend

The College's Banner information system will be upgraded during the upcoming President's Day weekend. Beginning at 6:00 p.m., on Wednesday, February 16, 2005, Banner and WebSTARS (aka Web For) will be taken off-line until the upgrade is completed and the system is re-activated on Tuesday, February 22 at 8:00 a.m.

College offices have agreed to adjust their computing activities prior to this period, enabling a temporary shutdown of Banner and WebSTARS (aka Web For) . During the shutdown period, all other enterprise information technology services such as GroupWise email, other email systems, and Internet access will remain operational. Desktops and laptops will also continue to function normally.

Mandatory upgrades to Banner are periodically provided by SCT, Inc. (the company that produces Banner), usually on an annual basis. These upgrades include compliance-oriented enhancements such as new Federal financial aid and taxation requirements as well as enhancements of functions and features such as improved management of student accounts and better remote access capability.

Over a year ago, planning for this upgrade began. Extensive testing of Banner modules, new computer servers, and additional network components has been accomplished by college users and has demonstrated that the new Banner version is ready for use.

Preview sessions have been scheduled to acquaint casual users with what to expect regarding changes and intensive users are invited to additional briefing sessions (see www.ccsf.edu/bannerupgrade for information on these sessions).

While few problems are anticipated, ITS will have technicians standing by at (415) 452-5733 to help any users with Banner issues. This special extension will be accessible on the Tuesday and Wednesday (February 22 and 23) that follow the upgrade. All users are encouraged to review the information about the Banner upgrade at www.ccsf.edu/bannerupgrade .