The Ranger (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, October 21, 2005 Page: 9 of 23
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The Ranger
Oct. 21, 2005
9
Lack of training, access source of Banner frustrations
By Charles time
4
New task force aims to curb problems brought by Banner
By Angela Covo
In an emergency meeting Wednesday, district administra-
tion set up a task force to target Banner problems.
After Tuesday’s board meeting, acting Chancellor Daniel
Derrico expressed concern over reported problems with the
$6 million Banner system. Many departments are experienc-
ing difficulties with nonstandard accounts, such as multi-
year accounts, club accounts and grants.
The ongoing Banner Finance implementation continues
to frustrate users and students alike.
The problems are especially evident with multiyear
accounts, gift accounts and peripheral accounts — accounts
that collect and hold funds from year to year.
This is a frustrating problem for KSYM, the campus radio
station. “I can’t approve requisitions or transfers,” faculty
adviser and station manager John Onderdonk said. “I’m
spending money that’s there that I haven’t seen.”
The station has what is called a gift account that holds
funds donated to the station, he said. “None of the money is
in there. It’s a major problem,” Onderdonk said. “We were
told during training that all the accounts should be converted
by November. It certainly makes for a lack of confidence in
the system. I have money in one account I can see. ”
The office of student life has a similar problem.
“I can’t access my accounts right now,” interim Director
Darryl Nettles said. “If anyone puts a requisition in, I have
to know ahead of time. Normally, they’ll call me and I know
about it so we’re all on the same page.”
The requisitions have to be manually submitted for
approval, Nettles said. “It doesn’t fit what the Banner system
is supposed to do, and we don’t know when it’s going to be
fixed. I’m hoping that they don’t lose any money.”
The accounts in question are called soft money accounts
and are used by clubs and organizations for fundraising
and are still active in the Advantage system, the computer
accounting system that Banner replaced.
The Beta Nu chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, a national honor
society for two-year colleges, has a similar problem. “We
can’t do business,” adviser Jeff Hunt said.
The agency account the group uses does not show there
are funds in it, he said. “What’s worse is we don’t know
what our balance is. We’re trying to keep records as best
we can. I get the sense that the administration didn’t really
prepare for the use of these different accounts.”
“The district is making big decisions without understand-
ing how they affect students’ lives on campus,” Hunt said.
At the Title 5 office, problems began before even being
able to access accounts.
“Getting into the system has been problematic,” director
Emma Mendiola said. “The problems have been annoying
— hopefully, that’s the extent of it. It’s been challenging.”
Derrico assembled a who’s who of district personnel to
discuss problems plaguing staff in a meeting that lasted
almost three hours. Adriana Contreras, Derrico’s executive
assistant, said those present included district directors, '
finance officers and information technology staff.
The new task force will be made up of key person-
nel including district Controller Mary Nell Bressel; district
Treasurer Lenora Chapman; Randy Klein, information tech-
nologies application systems manager; and Usha Ventak,
information technologies client services manager, who will
meet with budget officers at each college in the next few
days, Contreras said.
She added they will develop workshops. “We’re anxious
to help folks get through this, and I think this is the most
effective way to do that,” she said.
“The workshops will be developed around issues dis-
cussed at task force meetings at each of the colleges in order
to find the best solutions for whatever the problems are. ”
For visual arts chair, Richard Arredondo, a concern is the
timing of the Banner training.
“TYaining was too far from the ‘go live’ date,” Arredondo
said. “We are having the same glitches as the other depart-
ments,” he said. The approval mechanisms in place seem
more user-friendly, he said, but added that some of the
screens are too small.
At the assessment cen-
ter, the situation is similar.
“There are still some
issues with revenue
funds not showing up in
accounts,” center director
Adolph Lopez said.
“Some of the instruc-
tions were unclear. We
were told that the issues
are being worked on,” he
said, adding the depart-
ment is trying to learn the
systems.
At the child development center, the worry is spending
funds from the correct accounts. “My fear is overspending
or spending out of the wrong accounts,” senior secretary
Joanne Bastien said.
The time span between training and the “go live” date of
Sept. 1 was also problematic for Bastien. “I forgot some of
the things. It’s a lot to learn in three days’ time,”
In the journalism-photography department, a requisi-
tion for new computer equipment was deleted after going
through the approval process. “I didn’t get the right instruc-
tions during training, and the commodity level -limit was
changed from $5,000 to $1,000,” Alicia Morse, academic unit
assistant, said.
The requisitions had to be re-entered, she said. “I don’t
think there was enough training and it was rushed. It might
be great for accountants, but it doesn’t work,” she said.
“They should have told us to take a refresher course in
accounting. The administration needs to spend more time at
this college to understand how decisions affect students.”
Morse singled out two trainers as being helpful — Irene
Slocum, client support specialist, and Elizabeth Alvarado,
purchasing and contracting specialist. “In fairness to the
trainers, they have been very patient,” Morse said.
For the biology department, things look a little better. Rita
Ogden, academic unit assistant, said, “We’re just still learn-
ing, but it looks easier and faster than the old system.”
The kinesiology department is also fairing well, thanks to
Since the Sept. 1 "go live" date, Banner
has baffled many campus departments.
its facilities manager.
“We are fortunate to have Medin Barreira to help our
department with Banner,” interim Chair Leslie Bleamaster
said. Barreira said he was trained to help faculty and staff
use the Banner system.
“I am one of the 12 power users in the district who went
to the beginning training ses-
sions in order to help others
use the system,” he said.
The problems with the
Banner system also were
reported at the Staff Council
meeting Oct. 4. In the meet-
ing, reports of club accounts
being deleted surfaced.
Holly Matthews, elect-
ed delegate-at-large on the
council and secretary of
the American Institute of
Architecture Students, said,
“A number of club accounts
have missing money or have been deleted. If there’s no
account, money can’t be deposited. ”
As a result, Matthews said, any club that has missing
funds will not be able to take advantage of any service on
campus that charges a fee, including services such as print-
ing, the mail room and maintenance services.
“Our club account was issued in April, then deleted in
August, and now funds can’t be deposited into it,” Matthews
said. This resulted in club dues being paid to AIAS in mul-
tiple parts instead of one check, she said.
Matthews also could not take advantage of using the dis-
counted services Federal Express offers the district.
“We can’t see any money in the club account,” she said.
J.D. Richardson, chair of protective services, said his
department is unable to spend an estimated $50,000 in grant
money. “We don’t have the access codes to spend our grant
money. It’s not our fault if we can’t spend it.”
He said the department is not on a deadline to spend the
money, but it has kept them from making some big ticket
purchases. “We haven’t been able to purchase our Sim man
for our paramedic students,” he said. The $35,000 comput-
erized dummy simulates medical conditions for students
to train on and then to evaluate their skills, Richardson
explained.
“We understand it is going to take some time to work the
bugs out of the new system,” he said. “We’re just waiting.”
Larissa Robinson contributed to this report.
"None of the money is in there.
It's a major problem. We were told
during training that all the accounts
should be converted by November.
It certainly makes for a lack of
confidence in the system."
John Onderdonk
KSYM station manager
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San Antonio College. The Ranger (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, October 21, 2005, newspaper, October 21, 2005; San Antonio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1352274/m1/9/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting San Antonio College.