Tips on Banner Schedule Entry

by Rick Matthews

Wake Forest University has adopted SCT Banner. I have to use this for entering our departmental schedule. The Banner user interface is counterintuitive and violates many of the standards for graphical user interfaces. For more extensive discussion of the poor design of SCT Banner, visit the page Design Flaws in SCT Banner.

Fortunately, Jeannette Rork of the Registrar's office has patiently walked me through the intricacies of entering schedule changes in Banner. The following are mainly my notes from her help sessoins with me.

Any errors here are mine, not hers. Please contact me with any errors you find at matthews@wfu.edu.

Accessing Banner's non-web interface

Go to http://apex.admlan.admin.wfu.edu:9090/.

Choose Production INB/ Pre-production database. Logging in puts you in the General menu. Note: only ID and password are needed to login, not database.

Documentation

Once in Internet Native Banner, you can get online help via the menu bar: Window>Internet Native Banner.

However, this online help is configured so that it works only if:

1. Your browser is not configured to block pop-up windows.
2. Adobe Acrobat is configured to display PDFs inside your browser. (In Acrobat, select Edit >Preferences> Internet, and check the box "Display PDF in Browser."

Pull up a list of sections for your department

From General window, chose Student>Schedule Section Query (SSASECQ).

1. From the General window, choose Student > Class Schedule > Schedule Section Query (Double-click on Schedule).
2. Enter PHY (or dept name) and an optional course number.
   • You can use the "%" sign as a wild card for characters in the course number, e.g., "3%%" would match 311 and 343.
3. Enter the correct Term in the Term box.
   • To bring up a list of term codes, click in the Term box and hit F9.
4. hit F8 (for query).
   • Note: if you later want to change your search criteria, you will find the fields are not editiable. As best I can tell, you cannot make them editable. To enter a completely new query,
     • First click on Query on the main menu.
     • Next choose "Last Criteria". This does not bring up the last criteria as you would expect; instead, it just clears out all the query fields and makes them editable. Now you can type new search criteria an any of the fields.

Changing an instructor

First pull up a list of sections via the Schedule Section Query as above, click on the section to be edited, and then

1. Scroll to the course of interest.
2. Click in the Subject box.
   • choose Options from the main menu and
   • choose Course Schedule Information from the resulting drop-down menu. This should bring up the Schedule Section window.
3. Click in the Subj. box, and data for that section should appear.
4. Choose Options from the main menu bar and then ...
5. Choose Assigned Instructors from the drop down menu.
6. Click on the existing instructors name and then
   • select Record from the main menu and
   • select Remove from the drop-down menu..
7. Click on the magnifying glass above the instructor's name slot. This should bring up a Faculty Query window.
8. Click into the first name box, type the instructors last name (case sensitive), and then hit F8.
   • Note: if you are adding an additional instructor to one or more already on the form, be sure to click into the first empty instructor box before hitting F8.
9. Double click on the ID of the desired faculty member, which will copy the name back to the previous Instructor window.
   • Note: Suppose you are updating a section with more than one instructor. One instructor has a check box identifying him or her as the "primary" instructor. If you delete this person and add a new instructor, you will need to check the "primary" box for one of the instructors to designate them as primary.
10. Click F10 or the Save icon. Look in the bottom of the window for a message indicating save success or an error.
    • If a faculty conflict error appears, you put an "O" in the override box next to the name if you are sure that this is not a legitimate problem. To see a list of this faculty's courses, choose Direct Access and type SIAASGQ.
    • Type Tab, hit Q.
    • Type the instructor's last name, hit F8.
    • Click (double-click?) on the correct ID.
    • Note: "Staff" will always generate a faculty conflict error unless you put an "O" in the Override box.
11. Click the Rollback icon.
12. Click "x" on the main window to get back to the query page.
13. If you plan on changing your query, you will need to
    • First click on Query on the main menu.
    • Next choose "Last Criteria". This will clear all fields and let you change them. (If anyone can determine how to just make the fields editable without clearing them, let me know.)

Changing a section time

First pull up a list of sections via the Schedule Section Query as above, click on the section to be edited, and then

1. Scroll to the course of interest.
2. Click in the Subject box.
   • choose Options from the main menu and
   • choose Course Schedule Information from the resulting drop-down menu.. This should bring up the Schedule Section window.
3. Click in the Subj. box, and data for that section should appear.
4. Choose Options from the main menu bar and then ...
5. Choose Scheduled Meeting Times.
6. Check the days of the meeting and the corresponding times in military time (3:00 p.m. is 1500).
7. Click the Save icon in the main window or hit F10. Look at the bottom of the window to be sure that there is no error.
8. Click the Rollback icon in the main window, which returns you to the Schedule Section window.
9. Click "x" on the main window, which returns you to the Schedule Section Query window.
10. If you plan on changing your query, you will need to
    • First click on Query on the main menu.
    • Next choose "Last Criteria". This will clear all fields and let you change them. (If anyone can determine how to just make the fields editable without clearing them, let me know.)

Changing a section enrollment limits

First pull up a list of sections via the Schedule Section Query as above, click on the section to be edited, and then

1. Scroll to the course of interest.
2. Click in the Subject box.
   • choose Options from the main menu and
   • choose Course Schedule Information from the resulting drop-down menu.. This should bring up the Schedule Section window.
3. Click in the Subj. box, and data for that section should appear.
4. From the main menu bar Choose Options > Section Enrollment Info, which brings up the Enrollment Data window.
5. To change the Max (maximum number of students) without setting course limits, enter a new number in the Max box, and hit the "Enter" key. Then click the Save icon in the main window.
6. A more flexible alternative to the last above step that also lets you reserve seats for freshmen, etc., is as follows:
   • Click on the small page-like icon next to the Max box. This brings up the Reserved Seats window.
   • In the first line in the Maximum Seats column, enter the number of unrestricted seats. Hit Enter, and the cursor will move to the Waitlist Max column. You may optionally change the waitlist maximum, but you must hit Enter again.
   • Click in the Maximum Seats column of the first empty line. The cursor will move to the first box of that line.
   • Click in the box under Class. Enter FR under "Class".
   • Enter the number of seats reserved for freshmen in the Maximum Seats column of the same line, and hit Enter. The Overall Section Total should reflect the sum of the unrestricted and restricted seats.
   • Click on Save Reserved Changes button.
   • Click "Yes" on the warning window that you are changing the overall section size (if you get such a message). This returns you to the Enrollment Data window.
7. Click on Rollback in the main program window. This returns you to the Course Section window.
8. Click on "X" in the main application window to return to your Schedule Section Query window.

Delete a Section

1. Select Options from the main menu and then...
2. Select Schedule Section Detail from the drop-down menu..
3. Double click the Subject box (which usually does not work) or
• choose Options from the main menu and
• choose Schedule Section Detail from the resulting drop-down menu..
4. Click in the Subj. box, and data for that section should appear.
5. Choose Record > Remove from the main program window.
6. Click the Save icon on the main window.

Web listing of all departmental courses

From banner launch page, choose Production SSB/ Pre-production database.

• Choose Class Schedule.
• Select Term, click Submit.
• Choose the appropriate Department. You may optionally choose other restrictions.
• Click Class Search.

Bugs I have found