The Student Administration System (Banner) is the student record system for the University of Southampton.
The IT Training & Development team in iSolutions provide a series of online and classroom tutorials for users of Banner. These courses have been designed to meet the learner needs, are delivered by qualified staff and are held in a fully equipped training room located on Highfield Campus.
As the University's student record system, it is essential that staff learn how to navigate and use Banner effectively and within the context of delivering student and academic administration.
Classroom training is available throughout the year with courses delivered on a rolling basis and online tutorials can be accessed at any time. Courses can be booked through the IT Training & Development website where there is also information on the content of the various courses available to staff.
It is suggested that staff stagger their training in order to allow expertise to be absorbed and consolidated.
As with SAA staff who work in functional areas across the student lifecycle, Banner is also comprised of various 'forms' and functionalities that reflect the lifecycle. Training courses are designed and delivered to mirror this approach, and system access is granted to those specific areas of Banner that have been trained in the respective training session.
Ultimately, staff will not be able to undertake their role without the appropriate training and consequent system access.
Students should never normally be allowed to attend training or have any sort of access to Banner even if they have a dual role as a member of staff. Exceptions may be granted for short term activities where students are employed for specific purposes and managed in a single location (e.g. Visa check in, clearing/enrolment hotline). Students granted access to Banner must be made fully aware of the implications of the Data Protection Act in relation to accessing other students’ information, and students should never be given access to update assessment or award records.
In the event that a member of staff who is also a student should apply for training, the FAR or member of Professional Service should raise the issue with the Assistant Director of SAA (Head of Student Systems and Operations) in the first instance and the appropriate SAA Registry Team Manager(s). Each case will be reviewed in the light of the individual circumstances.
The associated request form, ‘Request for Student Records System Access for Student Employees’, can be found below under ‘Useful Downloads’.
Please note that it is the responsibility of the line manager to request the removal of the access rights through a Serviceline ticket as soon as the student has left the Employment/Placement.
The Banner system requires maintenance throughout the year which enforces downtime periods of varying lengths. Details of the 2020 downtimes will be posted below as and when they are confirmed:
04 March
01 April
24 April
13 May
03 June
08 July
31 July
09 September
07 October
04 November
09 December
On the dates listed above, Banner will be unavailable from 17.00 until 22.00 unless otherwise stated.
ServiceLine is the central point of contact for any day-to-day queries or issues regarding the Student Administration System (Banner). ServiceLine logs all e-mails and calls through an Action Request management system so that queries can be progressed in an efficient and satisfactory manner.
The ServiceLine is open Monday to Friday 8.30am to 6.00pm on each day that the University is open, and can be contacted:
by e-mail at serviceline@southampton.ac.uk
by telephone on extension 25656