Introduction

In January 2003, a kickoff meeting was held signaling the start of a Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Analysis to determine the feasibility of SCT’s Banner solution for East Carolina University (ECU).  A series of activities occurred through May 2003 including SCT Banner module presentations (Advancement, Finance, Financial Aid, Human Resources and Student);  “Discovery Days” conducted by SCT with various functional units to understand existing business processes;  SCT Corporate and Banner briefing for the Banner Executive Steering Committee;  “Town Hall” meetings to inform the campus community about Banner;  Oracle database technical presentation;  site visits to Old Dominion University, Thomas Jefferson Medical Center, Drexel University and SCT Corporate headquarters; and, presentations by various third-party add-on product vendors.

An exhaustive requirements document was developed for each module and submitted to SCT for response.  A formal written analysis was produced with the end result being the recommendation to the Banner Executive Steering Committee to migrate all administrative systems to the Banner solution.  This committee endorsed the recommendation and forwarded it to the Chancellor’s Executive Council who then unanimously approved the recommendation on May 19, 2003 dependent upon a comprehensive funding plan.

Presently, ECU is implementing the Banner Finance module with a targeted completion date of July 1, 2005.  Implementation of the remaining modules will commence as funding becomes available.