Banner FAQs | Banner @ Buffalo State (2024)

1. Can a student’s schedule be viewed by faculty instructors and advisors?

Yes, in Self Service Banner (SSB) click on Student information, then Student Schedule.

2.Can faculty drop a student from a class for non-attendance?

No.

3. Are there timing restrictions? If class is over capacity, will student be able to register?

If a class is over capacity, students won’t be able to register for that class without a capacity override granted by either the instructor or the department chair or secretary.

4. Will Banner term default to current term or does one always have to select term?

You always have to select a term from the List of Values (LOV), but the most recent term will be displayed at the top of the list.

5. Will Banner have downtime?

No. Banner will be available 24/7, except for scheduled maintenance.

6.What if students want to register for two courses that are at the same time since they may not know which one they want to keep?

Banner does not prevent a student from enrolling in courses with a time conflict. It is the student’s responsibility to find course sections that have no time conflict. However, Banner will not allow a student to enroll in two different sections of the same course.

7.Is it possible to publish instructor email address for each course that requires permission?

While the instructor’s email address may be available in the section details, it is not displayed when the Instructor Permission message is displayed. Procedures will be provided in Banner that will explain how students should find the instructor’s email address to request the instructor’s permission.

8.Can more than one restriction be assigned to the same section?

Initially, we will be able to add restrictions for Major, Class (freshman, senior, etc) and Level (Graduate or Undergraduate) as well as Instructor Permission. Any combination of these can be applied to a section.

9. Can you reserve “N” seats for non-majors?

We will not use the reserved seating capability in Banner. Therefore, we will continue to use the “shadow section” model to reserve seats in a section for select groups.

10. Can the instructor override the class quota?

Yes. Instructors will have the ability in Banner to grant a capacity override to individual students if the course section is closed.

11.What format will reports be available in?

Some reports will be generated from the system and be made available on a web-based server for viewing by authorized personnel. The reports will be available in PDF and Excel formats.

12.If a course is full and instructor permission is required, which error message do students receive?

Students are encouraged to search for courses to see which ones are open and closed. If a student enters the Course Reference Number (CRN) directly into the registration worksheet without searching, the instructor permission and other restriction messages will appear before the closed section message.

13.On the first day of class, can we log on paper those students who need permission to register, then take it back to the office to secure permission?

Individual instructors and departments may use any procedures they want to record/determine which students they wish to allow into their courses. Banner will allow the instructor (and department chairs and secretaries) to grant the permission for the student.

14.Will department secretaries be able to pull rosters if needed?

Yes.

15.Can I use webmail to email students from Banner?

Banner is designed to use a regular email program on your computer, such as Outlook. However, it is possible to get the email addresses and paste them into a web-based email program. Documentation will be provided on the Banner website and at training sessions.

16.Can we see student’s email addresses in Banner?

Yes. You click on Student Information, then Student Email address.

17.Can we get students’ pictures to show up in Banner?

Yes.

18.Does Banner allow us to restrict certain courses to majors and non-majors?

Yes.

19.Can chairs do all overrides for faculty?

Yes.

20.Is it possible to generate an overrides report (who granted what)?

Yes.

21.How are we going to handle capacity overrides?

Real physical space (# of chairs) in classrooms is smaller than the space indicated by the campus fire code. Reports will be generated and provided to departments that include the “station” capacity, which indicates the number of chairs in the room as defined in the Physical Space Inventory. Capacity overrides should not be granted beyond that number.

22. After receiving an instructor’s permission, does a student still have to go back and register?

Yes. The instructor will need to contact the student to let him/her know that the permission has been granted. Alternatively, instructors can grant permission for students they know will be allowed into the class prior to the start of registration. Those students will receive not error messages when they attempt to enroll in the course.

23. How will faculty members grant overrides?

There is a simple form in Banner for this which will be addressed in training and online documentation. It involves identifying the student, the type of override and the course.

24.How can I check prerequisites for each student?

While Banner has the capability to verify prerequisites, we are not yet implementing that feature. As students’ academic history data is loaded into Banner over the summer or 2007, faculty and advisors will be able to see a student’s academic history in Banner.

25. Can I drop a student?

Not without the student’s permission. Faculty and advisors will have the ability to search for, add and drop courses on behalf of a student, but only if the student enters his/her PIN.

26. Is the student responsible for taking care of ALL registration errors?

Yes.