Custom Web Applications

A popular community college in New York uses SunGard Banner as its primary technology platform for its student records, human resources and financial systems. It is a very large and complex system that is deployed on an Oracle Application Server and uses Oracle for its database. All students, staff and faculty have Banner logins to the Banner portal where they can access its self-service offerings. Students use the online services extensively for everything from applying for admission, applying for loans, registering for classes, to paying their bills. Frequently, a department has a need for specific functionality that is not available in the Banner system. To fulfill the need for extending Banner, Softer Ingenuity has been asked to develop custom applications and integrate them with the Banner portal security and Banner database. Two examples of custom development where the applications had to be integrated with the Banner system are described below:

Certificate Declaration System

The School of Professional Studies offers Certificate Programs to enrolled students. These programs are abbreviated courses of study in specialized fields that can provide much-needed skills and knowledge in specific areas. Certificate programs are not a substitute for a degree, but provide comprehensive coverage of a particular topic and grant a certificate of completion at the end of the course of study. The school has the need to know the names of students pursuing a certificate in order to monitor progress toward the certificate and to provide reports for the college and SUNY. The Banner system tracks a student's degree and major, but it has no concept of a Certificate Program and there was no way for a student to declare their intent to pursue a certificate using the Banner system.

Softer Ingenuity was asked to write a proposal detailing the requirements for a secure web-based application that could be used by students to declare their intent to pursue a certificate and by certificate program administrators. Softer Ingenuity's proposal enumerated the functional requirements, identified integration points with Banner's Oracle database, and included mockups of web pages that students and staff would use to complete their tasks. The proposal was accepted and Softer Ingenuity went on to develop the Java/JSP web application using the Apache Struts framework. The application seamlessly integrates with the Banner portal's security, implements business rules that govern what certificates are available to students, offers an intuitive interface for students to select their certificates, and provides various reports for administrators of the certificate program. 

Academic History & Essay

After a student submits and application for admission to the college, the next step in the process is to submit a detailed academic history and an essay. The custom application used by applicants to upload their academic history and essay, lacked a secure, integrated interface that could be used by admissions staff to perform routine administrative tasks. Without this interface, changes to application parameters had to be made directly to the Oracle database tables by a database administrator.

Softer Ingenuity was asked to develop an enhancement to the existing application to add a secure administrative interface to enable staff members to edit the application's operating parameters and to control the list of staff authorized to perform administrative tasks. With the rollout of the upgraded application, admissions staff can log into the Banner portal and gain secure access to the application to make the changes they need instantly - without waiting for help from database administrators.