Banner makes changes, still flawed for students

Starting this semester, Banner has been upgraded to enforce pre-requisites when students sign up for classes.

In the past, though pre-reqs existed, Banner didn't recognize whether or not a student had completed the courses necessary to take a higher-level course and only enforced major-related requirements.

The upgrade is good for the college. Students will be forced to take classes in order, which should lead to less advisement confusion and eventually increase the number of students who graduate on time, unlike yours truly.

Sure, some students will complain about how the new system limits some of the classes they could be taking, but it will ultimately help more students than it harms.

The upgrade has left Banner far from perfect, though.

I'm a fifth-year junior who was told I couldn't take a 300-level course because I'd never taken CWP 101, which was waved because of my score on the AP English test in high school.

I'm sure other students have had trouble with the new system as well. If the school is going to attempt to improve something, it should be done right. Banner is pretty straightforward and can be a great resource for students, but it has to work right for us to get the most out of it.

I don't know how Banner works, and I definitely don't care. I prefer the days when I could sign up for whatever class I wanted and dare my professor to tell me I couldn't take it.

But those days are gone, and, as I've said, I get it. I have less control over what I can do at Buff State, but if the system works correctly, I have no problem with it.

That said, the system has to actually work correctly. I have no control over what Banner does and doesn't let me do. I can't force it to do anything or allow me to do anything.

Complaints about Banner will continue until students can trust it, and students won't be able to trust it until they either understand it or are sure that all of the kinks are worked out.

It shouldn't be this complicated. The college needs a system that allows them to enforce rules that they believe benefit the students, and the students simply need a system that gives them consistent results.

Here's to us getting it right next time.

Mike Meiler can be reached by email at meiler.record@live.com.