Living in Philly, I only have minutes to write this blog before another snow storm hits and I am drafted into shoveling duty. We had 28 inches over the weekend, and with 20 more on its way, this will be the snowiest winter on record in Philadelphia. For my Northern friends, those totals may seem a bit of a yawner, but as I mentioned during a recent visit to Montana State, this many inches of snow is the functional equivalent of Godzilla attacking the city.
Godzilla attacks Philly. You know it’s Philly, because he’s eating a cheesesteak.
So while many of us are preparing for another round of snow and thinking about the upcoming choices we need to make while trapped at home (do I shovel snow in the cold for three hours, or watch “Cars” with the kids for the 23rd time?), I wanted to propose yet another choice you may have missed:
Learn more about Banner from home!
Nothing feels “cozier” than a cup of cocoa, snow falling, a warm fire and a Banner CBT fired up on your computer. It’s less “Donner party” than you might think…and of course, CBT courses are useful for more than just when the weather is bad.
If you are a new employee, our Training Services can help serve as an easy way to get up to speed on Banner. If you have been around for awhile, they can serve as a useful refresher tool in order to make sure you are utilizing as much of the software as possible. Regardless of where you fall in that spectrum, the benefit of taking the course you want, when you want it, means more flexibility and getting the training you need quicker.
I recently talked with our Training Services group who took me through a bunch of the options. These training solutions are continually evolving, so I was pleasantly surprised at the depth and choices we provide. I’ve outlined some these below, but you can get a better idea simply by going to Training Services Website.
Training Workbooks
If you are interested in obtaining a copy of our training workbooks, contact the Customer Support Center. PDF versions of the workbooks are available at no charge to our clients.
Computer Based Training
Just-in-time product training that is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with SunGard Higher Education’s self-paced, computer-based functional training.
Individualized instruction focused on specific learning needs, such as Banner Finance Overview, Fiscal Year-End Processing, Purchasing, Spreadsheet Budgeting, and Banner Workflow Overview.
Digital Campus Academy
The Digital Campus Academy is SunGard Higher Education’s Web-Based Training Subscription Service, a self-paced, asynchronous training solution. Since it is self-paced, it is ideal for busy administrative users who need to balance their current job responsibilities with functional and system training. A comprehensive, online resource, the Digital Campus Academy supports just-in-time training and guidance on how to complete primary business processes within Banner. There’s a demo on this site that explains more on the concept
Sample training topics for Banner Finance: Purchasing Goods and Services, Managing Accounts Payable, Managing Fixed Assets, Managing Stores Inventory, Managing Cost Accounting, Managing Budgets, Reconciling and Balancing General Ledger Accounts, Managing Endowed Funds, Managing Grants and Sponsored Programs Pre-Award (Research Accounting), and Managing Grants and Sponsored Programs Post-Award (Grants Billing).
Live Instruction
Of course, if you are feeling buried and need a deeper level of support, there’s always the option of live instruction, either on-line or at your campus. If you have specific questions, you can contact us directly at edcenter@sungardhe.com.
Hope this provided some insight into your training options. Hope you have a safe week everyone!
Truly buried in the snow (before Godzilla arrived), proud papa takes a picture of his 3 year old daughter. 18 more inches of snow? No problem...
Thanks for the reminder, seriously. We are transitioning some new people into Banner support for areas in which they were not previously involved. It will be more cost efficient to consider web based training solutions than one-on-one training for many general items such as overviews on fixed asset or stores inventory processing. Of course, we’ll still require some one-on-one training to share knowledge on ‘how we do things’ at Salk, but the CBTs may give the person an excellent head start. Plus, the trainee can work at his own pace to squeeze training in when there are downturns in daily work volume.
Sorry to hear about the bad weather over there. Out here in San Diego, California, it’s clear blue skies and 72 degrees today. We had a (what we call) ‘big’ rain storm pass through for several days over the past two weeks, but that’s nothing compared to your snow!
I lost you at 72 degrees…
Yep, to be honest, I didn’t know about the full range of training options we had until I had a chance to sit down with our Training Services folks. I think these services add a lot of flexibility to your options…and of course, we use the same people that come out to your schools to put together the course materials!
Have a great 72 degree holiday weekend!