The Service Center is a dynamic customer service-oriented database that supports student and financial business processes such as nondegree student admissions, advanced course search functionality, online registration and numerous data tracking and financial reporting capabilities. Since Banner does not support noncredit processes, all of those operations are supported entirely by the Service Center’s functionality. Having current course and student information in our Service Center allows us to better support our key business process, and greatly improves reporting response times and accuracy rates.

The Service Center also allows us to provide faculty with web-based access to course rosters, contact information, and Banner data, and an easy means of sending messages and attachments to students.

Course Scheduling

The course search area of the OCE website lists credit and noncredit offerings for each term. Online and off-campus credit sections are first created first in Banner and then they are completed in the service center and noncredit sections are built in their entirety in the Service Center. Combining credit section information from both systems makes it possible for more comprehensive course descriptions to be displayed in the class schedule (course search) area of our website. Once created, credit and noncredit course offerings appear in their corresponding online registration forms.

Online Registration

Students currently in a campus degree program use Banner’s Web for Student interface to enroll in course sections. Prospective students who are currently not in a campus degree program must submit our online Nondegree Credit Registration Form. And, prospective noncredit students must submit the online Noncredit Registration Form. All nondegree credit and noncredit enrollment requests are received in a registration log and are processed in Service Center (and in Banner for credit offerings) by our registration secretaries. Credit students are assessed through Banner and receive a tuition bill from campus. Noncredit students use I-Pay online credit processing to pay tuition and fee assessments.

Nondegree Student Admissions

To enroll a nondegree student in a credit section, the person must first have a student record. Our registration staff use Banner’s abbreviated quick-admit process to admit the students to the campus and then they use the student course registration form to enroll the students in the requested sections if they satisfy the registration restrictions. All student demographic and course registration data submitted via our online enrollment forms are stored in the Service Center and in Banner for credit offerings so it can be used in subsequent registration, assessment and reporting processes.

Reporting

Importing current course and student information into our service center each morning makes it possible for our system to track our program and course offerings and student enrollments and assessments. The information has been used to create a wide range of canned and ad hoc reports for instructors, academic administrators, campus and university business offices, regional, state and national agencies, and other external organizations.

Approved departmental staff can log into our Service Center using their campus NetID and password and quickly access the information they need it to support daily business operations and reporting needs. Available reports include multiple credit and noncredit course roster views, course section reports, marketing reports, campus, state and regional reports, student biodemographic reports, etc. OCE personnel can log into the system and access these and other reports including tuition and fee reports. Most canned reports can be generated by term, program affiliation, course subject, CRN, etc. Service Center data is also regularly used to respond to distance learning surveys.

Other Service Center-Supported Processes

The capabilities and internal structure of the database is constantly be updated to improve our services. For example, functionality has recently been added to allow our instructional designers to enter and track copyright permissions for materials used in online courses. Processes have also recently been added to meet our Elluminate class scheduling and tracking requirements procedures and to support the creation of Instructor Agreement. The Service Center will continue to be enhanced as new processes are added to the system.