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The new school year has begun and the students aren’t the only ones sitting in classrooms learning something new.  Hundreds of financial systems users at various USNH campuses are attending training classes and learning how to use the new financial software application, Banner Finance, which will go live on January 2, 2002.

The goal of Project FRESH training is to provide end-users with the technical skills and procedural knowledge necessary to successfully and efficiently complete the institutions’ financial processes upon go-live of Banner Finance.  The average user is expected to attend anywhere from 10 to 24 different training sessions over the next few months.  This schedule requires a significant time commitment from these individuals as they attend training sessions and continue to maintain their regular workloads.  Constituents of campus offices are asked to understand the demands placed on the trainees and are encouraged to plan in advance and effectively communicate with them.  Training is critical to the success of the system implementation and it is important to remember that we are all in this together.

Department heads are responsible for enrolling their respective staff in the training sessions.  Attendance is crucial, since the training curriculum covers topics that are essential for users to be able to function with the new system.  Most of the classes are hands-on application training conducted by the CIS Documentation and Training team.  A Project FRESH functional expert for finance is also present at each session to assist trainees and answer questions.  As a foundation to application training, lecture-style sessions, or concept training, are offered and conducted by functional experts to provide users with the fundamental logic behind our business practices.  Another prerequisite to application training is navigation training, which is designed to acquaint users with the Banner product and teach them how to access Banner from their desktops and maneuver through the system.  Labs and workshops will also be held to enable users to practice what they have learned. 

To find out more about the Project FRESH Training effort, please refer to the Training Plan under the Project Management section of the Project FRESH Web site.