UNM students signing up for classes online will soon notice changes to the registration system.

Starting Aug. 1, students registering online for fall semester courses will have the option of using a BETA version of the new registration system being rolled out later this year.

Student registration, payroll, employee leave information and countless forms are stored, organized and accessed through the campus-wide Banner system. A University of New Mexico Information Technologies team has been updating the system since last year. They are phasing out parts of Banner 8, and replacing them with Banner 9.

Banner 9 registration 1
An example of what students will see when they log into LoboWeb after the Aug. 1 BETA release

In November, the team introduced updated administration forms for select UNM staff. Now, they are gearing up to release a completely overhauled registration system. But before launching it for full implementation, IT is making the system available in a BETA form in order to more thoroughly test it and smooth out any bugs students run across. It will also give students the opportunity to become more familiar with the new layout and design. When registering for classes, students can choose to use the old registration system or can opt to use the updated one.

The BETA version of registration comes with many bells and whistles, including offering improved search functionality, a visual representation of scheduled classes and an improved layout – making it simpler for students to register for classes.

Students should note when using the new system, it is still a BETA version. This means there may be issues and when those problems surface, they should be flagged for the IT team to fix. Users may experience performance hiccups or quirky behavior within the website from bugs. IT Applications is working hard to resolve these, and would appreciate any feedback. Users wishing to report a problem with the Banner 9 Registration Application can do so by following the prompts on the BETA Registration page within LoboWeb.

The BETA version has gone through extensive testing in order to be ready for the Aug. 1 release. Focus groups across campus have given their input, and IT has done load testing to make sure the system is powerful enough to handle large numbers of registering students.

IT is releasing the BETA version as a sneak-peak to the new and improved registration experience, and would appreciate feedback from the campus community. To read more about the Banner 9 upgrade, see an updated timeline and track the project, visit the Banner 9 website.