Upgrades to Langara’s student information system on the way with Workday

By BRICIA CORTES

Langara College says replacing its outdated student information system will address longstanding problems students have had with tasks like registration.

Langara has been using the same information system, known as Banner, since 1996. In recent years, Banner has caused issues with students and staff. The college has worked with contractor Deloitte to switch to a system known as Workday which was introduced to staff in 2020. Langara and UBC are the only post-secondary schools in B.C. to adopt Workday.

Daniela Cebrom, a second term student of Langara College, has concerns with Banner.

“I have had some problems such as very long waiting time when I want to register my courses. The platform just stops working,” Cebrom said. “In my first term, I needed to register four courses and I was only able to register two.”

David Cresswell, Langara’s associate vice-president for strategic transformation and CIO, said Banner no longer meets the needs of the college because of its advanced age.

Cresswell said upgrading the student information system will “streamline the student experience,” although it may come with a learning curve.

“Although the transition to a new system always involves a learning curve, we believe it will be a better experience for students and employees,” Cresswell said in an email to the Voice.

Technical issues with the old system

Brent Kennedy, chair of computer science at Langara, said that Banner needs to be replaced since the contractor, Ellucian, will no longer be updating the system.

He also said digital security was a big reason that made the replacement necessary. He said if hackers were to get into the Banner system nothing could be done to stop them since the system wouldn’t be supported.

“It has to be replaced and so that I think it is not up for debate. If something’s end of life, it is end of life, and we need a new piece of software to support that function,” Kennedy said.