Seamless Student Journey to Graduation at USEK

How USEK future-proofed growth in student course registrations and made it easier for staff to ensure every student succeeds

Nestled between the Mediterranean coast and the scenic peaks of Mount Lebanon, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK) attracts students from across the Middle East and beyond.

Known for its academic excellence, pioneering research, and vibrant cultural mix, the institution welcomes over 2,000 undergraduates every year and offers more than 200 academic programmes including medical sciences, engineering, law, arts and sciences, business, architecture, and design.

USEK strives to provide students with a seamless experience at every stage, from navigation of the website at the start of their academic journey, to streamlined registration and successful completion of their study programme. Recent changes have helped the university accomplish this goal and exceeded expectations as over 2,000 students can now register for courses simultaneously.

A Modern Solution for Growth

Since its founding in 1938 by the Lebanese Maronite Order, USEK has grown to become one of the region’s most prominent institutions for academic excellence.

With student numbers increasing every year, USEK wanted to make it as easy as possible for students to search and apply for the courses in which they were interested. The institution's systems struggled to cope with its growing student numbers and the whole registration process needed an overhaul.

Senior leaders at USEK made the decision to upgrade to Ellucian's Banner 9 to increase the university's capacity to process information quickly and efficiently, particularly during peak registration periods.

"We had clear goals in mind," said Martha Faddoul, IT Resources Manager and Deputy Chief Technology Officer. "We wanted first to enhance the overall experience of our students by improving the course registration cycle and the way their information was processed."

"We also aimed to improve the experience of our staff by enabling more efficient information sharing. This would allow our academic and administrative personnel to focus more of their time on helping students throughout their academic journey."

Pain-Free Student Registration

Students at USEK access Banner to register for courses at varying points during the academic year, such as when they are ready to move on to the next phase of their studies. The upgrade helped to speed up the time it took to navigate and complete this process.

Prior to this, the number of students attempting to access the platform all at once for registration put significant pressure on the university's aging servers and application, which had not been regularly maintained. This disrupted the registration period and slowed down the system, which caused delays for students.

"The sheer weight of web traffic at registration time resulted in page freezes or, worse still, the platform could crash suddenly, which was challenging for our students," Faddoul said. "We knew a move to Banner 9 would solve the problem and ensure students could apply quickly and easily to pursue their studies."

Tech-Enabled Student Success

Staff at USEK have also benefitted from the change, as Banner automatically organises and stores key records for tracking students' progress and verifying their graduation in one place, saving hours of manual work.

"Details such as students' personal information, the courses they have taken, or their cumulative grade point average are right there on the screen and students get the support they need to thrive," Faddoul said. "What's more, there was no additional training required, so our personnel were up and running in no time."

"Our team of advisors can see the information they require to help students plan their future academic pathways too, including those who may need to retake a course or change their subject major to continue their studies."

Increased Productivity

The upgrade has transformed the experience of administrative staff, IT personnel and student advisors, helping to boost productivity across the university.

Fewer hours are now tied up in time-consuming administration, which means personnel have more time to explore parts of the system they have not used before. With fewer requests coming in for technical help, the IT team can also devote more of their time to showing instructors how they can make better use of the system to support students. Lecturers can access detailed profiles for their students quickly and easily too.

"The upgrade to Banner 9 has been transformative," Faddoul said. "It has helped the institution to better support students and faculty, cut administration significantly and made information sharing simpler. After a full year of no server restarts or downtime, we're set to continue meeting the needs of our growing student body for many years to come."

Solution

• Banner 9

Results

• An enhanced course registration process, making it faster, easier and a more positive experience for students
• More information easily accessible to support student success
• Hours of time saved for administrative personnel
• Students' progress monitored simply
• No service interruptions or downtime

Get more information on how Banner 9 can transform your university.