RIYADH — Princess Nora Bint Abdul Rahman University (PNU) has implemented an integrated digital environment to bring together students, faculties and staff. The system, called Banner, is the brainchild of Ellucian, which provides technology solutions for education institutions. Additional solutions from Ellucian are helping the university use data more effectively to achieve its vision and goals. Dr. Huda Mohammad Al Ameel, Rector of Princess Nora Bint Abdul Rahman University, said: “Having created the world's largest women-only university at PNU, our ambition is to become a globally recognized first-rate institution, and we are engaging leading technology solution providers such as Ellucian to help us achieve our goals.” Banner is providing PNU with a self-service online environment that facilitates interaction among PNU's constituents and helps provide higher levels of efficiency, service delivery, and education experiences. In September, PNU successfully completed online registration for over 40,000 students using Banner. Faculty members can easily manage course information, rosters, and grading, as well as advise students from remote locations. Saudi Business Machines (SBM), a leading provider of cutting-edge integrated information technology solutions and software services, acted as the system integrator for the project. In addition to Banner Student, PNU implemented Banner Financial Aid, Banner Operational Data Store, and Banner Enterprise Data Warehouse to help manage scholarship processes more efficiently and use data more effectively to help achieve its mission of preparing students with the intellectual and professional skills needed for the local, regional, and global job markets. With enhanced analytical capabilities, PNU is meeting reporting requirements in Arabic and English. PNU joins a growing community of institutions in the Kingdom that use technology solutions from Ellucian to help improve services to students, meet data requirements for accountability standards, and make administrative processes more efficient – an indication of the Kingdom's focus on education. Mathew Boice, Ellucian's Vice President, EMEA and India, said: “Princess Nora University has an essential mission in educating and empowering Saudi women to engage in the socioeconomic advancement of the country, and Ellucian is delighted to be part of this important initiative. “We are now supporting four women-only universities in the region and have localized our solutions to meet the needs of the higher and vocational education sector in Saudi Arabia. — SG
