Banner is the official collegiate administrative system at SUNY Potsdam.
It stores information about prospective students, current students, alumni, faculty workload, the SUNY Potsdam course catalog and schedule, registration details, rosters, grades, and more.
Accessing Banner
Banner is available to administrative and clerical staff through a web browser.
The Banner database can also be accessed through BearPAWS, which is used by students for activities such as registering for courses, viewing grades, signing up for some campus services; by faculty for viewing their rosters and submitting grades; and by staff for running reports.
The links to the right, Frequently Asked Questions and Troubleshooting Guide are very helpful in determining the solutions to problems you may have in bringing up Banner.
FAQ's
Is Banner training available?
Yes, email Stephanie Claxton at claxtosc@potsdam.edu to schedule training.
Why doesn't anything happen after I enter "banner" as the URL in my browser?
You may have all pop-up's blocked. Go to the instructions given below under the question
Why does clicking on HELP not do anything? This is for specifying which pop-up's to block and not block. You should allow pop-up's from banner.potsdam.edu and bearpaws.potsdam.edu.
Can I use browsers other than Chrome/Edge on Windows and macOS?
Yes you can. Other browsers may also work for most functions on Banner. However, we are not actively working to fix problems that you may encounter with browsers other than the above.
Why did my screen "jump" and then display the wrong form? Why did I lose my menu?
Problem: When you double-click on a form in the Banner Main Menu to open that form, the screen may appear to "jump", then bring up a form other than the one you selected. Or, it's possible that you can't see the whole menu. This problem is related to the size of the Oracle main window compared to the size of the Banner form.
Solution: The window that Banner is displayed in has to be big enough so that the whole Banner form can be seen - having scroll bars on the side or the bottom of the window may cause unpredictable results. The solution is to either increase your window size or change the screen resolution.
Why can't I see the last line on my form?
Problem: The last line on a form is not visible, due to the initial size and state of the Banner window.
Solution: Maximize the Banner window, and make sure your display resolution setting is at least 1024 x 768.
Can I change the color scheme in Banner to something I like better?
- Go to the GUAUPRF form in Banner. The User Interface Color Settings section allows you to change colors for all sorts of things, such as the canvas (background), code/description prompts, scroll bar, etc.
- Select the item with a color you wish to change, click on the User Value drop-down menu, and select a color from the color palette.
- When you've looked at the color in the preview pane and are satisfied with your choice, click OK. This will change the User Value line to the color you selected.
- To apply this color change to all of Banner, click on the Save button for the form. This will immediately apply your color choice to the current screen, and your color setting will be retained when you exit and log back into Banner.
Why doesn't Banner do anything when I click on it with my mouse?
Problem: If your mouse is configured for left-hand use, Banner does not respond.
Solution: This problem only occurs with certain Windows PC configurations. Until this issue is resolved, the only known solution is to use a right-hand mouse configuration.
Why can't I cut-and-paste data into my Banner field?
Problem: You can not cut-and-paste data into a Banner field that is too long for that field. A field has a maximum length.
Solution: Make sure there are no extra characters or trailing blanks in the data that you are cutting and pasting. For example, an ID number in Banner is 9 characters long, so you can not cut and paste a social security number with dashes in it, which is 11 characters long.