August 2026 Issue |  This month's Encompass Essentials is a three-minute read.

The Fall 2026 semester marks a major milestone for Encompass: our first full semester using Banner through Experience! From registration and billing to advising and academic records, many familiar processes now take place in our new student information system.

As the semester begins, we'll continue sharing guidance, resources, and training to help you navigate new processes with confidence. We're also expanding faculty-specific support for activities like attendance verification, grade entry, and other academic tasks throughout the semester.

Whether you're just getting started or need a quick refresher, Banner Job Aids and Demos are always available to help.

As student data has moved from SAP to the Banner system, UM Today can no longer reliably reach students. Beginning Friday, August 21, the ability to send messages to students through UM Today will be disabled, though UM Today will remain available for employee communication throughout the 2026–27 academic year. 

Student Messaging Crosswalk

Get the latest on how Encompass is taking shape behind the scenes.

Key Updates:

What's Next?

Key Updates:

What's Next?

Key Updates:

2026–27 Course Catalog Temporarily Unavailable: The 2026–27 academic catalog is temporarily unavailable while additional optimizations are made. It is expected to be available again ahead of the first day of fall classes. In the meantime, the 2025–26 catalog will be accessible at both catalog.olemiss.edu and catalog-archive.olemiss.edu. If you have any questions, please contact catalog@olemiss.edu.

Attendance Scanners Have Been Removed: Beginning fall 2026, classroom attendance scanners will no longer be available. Faculty may use Poll Everywhere as an optional tool to support attendance taking. Two Poll Everywhere training sessions are currently available. IT will share additional information and guidance soon.

Helpful Resources:

Each month, we’re highlighting how Encompass will make everyday tasks easier.

Students can now quickly view their current schedule using the new Classes and Class Schedule cards in Experience. No need to navigate through Registration Self-Service!

The Workday app can be used on your phone or tablet, making it easy to approve tasks, check notifications, request time off, and access important information, even when you're away from your desk.

Make the most of Workday through these tips related to FAQs.

Departments have flexibility when hiring student employees. While current functionality allows departments to use the Hire Student task without first creating a Recruiting requisition, Recruiting remains available for departments that need to advertise positions and build candidate pools.

Reminder: Students may not begin work until the onboarding steps are completed. Hiring managers must review the Onboarding Business Process Status Summary for any outstanding items before scheduling a student to work. Students can monitor their progress through the Onboarding Dashboard.

As Workday Finance approaches, strong Excel skills, particularly Pivot Tables, will make reporting and analysis much easier. This in-depth video demonstrates how to create, customize, and analyze Pivot Tables to turn exported Workday data into meaningful reports.

As Banner replaces myOleMiss, you'll notice a few updates to academic terminology:

This project presents us with an exceptional opportunity to enhance how we communicate with our most important audience: our current and future students.

We’re prioritizing the student at every step by pairing the functionality and purpose of new communications tools with their ever-evolving needs and expectations. Every day, we’re one step closer to delivering a better brand experience.

Ryan Whittington
Assistant Vice Chancellor for Marketing

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