Document Imaging >> The Road to Paperless
Moving to electronic record-keeping and record-sharing means different things for different institutions with varying needs, challenges, and budgets.
More and more colleges and universities today have
discovered electronic record-keeping and -sharing, made possible by
document imaging technology. Across the country, schools such as Monmouth
University (NJ), Washington State University, the University
of Idaho, and Towson University (MD) are, in fact, embracing document
imaging wholeheartedly. Yet still, there are campus administrators
mired in paper records, unaware of the relief the technology offers.
In a nutshell, document imaging provides the capability to capture,
store, manage, and route documentation in a secure electronic manner.
With this technology, paper documents, photos, and graphics can be
scanned and saved as images, organized into electronic folders, linked
to business applications, and retrieved by users. The benefits of this
approach are undeniable: It makes documents easy to find and retrieve,
enhances the ability to share documents across campus, replaces the
dreaded microfiche, and preserves document integrity. On top of this,
document imaging can save money on both printing and storage costs.
The record-keeping challenges that move campus administrators and
technologists to search for electronic solutions are myriad. So, if you see
yourself in the stories and challenges that follow, it just may be time to
clear out those filing cabinets.
Total Conversion
For years, record-keeping for the more
than 23,000 students at Monmouth University
was less than a paradigm of efficiency.
While the school generated only
one copy of a student’s transcripts,
office personnel printed multiple copies
of other records, such as requests to
change majors. Depending on the kind
of correspondence, the school made
copies to distribute to department
chairs, academic advisors, and so on.
For any one of these records, there might
have been five or six physical copies
residing in various campus offices. Not
only was the process expensive, but
there was no way for administrators to
keep track of how many copies were in
circulation at any given time.
FACTBOX
At Monmouth University, the challenge was the learning curve. To familiarize users
with the system, administrators created a pamphlet explaining which kinds of materials
would go into each of the new electronic student folder types, and how users should
access the new system. Now any Monmouth user can master the system in five minutes.
School officials set out to change
things in 2004. After investigating a
series of storage options, they decided
to transform the student records process
entirely, eliminating paper with a document
imaging solution that created electronic
copies of records instead. The
new solution hinged on the multifaceted
D3 Workflow Suite from AIG Technology, a three-step solution that consists of
automatically completing documents,
scanning them, and uploading them to a
server. Laura Babbin, director of registration
and records, says the new system
ended the paper drain and improved
efficiency almost immediately.
“The old carbon forms with the three
or four sheets we used to have our people
tear off and stick in different files—those
are long gone now,” she says. “Thankfully,
at this point, our people don’t even
have to touch paper if they don’t want to.”
The first phase of the AIG project
involved digitizing 17,000 student files.
As part of this effort, Babbin’s office
assigned each student a virtual drawer
consisting of eight unique folders: Academic
Advising; Academic Standards
and Review Committee; Registration;
Enrollment Information (including financial
information from accounting); Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act
data; Grades, Graduation (e.g., transcripts);
and Non-Monmouth Coursework.
This process went so well that
Babbin’s department looked to expand
the imaging effort into other areas. First,
they tackled archival records dating
back to 1933, including curriculum
charts, microfiche, and other chronicles
of school history. Next, they hit the academic
archives library of older documents,
such as university catalogs.
While the school still has hard copies for
many of these documents, Babbin says
the electronic versions take up less
space and are easier to find than the oldfashioned
method of searching through
drawers and file cabinets. The system is
relatively inexpensive, too: After the initial
hardware investment, Monmouth
paid AIG a license fee of $10 per user.