Transcript Processing
Prior to the implementation of the Softdocs platform, students had to complete a paper form to request a transcript. This form was a four-part layered document, so the student filling out the form would need to make sure their writing transferred from the top all the way to the fourth copy. The chances of a student writing hard enough to get to the last page was “one in a million,” according to Reynolds.
Registration and Records staff would have to decipher the students’ handwriting and hand-copy the data on the additional forms. They would then process and distribute the transcript and the request copies to various destinations. The entire process was very tedious, time-consuming and costly for the department.
Monmouth students can now easily fill out a transcript request in the electronic forms solution, where their student ID, name and other pertinent data is pre-populated from Colleague to eliminate errors. Registration approves the request and prints the student’s transcript with the print customization solution.
The transcript and request are automatically filed into the content management solution in the student’s electronic folder. Softdocs’ eDeliveryTM module allows Reynolds and her staff to email students their transcripts, providing significant cost savings for the department. “With eDelivery, we don’t have to produce the paper copy, so we don’t pay for the paper. We don’t have to pay for the envelopes, stamps or time spent stuffing envelopes,” said Reynolds.
That time savings and the ability to electronically access the permanent record cards has allowed the department to process twice as many transcripts requests—1,261 in a single semester compared to 656 transcripts previously without adding additional staff or increasing costs for the department.
“The whole platform has been tremendously helpful in processing transcript requests, especially the content management solution,” said Reynolds.
“We don’t have to walk upstairs, dig through all the cases, find the document, copy it, and return it to the right case—we just have to find it in the content management solution and print it with Softdocs’ Print Customization solution .”
Softdocs’ Electronic Forms solution has also been a huge success for their students, who no longer have to run around campus with crumpled-up forms looking for signatures.
“Students are our customers,” said Reynolds. “So from a customer service perspective, being able to handle documents this way is a huge benefit to them and the university. We have to be user-friendly. Students don’t want to deal with paper or run around campus. They want to be up at 3 a.m. filling out their forms, but I don’t want to be up at 3 a.m. processing their forms. So the electronic forms solution helps us adapt to what the students need while still being usable for us. It empowers the student to do business with the university.”