Enterprise Content Management

Seattle University is taking a holistic approach to modernize  forms, workflow, and content management by: 

Implementing  Softdocs’  Etrieve  Suite  to replace paper and PDF forms with electronic forms and workflows.  Softdocs  will also replace ImageNow as a document repository.  
Replacing  written signatures with secure virtual signatures through  DocuSign, accessible to those with or without Seattle U login credentials. 
Encouraging  the use of  Microsoft Forms and  Sharepoint  to create forms that are public-facing or require authentication with SU credentials. 
Adopting features in existing enterprise systems such as Colleague and Slate to replace legacy forms and processes.

What does this mean for Seattle University? 

Students will use Softdocs to submit forms online for routing through appropriate offices for approvals and actions. Example: Forms for changing major or declaring a minor will no longer require a student to visit various academic offices to acquire signatures.
Students use  DocuSign  to complete the FAFSA Verification Form. Logic in the form routes to parents for signature based on student’s dependent status. 
Strategic Planning groups use Microsoft Forms  to gather feedback and store in SharePoint.  
Students use Student Planning in  mySeattleU  to withdraw from a class, replacing a paper-based process that involved multiple offices and manual input.

Project Highlights

Softdocs Project: There are two key parts of the Softdocs project that focus on implementing different solutions the platform offers; Content and Forms. Softdocs Content is a document repository system that is replacing ImageNow. Softdocs Forms will build off of the structure of Content to move our paper forms online and automate the backend processing. 

The long-term goal is for Seattle U offices to utilize Softdocs with ITS acting in an advisory role, providing support when needed to build especially complicated processes. Full system rollout will take approximately 2 years of consistent effort by ITS in partnership with campus offices. 
Softdocs Content: The Softdocs Content system is now live! This was a major software implementation that required months of collaboration between ITS, Office of the Registrar, and Student Financial Services.  

Some of the highlights of this project were: 

Setting up the intermediate file server in AWS to connect to the Softdocs Cloud, a first for Softdocs who had only worked with customers doing this on-premise in the past   

Migrating close to 1 million documents from ImageNow into Content  

Building 20 new and updated workflows to automate document processing and remove many manual steps  

Creating integrations for student data and updating the CRI code in Colleague (we are the first university that has implemented this integration with Softdocs, which will save a lot of manual processing time)  

Implementing security and single sign-on   

Leading and participating in many training sessions for administrators and end users in the Office of the Registrar and Student Financial Services   

This project will continue into November and December for project clean up and documentation.
Softdocs Forms: The Softdocs Forms project kicked off during the first week of November. This will be implemented in phases across campus starting with the Office of the Registrar and Student Financial Services with a focus on student-facing forms.  

The overall goal is to improve the student experience with forms. We will accomplish this by: 

Redesign forms and backend processes to streamline the experience 

Standardize the process and requirements across colleges 

Remove unneeded and repetitive steps by automating data and backend processing  

Timeline 

November: Discovery and requirements gathering 

December: Design, training, and starting to build forms 

January-June: Form Building 

July+: Implementation with other departments  
DocuSign Project: - Since obtaining DocuSign in Spring 2020, ITS has worked with multiple offices to implement this solution for specific use cases. Campus partners include the Office of the Provost, Legal Counsel, Facilities, Education Abroad, and the Office of Sponsored Projects.

- Student Financial Services partnered with ITS to deploy 5 key forms using DocuSign, including the  FAFSA  Dependent Student Verification  Form  which requires  student and parent  signatures.    

- ITS implemented DocuSign’s  eNotary  service for the Office of the CFO. 

- ITS is working with the  School of Theology and Ministry’s Family and Couples Therapy  program to  enable  students to verify clinic hour  and  supervisory  hour  reports via DocuSign.

For Questions or Assistance

To learn more about Softdocs, including how your office will be involved in this project, please contact Madelyn Ringstad (ringstad@seattleu.edu) or submit a project request.
To schedule a consultation on DocuSign as a possible solution for your office, please submit a request via the Service Desk Portal.
Visit the ITS page on Microsoft 365 to learn more about MS Forms, SharePoint, and other productivity tools.

Enterprise Content Management

What does this mean for Seattle University?

Project Highlights

Softdocs Project

Softdocs Content

Softdocs Forms

DocuSign Project

For Questions or Assistance

What does this mean for Seattle University? 