Digital Signatures: Helping to Modernize Higher Education

It's tough to read about higher education in America without reading yet another lament about the state of our educational system. Cue the calls to adopt a new product, educational technique, system or standard. Unfortunately, many of the changes end up having about as much impact as many of the other reforms that have swept the nation – that is to say, very little impact at all.

Our country is looking for a silver bullet, but educators have always known that all students and all schools are different, so what works for one situation won’t necessarily work for another. Though that makes it tough to universally change the system, it has a positive flip side. Different schools can function as laboratories for the rest of the country, testing out new programs and policies, and the results can benefit schools across the country.

Connecting Parents, Students and Schools

Many colleges and universities are seeing the importance of integrating new technologies into how they function on both an administrative and educational level. The fact is that many families are become more and more digital, and a lot of their communications are already happening on computers, tablets and mobile phones.

Digital signature technology is one tool that many schools are using to meet hyperconnected parents and students. This is especially important for colleges and universities that have students and parents that don't live in town. As important as it is for schools to stay in contact with students’ parents, this allows the school's communications to become more frequent and transparent. Schools are also able give parents and students better service through online tools.

With digital signatures and other technologies, parents can access their student’s data to understand their financial situation, with direct access to loan and repayment information, where precisely their money is going, and more. Through the use of digital signature services, parents can even sign and return important documents to the school from their mobile device or computer, making it easier than ever to deal with the academic bureaucracy that was once the nightmare for many students and parents.

Reduce, Save and Organize 

While staying on top of paperwork is important for students, it is even more important for schools to be keep documents organized. Handling education paperwork can be a chaotic process—ivy-strewn universities are often facades, hiding a messy, ever-evolving process of paperwork. Schools are always adapting to the needs of their students, and most changes come with a new paperwork requirement that has to be managed.

Given how nimble and adaptable schools have to be, it's important that they have a solid administrative structure to make sure everything runs smoothly. To accomplish this, a school needs a great administrative staff equipped with the best technology available. After all, when administrative staff have to deal with a chaotic system of record-keeping and communications, it can be easy for things to slip through the cracks.

Additionally, the cost of administrative work is surprisingly high when you factor that into the ever-tightening budgets of higher education. The sheer amount of paperwork required for a school to function often surprises outsiders. Many schools are putting their systems online and rendering most of their documentation digital. This reduces the workload on administrative staff, provides a comprehensive and structured system for record-keeping and reduces the cost of materials.

With digital signature technology, important documents can be signed and sent online in seconds. If documetns go unsigned, the digital signature service will automatically remind parents or students, and administrative staff can easily track documents in real time from inception to storage.

Of course, there is no single solution to the problems that plague our educational system. Instead, each school must continue to push for new policies, strategies and systems that could improve how they operate and educate.