4 ways schools can benefit from electronic signatures

It goes without saying that public schools generate a ton of paperwork: just imagine the sky-high piles of student loan and financial aid documents. Even something as simple as field trip permission slips can take a herculean effort to process.

The results are in: 69% of teachers agree that paperwork takes up a significant portion of their time at work. And yet, even today, most schools continue to use paper-based systems that require the staff to manually file, send, and sign papers every day. Moreover, higher education institutions have been facing heavy budget cuts in recent times. This is where electronic signatures for schools come into the picture.

Not only do electronic signatures help schools cut down on the amount of administrative paperwork that needs to be done, as well as the time that is spent processing it, but electronic signatures also reduce costs while helping them go green. In this blog, we will take a detailed look at the various ways in which electronic signatures can help boost the efficiency of a school.

(1) Send permission slips online

Gone are the days of parents frantically searching for their kids’ permission slips at the last minute. With an electronic signature solution, schools can now create digital permission slips for events like field trips, and send them to parents for signature via email. This way, parents can deal with this routine task in seconds.

One of Signeasy’s most popular use cases among young parents is that of signing permission slips with ease.

But the broad scope of documents that Signeasy can help with doesn’t end at permission slips. Our software makes it easy for parents to approve classroom attendance records, sign financial aid applications, and more. In sum, it allows parents and teachers to stay in close contact, and interact transparently.

(2) Streamline operations across departments

Few things can be as time-consuming as paperwork, especially in the education sector. Electronic signatures help schools cut down on paperwork in multiple areas, from processing student applications to onboarding new students. It also does away with the hours that staff end up spending while trying to retrieve an old file or document. Instead, it allows teachers to focus all their effort on what they do best: teach.

(3) Digitize processes for students

Students embrace digital technologies and trends faster than any other age group. In fact, the class of 2020 will graduate without ever having experienced a world without smartphones or social media. Given that fact, it has now become crucial for schools to digitize many of their processes.

(4) Keep documents and information secure

Most of the paperwork generated by a school requires a high level of confidentiality. With electronic signatures, documents can be sent to parents in a secure and private manner. The audit trail provided by electronic signature solutions like Signeasy allows teachers to verify the signer’s identity and the time at which the signature was made. Also, by sending a document for signature electronically instead of faxing or posting it, the chance of it getting lost or being tampered with is greatly reduced.

If you are looking to leverage an electronic signature solution to greatly improve your school’s efficiency when it comes to paperwork, sign up for our free trial today!