eSignature usage among educational institutions up 350% from Q1 to Q2

Usage by faculty and staff is up by 950%, while new Signeasy education users nearly doubled with an 85% spike from Q1 to Q2 2020. 

The way businesses are run has forever changed due to COVID-19, and educational institutes are no different. With many primary and secondary schools, and colleges and universities reopening — some virtual, some in-person — eSignatures are quickly becoming a preferred way for faculty, staff, administrators, coaches, parents, and students to hygienically exchange documents and get them signed by remotely. 

In a recent survey of educational institutions on Signeasy’s platform, adoption is up 85% from Q1 to Q2, while usage of eSignatures has skyrocketed 350%. 

Why educational institutions need eSignatures 

According to a survey by SAP Concur, 69% of education decision-makers say investments in technology are critical to ensure that departmental operations do not suffer due to sustained remote work. To safeguard the future of education and ensure continuity of operations, especially since many are functioning remotely, investments in eSignatures have become non-negotiable. 

“Signeasy helped our study team reduce the burden of paper forms and organize our study documents more efficiently. It was extremely user-friendly and easy to use on the go,” says a student of UPenn.

Here is a look at the growth in eSignature usage by the educational professionals, vis a vis users from different industries:

Online contracts for smooth recruitment and admissions 

Even though primary, secondary, and colleges and universities in over 100 countries have shifted to virtual and remote learning, a lot of important admin work is still going on. To reduce paperwork-led contact transmission, and to support remote signing, during these difficult times, educators are seen to be using eSignatures. This trend is evident from the 950% jump in usage of eSignatures by educators and school staff in Q2, as compared to Q1.

Users appear to derive maximum benefit from using eSignatures to streamline documentation related to teacher recruitment and student admissions. Here is how subscribers who were onboarded in Q2 used eSignature solutions in the same quarter:

• 4500% rise in digital signing and sending of offer letters, employment contracts, consent for a background check, and HR documents to hire teaching staff. Ever since Glass City Academy (Ohio) started using Signeasy they were able to approve staff leave requests in under one minute.

• 3733% hike in the usage of eSignature solutions for the student admissions paperwork. These subscribers used eSignature solutions to approve and mail online contracts such as admission forms and student loan documents. See how Covina Valley School (California) was able to instantly send and get approval on Individualized Education Program (IEP) documents from guardians remotely!
• 633% jump in online signing and sharing of documents pertaining to student services such as proof of term dates, confirmation of study, and record of exam results. 

Some documentation that has historically been paper-based, such as scholarships and grants and aids, of recent, are being processed online. Lab evaluations, orientation sign-offs, and minutes of the meeting, that used to be physically signed off immediately after the related activity, are now being done remotely. Recently, we’ve also seen several school psychologists use online signature solutions to approve online consent forms for consultations during COVID.

Avon Grove Charter School (Pennsylvania) is another prime example of how eSignatures can be used to make the documentation process contactless. Since early 2020, they have been harnessing Signeasy to get acknowledgement from all their existing staff in regards to their availability for the next teaching session.

Additionally, online documentation for payroll processing is seen to be growing in popularity. Claimants (staff & research fellows) can fill and sign the overtime form digitally, after which supervisors can approve and send overtime details to the payroll team for processing. 

The future of eSignatures for education 

Investment in eSignature software will help schools migrate to hybrid classrooms. So, apart from enabling educational institutes to exchange and sign important documents to support virtual learning, we anticipate a tidal wave of adoption on campus as well.

Once things open back up, administrators and faculty will be looking for ways to replace face-to-face interactions and in-person signing in areas like recruiting and admissions, employee services, scholarships, financial aid, healthcare documents, legal documents, and more.  eSignatures will help deliver on the promise of a touchless back-to-school reality. 

No wonder, future-forward academic administrators are choosing to forgo wet-signature workflows for contact-free and digital online document signing.