Why should we use a document management system?

The higher education world is full of paper. Final exams, transcripts, financial aid forms, student records, and athletics documents fill filing cabinets in universities and colleges nationwide. When one of these documents is needed, finding it can be a challenge for whoever has to look through the filing cabinets, hoping the document was put in the correct place.

Traditional paper storage also takes up valuable real estate on campuses that could otherwise be used for classrooms, or to provide additional resources to students.

While technological advances have revolutionized education—Smart Boards replacing chalkboards, online testing, tablets replacing textbooks, etc.—many universities and colleges are still using old, inefficient processes to manage their paper documents. There must be a more efficient, streamlined method to handle all of the documents in the higher education world, right?

There is. The answer is a document management solution (DMS).

Many colleges and universities still utilize an archaic method of filing, which costs more than a digital document management system. Aside from cost, perhaps the most compelling reason to use a DMS is for security. A DMS can keep all your documents secure and easily accessible. Your filing cabinets are probably full of student, faculty, and other records required to keep your college running. Why risk the security of these documents?

Don’t put your students’ records at risk. Increase your efficiency and save money by using the most secure, user-friendly document management system available. You won’t believe how easy it is to go paperless!

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management September 2019 issue of Spaces4Learning.

About the Author

Jesse Wood is the CEO of eFileCabinet (www.efilecabinet.com), a best-of-breed advanced document management system. Wood has 20 years of leadership experience innovating custom technical solutions for a wide range of business applications.

Featured

  • Spaces4Learning Launches 2026 Education Design Showcase Awards

    Spaces4Learning has opened submissions for the 2026 Education Design Showcase! The awards program launched in 1999 with the goal of celebrating innovative, practical solutions in the planning, design, and construction of K–12 and higher-education facilities. EDS recognizes new developments that help achieve optimal learning environments, as well as the architecture firms that brought the ideas to life.

  • Massachusetts K–12 District Selects Architect for New Junior High

    Swansea Public Schools in Swansea, Mass., recently announced that it has selected Finegold Alexander Architects to design a new junior high school for the district, according to a news release. The firm will create the Feasibility Study and Schematic Design for Joseph Case Junior High School after a lengthy selection process by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA).

  • University of Kentucky Receives $150M Gift Toward New Arts District

    The University of Kentucky’s Board of Trustees recently received a $150-million gift from The Bill Gatton Foundation, according to a university news release, to build a new arts district on the campus in Lexington, Ky. The new district will feature a new College of Fine Arts building and a multi-hundred-seat theater, among other amenities.

  • El Paso District Breaks Ground on New Elementary School

    The Canutillo Independent School District in El Paso, Texas, recently announced that construction has begun on a 119,000-square-foot elementary school, according to a news release. The district partnered with Pfluger Architects, Carl Daniel Architects, and LDCM Solutions on the new Davenport Elementary School, which has an expected completion date of 2027.