School supply lists today look vastly different from those of just 10 years ago. There’s still a need for paper and notebooks, of course. But students from pre-k to graduate school now need more tech gear than ever before—from tablets and earbuds to Google accounts and textbook subscriptions.
That’s because the education industry has made great strides in digital transformation in recent years. Today:
- Nearly 9 in 10 public schools (88%) have a 1-to-1 computing program that provides every student with a school-issued device. (National Center for Education Statistics)
- More than three-quarters of public schools (77%) report that high-speed internet is available to students across all school grounds and buildings. (National Center for Education Statistics)
- Over half of all college students take at least one class online. (Best Colleges)
Yet, administrative office systems haven’t kept up—and understandably so. That’s because they face a number of tech-related challenges:
- Funding. Budgets are tight, particularly in public institutions, leading to outdated technology, delayed upgrades, and reliance on overworked IT staff.
- Technical savvy. Administrators and front office staff lack the coding skills and tech training necessary to modify systems to their needs or use them to their full potential.
- Lack of integration. Fragmented systems and isolated apps muddy the waters with tech that serves individual purposes instead of wider needs.
- Cybersecurity. Plus, data vulnerability is at an all-time high, making education institutions prime targets for breaches.
How can schools perform their daily operations—from student registration and fee payments to new teacher hiring and donor management—when their basic technology needs aren’t met?
Build a Paperless District or Campus
Digital workflows make front-office challenges a breeze with the ability to build consistent and helpful forms, generate documents without re-entering data, and sign documents electronically. In education, digital workflows not only simplify work across departments, but streamline data management and even improve student, teacher, and alumni engagement.
Looking to make an immediate impact on your K-12 school system, college, or other educational institution? Here’s where workflow automation can make an immediate impact this school year.
1. Streamline the Teacher Hiring Process
Teacher shortages are now a reality for most every teaching institution, from elementary through college. When strong candidates come your way, don’t lose them to inefficient hiring processes that give a bad first impression of your school. Instead, automate your HR forms for significantly reduced time-to-hire.
Send all applications to the same place for organization and review. Then, seamlessly route them to the right reviewers, run approvals, and manage contract negotiations with e-signatures. Found the perfect educator? Use the resume and application data they already entered to generate a hiring packet of customized documents like offer letters, tax documents, and contract agreements—all in one seamless workflow.
“In a matter of days, we were able to take some fairly complicated forms and turn them into workflows. Now, I generally say, ‘Sure, we can get this done by tomorrow.’ And we do.”
- Leslie Dupree, Director of Web Services and New Media at Augustana College
2. Simplify Registration and Enrollment
Whether it’s K-12 enrollment or college class registration, online forms make it easy to gather essential information, verify eligibility, and collect required documentation like immunization records or residency verification. Worried about handling sensitive information? Stay compliant with HIPAA- and GDPR-friendly forms with advanced encryption, permissions, and more.
Tip: Salesforce helps keep your data under control. But with Salesforce and Formstack together, you can securely collect and manage your data natively—no integration required. Dynamically pre-fill student information, test forms in a sandbox environment, and keep information safe with Salesforce-level security.
“With Salesforce and Formstack for Salesforce, we have an accurate and reliable database of both prospective and active students with fewer duplicates creating confusing and less manual upkeep of forms and data.”
- Brad Endres, CRM Solutions Architect at Central New Mexico Community College.
3. Digitize Faculty Evaluations and Contract Renewals
Performance reviews and contract renewals are essential to faculty development. But without automation, they can become administrative bottlenecks. That’s because paper-based evaluations are time-consuming to create, hard to track, and easy to lose. Instead:
- Build digital faculty evaluation forms that streamline the process from start to finish.
- Once completed, automatically route self-assessments and peer reviews to department heads for approval.
- Use conditional logic to show or hide questions based on role or tenure, and set deadlines and reminders to keep things moving.
- At the end of the workflow, generate pre-filled renewal contracts and collect eSignatures in minutes.
Pro Tip: Want a repeatable process for every semester? Use Formstack’s workflow tools to streamline recurring evaluation cycles each year.
4. Boost Engagement with Community Forms and Event Registrations
In K-12 schools, parent/guardian participation is crucial—and sometimes legally required for things like field trips and medication management. In college, the audience changes to alumni and community members, but engagement is just as important.
Whether you’re planning homecoming events, raising funds, or updating contact records, digital forms can make your outreach more personal and effective. Use branded event registration forms to collect RSVPs, record dietary preferences, and collect payment or donations. You can even streamline giving by syncing submitted data straight to Salesforce for better donor tracking and follow-up throughout the year.
Try It: Make your next alumni dinner or community event go as smoothly as possible. Collect and track all registrations digitally and send email reminders and updates as the event gets closer.
Leave Paper in the Past
This school year, don’t let your team get buried in forms. Whether you're in K-12 or higher education, the right tools can simplify it all, helping you onboard faculty, engage with students, or connect with the community.
Explore how Formstack’s workflow automation platform can help you do more with less.
Check out our complimentary education industry templates for easier school management, or start your free 14-day trial today.
