As a leading maritime college, Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA) actively pursues new ways to strengthen efficiency, compliance, and student success. Facing processes spread across multiple systems and limited visibility, the Academy launched an initiative to build a modern, digital-first foundation for its campus.
With Softdocs, MMA consolidated scattered processes into a single, secure platform. The Academy replaced legacy systems, eliminated paper files, and streamlined duplicative workflows with automated, centralized solutions that faculty, staff, and students can use with ease.
This transformation has increased efficiency, reduced costs, ensured compliance, and created a strong foundation for a fully digital, paperless campus that improves the student experience.
Challenges: Siloed Systems and Paper Bottlenecks
Before adopting Softdocs, Massachusetts Maritime Academy struggled with inefficiencies across many corners of campus:
- Paper-heavy operations filled 40+ cabinets, housing more than 100,000 documents.
- Multiple form platforms (Google Forms, DocuSign, Google Drive) created silos and ownership risks.
- Workflow delays left forms stuck with no visibility into bottlenecks.
- Taxonomy chaos in the legacy system made records unsearchable.
- Student frustration arose from processes like passport collection, which required students to submit the same information six or seven times.
Everyone wanted to use different tools—Google Docs, DocuSign, and paper forms. With Softdocs, we established one consistent system that’s easy to use and reduces risk.
Tim Conlon-McCombe, Director of Enterprise Systems Massachusetts Maritime Academy
Why Softdocs: Built for Higher Education, Ready for Scale
When evaluating solutions, MMA sought a platform that could meet the unique needs of higher education. From compliance to scalability, Softdocs checked all the boxes.
Transitioning to the Softdocs Platform has greatly improved our ability to manage and track student requests within the Academic Affairs division. Students may now submit most of their standard academic requests via Softdocs rather than paper form submissions or using a variety of different digital submission forms.
Jim McKenna, Ph.D., Dean of Undergraduate Studies Massachusetts Maritime Academy
- Built for Higher Education: Softdocs offers user-friendly workflows, compliance-ready retention policies, and integrations with systems like Colleague and Entrinsik Informer 5.
- System Consolidation: By replacing legacy systems and other tools, such as Google Forms and Google Drive storage, MMA created a single standard for the entire campus.
- Scalability: With over 100 forms digitized in just two years, MMA has demonstrated the rapid scalability of the Softdocs Platform across departments. From Career Services and Athletics to the Registrar and HR, the Academy continues to expand into new workflows.
- Compliance Strength: Automated retention policies align with Massachusetts state law, while centralized records support rigorous Coast Guard audits.
The Implementation Journey
The Academy phased adoption strategically, beginning with departments ready for change:
- Career Services digitized travel waivers for students going to sea.
- Athletics moved disclosures and compliance forms online.
- Registrar’s Office converted 19 forms at the start of the semester, avoiding mid-term disruptions. Pre-populated forms drastically reduced routing errors.
- Human Resources is next, with faculty contracts and hiring requests in line for digitization.
It’s been a game-changer for Coast Guard audits. Before, we were literally digging through cabinets, hoping professors had turned in the right paperwork. Now everything is right there in Softdocs. We can pull it instantly and know it’s accurate. That’s a huge relief when you’ve got auditors on campus.
Tim Conlon-McCombe , Director of Enterprise Systems Massachusetts Maritime Academy
To accelerate digitization, MMA utilized staff dedicated to scanning and tagging backlog files. In under two years, they retired 40 cabinets of paper, reclaiming valuable campus space.
Compliance and Risk Management
With automated retention rules, the Academy now confidently manages documents in full alignment with Massachusetts state requirements.
Softdocs has transformed how we manage compliance for our student athletes. We’ve significantly reduced redundancy in tracking requirements, and the distribution-to-completion timeline for required forms is faster than ever. Record-keeping is now far more accurate, and we have greater confidence knowing sensitive student information is securely stored digitally rather than in vulnerable physical files.
Mikayla Correia, Assistant Director of Athletics Massachusetts Maritime Academy
Beyond compliance, Softdocs reinforced MMA’s security posture and gave them the ability to manage permissions with precision.
Security was a huge priority for me. With Softdocs you can get it right down to the document level, even to specific sections of a form.
Tim Conlon-McCombe , Director of Enterprise Systems Massachusetts Maritime Academy
By digitizing paper files, Massachusetts Maritime Academy also eliminated the risk of records being lost to flooding — a genuine concern given its canal-side location.
System Consolidation: One Standard for the Campus
Consolidation has been one of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy’s clearest wins.
- Google Forms replaced, ending ownership risks when staff leave.
- Docusign was eliminated, saving thousands of dollars per semester on envelope fees.
- Legacy DMS retired, removing taxonomy chaos.
- Google Drive imports are now centralized for consistency.
When I go to a meeting, I don’t have to sit there and debate how we’re going to do this. No more Google Docs versus DocuSign versus paper. We use Softdocs.
Tim Conlon-McCombe, Director of Enterprise Systems Massachusetts Maritime Academy
Results: ROI, Cost Savings, Operational Efficiency
Softdocs has delivered measurable benefits at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, from the Registrar’s Office to student-facing processes that once required thousands of duplicate submissions.
A particular benefit of Softdocs has been the ability to pre-populate information on the forms based on student ID (emails, course schedules, instructor names, etc.) which has greatly decreased spelling errors that previously created problems in processing requests. Softdocs has improved our ability to track forms that are in process and allowed us to quickly identify if requests are hung up somewhere in the approval process. The Softdocs Platform also allows for automated storage and easy retrieval of all processed forms, allowing for improved document management.
Jim McKenna, Ph.D., Dean of Undergraduate Studies Massachusetts Maritime Academy
The efficiencies achieved with Softdocs have been substantial:
- 50% time savings in the Registrar’s Office once workflows stabilized.
- 600+ students per semester no longer required to submit duplicate passport information.
- Thousands of dollars saved each semester by eliminating Docusign and envelope fees.
- 40+ filing cabinets eliminated, freeing up space for meetings and collaboration.
- 100+ forms digitized in just two years.
Everyone always looks at staff time savings, and yes, we’ve saved a ton there. But the real win is for students. Forms pre-populate, so they’re not typing in the wrong advisor email or the wrong course. They don’t make those mistakes anymore and it saves them even more time than it saves us.
Tim Conlon-McCombe, Director of Enterprise Systems Massachusetts Maritime Academy
User Adoption and IT Satisfaction
At Massachusetts Maritime Academy, adoption has been one of the strongest measures of success with Softdocs. Faculty and staff quickly adopted the platform. The ease of use, combined with real-time reporting, has led to a cultural shift in how processes are managed.
The best outcome has been end-user satisfaction. People actually want to use the platform, and that’s why it’s grown so quickly. With Softdocs, people like it, it’s easy to use, and it just works. That’s huge for IT.
Tim Conlon-McCombe, Director of Enterprise Systems Massachusetts Maritime Academy
Working with the Softdocs Team
MMA credits Softdocs’ partnership model as a critical factor in its success. The Academy not only benefited from strong training and implementation support but also from ongoing services that helped IT extend its capabilities.
Training and implementation were led by Aaron Dellorco, who “was wonderful at getting people up to speed.” Data migration was handled by Whitfield Parham, who seamlessly moved content from Google Drive and MMA’s legacy system.
Some of the most impactful support came through managed services for advanced API projects.
We used contracted services to help us with APIs, and it was worth every penny compared to struggling for months on our own.
Tim Conlon-McCombe, Director of Enterprise Systems Massachusetts Maritime Academy
This ability to tap into specialized expertise ensured MMA could keep moving forward without delay, saving both time and internal resources. It also exemplified the customer-first approach that set Softdocs apart from other vendors.
With Softdocs, I see real effort going into bug fixes and meaningful improvements. Too many vendors are always pushing some shiny new thing to sell, and they never fix what you actually need. Softdocs listens, they fix things, and they keep improving what’s already in place. That makes all the difference.
Tim Conlon-McCombe, Director of Enterprise Systems Massachusetts Maritime Academy
Looking Ahead: What's Next for MMA
With 100+ forms already digitized, MMA is preparing to extend the Softdocs Platform into Human Resources. Faculty contracts, part-time hiring requests, and HR workflows will soon join the platform.
Our five-year ‘voyage plan’ is about building a better digital architecture for campus ... reducing paper, consolidating technology, and streamlining processes. Softdocs has been instrumental in making that vision a reality, and it’s helping ensure students can focus on their education rather than administrative tasks. This is just the beginning.
Tim Conlon-McCombe, Director of Enterprise Systems Massachusetts Maritime Academy
The Academy is also expanding automation and integrations to further support compliance, efficiency, and student success.
Massachusetts Maritime Academy has already achieved significant results, but its paperless transformation is far from complete. With Softdocs as a partner, the Academy is continuing to build a digital-first foundation for long-term success.
Location
Buzzards Bay, MA
Size of organization
~ 1,500 students
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