Wilkes Community College (WCC) is on a digital transformation journey to modernize outdated processes and unify systems across departments. Seeking a solution that prioritized workflow over simple document imaging, the college selected Softdocs to help streamline operations, reduce printing costs, and improve the overall experience for students and staff.
Today, WCC continues to expand its use of Softdocs, with key results seen in time savings, reduced stress for staff, and more efficient student processes.
Challenges: Moving Beyond Basic Imaging
Before adopting Softdocs, WCC relied on a legacy imaging system that lacked automation and workflow capabilities. Departments were scanning documents into a static system without any operational integration, leading to inefficiencies and delays.
This lack of integration with day-to-day operations led to backlogs and inefficiencies, especially in high-volume departments like student services and financial aid.
Additionally, printing processes were redundant and costly. Staff were printing PDFs, logging into Etrieve, and re-uploading the documents—an unnecessary step that slowed operations and increased expenses.
Why Softdocs: Built for Higher Education, Ready for Scale
Recognizing the limitations of their legacy imaging systems, WCC sought a solution that would embed workflows into daily operations, reduce manual effort, integrate with Ellucian Colleague, and help departments modernize outdated processes.
Softdocs checked every box:
- Workflow-first design: Automates document capture and routing from the point of origin.
- Community college expertise: Implementation teams understood WCC’s structure and systems.
- Integration capabilities: Including Ellucian Colleague, Informer, SQL, etc.
- Responsive support: Consultative, solution-oriented engagement across sales and services.
- Lower total cost of ownership: Consolidates platforms and reduces manual processes.
A pivotal boost in WCC’s early success came when Softdocs assigned a business analyst to work with their departments who had prior experience in the community college system.
His familiarity with Ellucian Colleague and WCC’s processes made onboarding smooth and brought valuable insight into processes across departments like financial aid and the business office.
Softdocs Solutions Implemented
Content & Etrieve Central
Wilkes Community College deployed Softdocs Content and Etrieve Central across the institution. Faculty, staff, and students interact with forms regularly, with each department managing a unique set of forms tailored to their needs.
Virtual Printer
Most recently, WCC rolled out an intelligent document processing feature known as Virtual Printer to reduce unnecessary printing and streamline document submission. Instead of downloading and uploading PDFs manually, users can now “print” directly into Softdocs.
Today, departments using Virtual Printer include:
- 18 users in Student Services
- 8 users in Business and Finance Office
- 4 users in HR
- 5+ additional users in Instructional Services and Workforce Development
Electronic Signatures
To support external form routing and reduce reliance on third-party tools, WCC launched eSignature features within Softdocs. Financial Aid and HR have been early adopters.
Results: Cost Savings and Operational Efficiency
Softdocs has delivered measurable benefits to Wilkes Community College, particularly in departments that process high volumes of documents.
One of the most immediate wins came from reducing the need to print and scan physical documents. With the implementation of the Virtual Printer, staff can now import files directly into the system — eliminating the need to download, print, sort, and rescan.
- Transcript processing is significantly streamlined, especially for staff handling transcripts.
- Time-consuming manual tasks are eliminated, enabling teams to work more quickly and accurately.
- Faster turnaround for transcripts, scholarship applications, and onboarding documents has a direct impact on the student experience.
- Centralized form management ensures a single source of truth.
- Reducing document transaction costs and sunsetting legacy platforms delivers cost savings.
Cross-departmental workflows are replacing siloed processes, improving collaboration campus-wide.
Expansion and Future Plans
Wilkes Community College is actively expanding its use of Softdocs across campus:
- Workforce Development & Community Education: Onboarding is currently underway.
- Foundation Department: Identified as a next phase of implementation.
- Legacy Platform Elimination: WCC is working to retire a costly third-party platform by streamlining functionality within Softdocs.
- Form Modernization: Rebuilding forms to be more intuitive, maintainable, and user-friendly.
- Intelligent Transcript Processing (ITP): Strong early interest in Softdocs’ new tool to support Colleague writeback and reduce registrar workload.
Working with the Softdocs Team
Michael emphasized the strength of the college’s partnership with Softdocs — from early implementation to ongoing services and support.
Regular maintenance sessions with the customer success team support the long-term success of Wilkes Community College, enabling more complex workflows and continued modernization across campus.
