TST BOCES Overview
The Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga Board of Cooperative Educational Services (TST BOCES) enhances regional education by delivering high-quality educational programs and services to nine regional school districts. Historically reliant on paper-based processes, their departments faced significant inefficiencies and sought a modern, digital solution.
Goals
TST BOCES identified three primary goals:
- Automate 80% of Operations: Transition to digital workflows within three years.
- Enhance Efficiency: Reduce the time and effort spent on administrative tasks.
- Improve Accessibility: Ensure all documents and forms are easily accessible to staff, even when working remotely.
Challenges
Before implementing the solution, the district relied heavily on outdated, paper-based workflows, which led to inefficiencies and high administrative costs. Additionally, there was resistance to adopting digital solutions from some staff members who preferred traditional methods. This created a bottleneck in operations, making it difficult for TST BOCES to achieve the desired efficiency and modernization.
Embracing Digital Efficiency
“Softdocs is in the process of paying for itself in a matter of a year. By the time we hit the three years, we’ll actually be making money from having it. For administrative employees alone, it will improve their work by at least 25%.”
– Daniel Parker, Director of Information Technology Services at TST BOCES
For school districts facing similar challenges, a process automation and document management solution like Softdocs can lead to substantial improvements in efficiency, security, resource-saving, and much more.
- Automate Workflows: By automating routine tasks, the district significantly reduced manual work, freeing up staff to focus on more strategic initiatives.
- Improve Data Accuracy: Automation minimized human errors in data entry and document handling, leading to higher data integrity and ensuring that the district remained compliant with state regulations.
- Enhance Collaboration: Our solution provides a centralized platform for document storage and workflow management, enabling different departments to collaborate in real time.
Results
The results of implementing Softdocs were both immediate and impactful. The implementation began with the HR department, focusing on forms crucial for onboarding and administrative processes. Key achievements included:
- Onboarding Efficiency: The onboarding process improved by 10-15% with a single form that serves 20 different purposes, significantly reducing admin burden.
- Administrative Gains: Clerical work was cut by 50%, allowing administrative staff to focus on more valuable tasks.
- Increased Adoption: TST BOCES plans to digitize 10 additional HR forms following the successful implementation of the initial forms.
- Cost Savings: The solution is expected to pay for itself within one year and generate savings thereafter.
- Improved Onboarding: The digitized forms improved the onboarding process by 10-15%.
The transition to Softdocs solutions significantly transformed TST BOCES district operations. The organization achieved substantial time and cost savings, enhanced efficiency, and streamlined processes. By addressing the biggest pain points first, TST BOCES successfully gained buy-in from staff, facilitating broader adoption of the digital solution. As TST BOCES continues to digitize more processes, they expect to achieve their goal of 80% automation within the next three years, further solidifying their commitment to modernization and efficiency.
This case study highlights the transformative potential of digital workflows and automated processes in improving efficiency and reducing costs, paving the way for a more modern and efficient future district-wide.
Interested in automating paper-based processes across your campuses? Learn more about how Softdocs can help your district achieve similar success.
See Softdocs in Action
See how Softdocs helps modernize operations and automate processes. Schedule your custom demo today.