Indiana State University

About Indiana State University: A renowned public university committed to modernizing its campus operations and enhancing student and staff experiences.

Hyland product: Hyland Automate, Hyland Perceptive Content

Major wins:

• Revolutionized financial aid operations with dynamic forms featuring digital signatures and conditional field displays that adapt in real time

• Eliminated legacy system limitations by replacing static documents with scalable, cloud-native solutions that integrate seamlessly with existing infrastructure

• Enhanced operational efficiency across departments with streamlined workflows and automated end-to-end processes

• Positioned the university for organization-wide expansion beyond financial aid into finance and other departments

• Delivered improved user experience for students, parents, and staff through intuitive, responsive form technology

Indiana State University (ISU) often relied on third-party support to meet its commitment to modernizing its campus operations and better serving its students and staff. But, this approach could cause more delays than efficiencies. The university required updated security and features, resulting in more frequent hotfixes and upgrades that were time-consuming and frustrating for users. Students’ financial aid data — input via a legacy forms solution and validated by students’ parents or guardians — existed as static documents, limiting their usability beyond collection.

The university needed a scalable solution that could be easily implemented and integrated with its existing systems to automate and facilitate smooth end-to-end workflows.

To address these challenges, ISU sought a system that could provide dynamic and responsive forms, as well as seamless integrations with existing infrastructure. Since ISU already used and trusted Perceptive Content, the university selected Automate for its cloud-native deployment and integration capabilities.

Automate’s cloud-native architecture offered accessibility and scalability, and its ability to integrate seamlessly with Perceptive Content allowed for a unified approach to content management — essential for streamlining the university’s operations. Julie Cuffle, applications systems manager at ISU, said, “Hyland Automate stood out as the ideal solution because it not only offered seamless integration with our existing systems, but also provided the flexibility and support we needed to modernize our processes.”

Automate also enabled users to create dynamic forms with digital signature options. Conditional field displays allowed forms to adapt in real time based on user input, further optimizing the process for applicants.

With access to direct support from the Hyland team — a service available with every investment in Automate — ISU was able to overcome adoption hurdles smoothly, empowering scalability and reliability within its new system and facilitating trust in its partnership with Hyland.

Efficiency at scale

The transition to Automate has revolutionized operations at ISU by enabling dynamic forms with digital signatures, significantly improving the user experience and enhancing efficiency within the financial aid department.

“Hyland Automate has transformed how we manage forms and processes," said Carol Wiemuth, programmer analyst at ISU. “We’ve seen improvements in efficiency, and it’s only the beginning. We’re looking forward to leveraging Automate across more departments in the future.”

Solving legacy challenges

Automate addresses significant challenges related to ISU’s legacy form solution, including support, functionality and integration.

Legacy systems often lack flexibility, with users unable to easily adapt fields based on input — leading to inefficiencies and higher error rates.

Automate sets the stage for enhanced versatility and customization.

“The conditional field displays have significantly improved our workflows,” Wiemuth said. “Now, forms can change dynamically based on user responses, which wasn’t possible before. It’s made the entire process smoother and more efficient.”

By seamlessly connecting with various business line applications, Automate enables organizations to fully complete process cycles.

Looking ahead, ISU plans to expand the use of Automate across functions beyond financial aid. The university plans to fully onboard the finance department and streamline workflows across the institution for higher connectivity and operability, ensuring a more dynamic and responsive approach to forms and processes.