Paper cut

Imaging system strives for paperless office

OTS senior process analyst Jay Taffel envisions a TU campus where filing cabinets no longer clutter office hallways. He may soon get his wish.

In February 2005 the Office of Technology Services launched an electronic imaging program to stem the torrent of paperwork pouring forth from TU’s offices. The goal is to electronically image and index documents for easy retrieval and compact storage.

“There’s a great need to reclaim office space,” Taffel says. “Simply put, we have no more space to store paper.”

He points out that new buildings constructed under TU’s master plan will not have filing rooms. “These days it’s too expensive to allocate space for filing,” Taffel says. “That’s why electronic archiving has become increasingly important.”

OTS first installed software and set up scanners in the offices of human resources, graduate admissions and the registrar. Over time other departments, such as undergraduate admissions, also joined the effort. So far TU has scanned over 3 million pages; the office of the registrar alone has scanned 2.7 million pages.

Taffel says that as TU ramps up admission and enrollment, the flow of paperwork increases. “Just think–if TU takes in another thousand students per year for five years, and each student’s file generates 100 pages of paperwork, that means we’d generate and have to find a place to store an additional 100,000 pages of paper each year.”

The imaging system also restores security over sensitive materials. With university-wide imaging, materials are centrally stored and managed on a computer server located in the basement of Cook Library. Rather than track copies, the computer software tracks system users.

“We can modify student files electronically,” says Taffel, “yet the files remain secure at all times on a backed-up, fire-protected server.”

For some departments, electronic imaging is used to eliminate redundant—and wasteful—copies. Financial services scans 8,000 pages of invoices a month; through electronic imaging it eliminates storing hard copies of invoices since originals must be sent to Annapolis.

Even with OTS’ electronic imaging initiative, old habits die hard. Taffel says that most campus users still can’t bring themselves to go entirely paperless.

“I’m trying to get them to go from the scanner to the shredder. They’re not quite there yet.”

Story by Stuart Zang/Photo by Kanji Takeno