The digital student file - introduction of a document management system
Background and goals of the project
In 2011, the influx of incoming first years to TUM doubled as a result of reductions in the required number of school years for the completion of upper level secondary school students. To help cope with this situation, the TUM Student Service Center initiated a project to introduce a document management system. Together with the Universities of Bayreuth, Bamberg and Augsburg, TUM made the decision to pilot the d.3 document management system (specifically, digital student files) developed by d.velop GmbH. The goal was to stop using paper as of winter semester 2011 and gradually transition to electronic files.
Project schedule
After successful implementation in the Registrar's Office in August 2011, the document management system (DMS) has meanwhile been introduced for the management of student fees, as well as in the examination offices in stages according to the student life cycle. The initial interfaces to TUMonline allow the DMS to read-in attribute data for documents scanned in from the database and automatically import documents from online applicants uploaded to TUMonline.
In a second step, additional interfaces are implemented that will allow documents in the DMS to be displayed in TUMonline. That means the DMS can be used for displaying additional processes, such as managing the application process in digital form, for instance. Applicant documents can be made available to TUM schools and departments in digital form rather than through the in-house mail system.
Outlook
Beyond the defined project objectives, the DMS can be used in numerous other ways such as scanning written exams and making them available for viewing by students via TUMonline, in the area of ministerial documents or for the audit-proof archiving of receipts for accounting purposes, the latter of which is currently being piloted with the d.3 system at the University of Bayreuth.
You can find more information and news about the document management system under https://wiki.tum.de/display/dms/Startseite