Grant Management System

Case Study: University of South Florida Research Foundation

Customer profile

The University of South Florida, with the approval of the Board of Regents, established the USF Research Foundation, Inc., in June 1989 to promote, encourage and provide assistance to the research activities of University faculty, staff and students. Incorporated by the State of Florida in 1989, this not-for-profit organization provides a means by which discoveries, inventions, processes and work products of the USF faculty, staff and student can be transferred from the University laboratory to benefit the public. Funds generated by such discoveries are used to enhance research at the University.

The Foundation was formed as a direct-support organization for the University in order to provide broad and flexible financial mechanisms in support of research operations, contracts and grants, and to facilitate the commercialization of university inventions. The Research Foundation is responsible for receiving and administering all royalties related to intellectual property, and acts as a fiduciary entity on behalf of the licensee and university programs. The Research Foundation also acts as the fiduciary entity for private contracts and grants.

Situation

The Foundation receives grant checks for both the university and the Foundation at two different locations. The checks must be matched to a funding code and principal investigator and then deposited in the bank. Checks were passed from person to person in the review and identification steps of the process to determine where the money belonged. This manual grant management process left room for errors and the possibility of the checks being delayed or even lost during the transporting of the checks between locations. 

Document Management Solution

The Foundation knew the answer to its problem was a move to an eletronic grant management system, which allowed for electronic document storage, retrieval and document workflow. After reviewing potential solutions, the organization partnered with Document Advantage Corporation to deploy an electronic document management system (EDMS) for routing images of the checks and supporting documents while keeping the checks in lock boxes until deposited.

The Foundation selected the DocuVantage solution for a number of reasons, including:

• An easy-to-use interface
• Flexible features to accommodate the Foundations unique business requirements
• Security controls to ensure the safety and privacy of the documents
• Rapid deployment

DocuVantage OnDemand is a solution that provides the foundation with Web-based access to the check images and supporting documentation. The solution is also highly scaleable and will readily accommodate the Foundations growth. The system can also be expanded into other areas of the University at any time.

Now, the organization’s electronic document storage needs have been reduced to the size of a pizza box. Employees no longer manually route documents. Instead, they access records via an intuitive Web-based interface. Staff can search records in a variety of formats, including those in word processing, scanned image and text-based file types. By doing specific queries for a document type, name, or date, personnel can quickly locate and view images of the original records. They also know the status of the checks in process at any point in time.

The next phase of business process streamlining is to integrate the solution with other applications to remove duplication of data entry.

Benefits

• Efficient service. Whereas staff once had to delay check processing to physically retrieve and review records, employees can now provide instant answers via the DocuVantage® Web-based interface
• Security. The checks are now secured immediately after scanning and are locked until ready for deposit. The secure document management system even helps create the deposit documentation.
• Rapid installation and adoption. DocuVantage® installed the solution quickly and employees found the Web-based interface easy to use. The Foundation was able to get the system in place – and in use – with minimal time and effort.
• Expandable and Secure. The software can be expanded into any area of the University that needs to access and process information on campus or remotely.

What can DocuVantage® do for you?
Want to learn how DocuVantage® can meet your unique electronic document and information management needs? Contact us today at (866) 367-3467 ext. 1 or request that we contact you.