U signs three-year renewal for DocuSign e-signature service

The University of Utah is pleased to announce that it has signed a three-year campus-wide license renewal for DocuSign.

DocuSign is a cloud-based e-signature software authorized for university business purposes. Properly executed electronic signatures are acceptable for university business forms and documentation.

DocuSign was selected as the central e-signature provider for staff and faculty at the U because it offers users a robust set of benefits, according to Mark Curtz, product manager for UIT’s University Support Services (USS). They include:

• Efficiency: DocuSign e-signatures potentially shorten turn-around time, reduce manual staff labor, and increase productivity.
• Sustainability: DocuSign users fulfill signatory obligations without paper, cutting down on the need to store physical copies and reducing mail and imaging costs.
• Legal compliance: DocuSign solutions exceed federal and state requirements, including the U.S. Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce (ESIGN) Act and Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA).
• Security: DocuSign was vetted and approved by the Information Security Office (ISO) for use with confidential information when all security best practices are observed. E-signatures are generally more secure than signatures obtained by sending paper copies or email attachments.
• Flexibility: DocuSign use supports remote work arrangements.

“DocuSign users can easily create templates for documents they frequently send for signatures by uploading their current forms,” Curtz explained. “They can overlay signature blocks, date stamps, text fields, and other elements that signers need to complete on the form. As part of creating a template, users define a list of recipients for the document. This list can be open ended so that the sender enters the recipients’ contact information when they send the document, or the template can be set with defined recipients, if the same person always needs to sign a given document, such as a supervisor or executive. Recipients can be set with different responsibilities, such as people who need to sign, receive copies, or verify other signers before the intended signatories receive the documents.”

Curtz also touted DocuSign’s PowerForms feature that gives users the ability to create weblinks to launch templates, allowing them to post forms to their websites or send links to large mailing lists.

“Departments might have forms that they need employees to sign each year, such as telecommuting or equipment use agreements. Using PowerForms, department administrators can send a link to everyone, and DocuSign will track who has or hasn’t yet signed,” Curtz said.

For instructions on how to activate a new DocuSign account, please access this IT Knowledge Base article.

Due to vendor restrictions, University of Utah Health employees may use DocuSign only for nonclinical business. U of U Health staff members interested in a university DocuSign account should email Curtz at mark.curtz@utah.edu to determine whether their account fulfills the terms of the U’s contract.

Curtz encourages parties interested in a customized DocuSign solution, such as separate, linked instances of DocuSign or service accounts managed centrally for a particular user group, to email him.

 

 

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