How Indiana State University is building a campuswide process improvement strategy

Industry: Higher education 
Location: Terre Haute, Indiana 
Hyland solutions: Hyland Automate™, Hyland Perceptive Content™ 

Key outcomes

• Modernized financial aid and finance workflows 

• Increased visibility into approvals and document status 

• Reduced paper handling, manual tracking and rework 

• Improved data quality, accountability and audit readiness 

• Expanded process improvement initiatives across campus 

Indiana State University's modernization journey began in financial aid, where a legacy static forms solution limited flexibility, integration and maintenance. 

Staff needed a more dynamic approach that could streamline intake, support digital experiences and better integrate with existing systems. 

Because the university already relied on Perceptive Content, it selected Hyland Automate as the next step in its modernization efforts.  

The financial aid project delivered immediate value through dynamic forms, digital signatures and stronger integration capabilities. Conditional fields improved the user experience, while the project's success gave the IT team a proven model for improving processes across campus.  

“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,” Indiana State Applications System Manager Julie Cuffle said. 

As discussions expanded beyond financial aid, the university identified opportunities to improve paper-heavy administrative processes. 

One of the most significant projects emerged in the Controller's Office, where fund transfer requests relied on spreadsheets, printed documents and physical routing for approvals. 

The process lacked visibility, making it difficult for users to determine a request’s status or next steps. 

With Hyland Automate, users can now see where requests are in the workflow, who owns them and what action is required. Automated notifications help keep approvals moving, while authenticated approvals and audit trails strengthen accountability.  

“The requester can immediately see where the document is in the workflow, which area within the Controller’s Office currently has it for review and what action is still required,” Indiana State Programmer Analyst Carol Wiemuth said. 

Greater visibility reduces uncertainty and shortens response times, while staff spend less time answering status inquiries and more time focusing on higher-value work.

Rather than introducing large-scale change at once, the university used a phased rollout strategy that allowed departments to provide feedback and help refine workflows before broader expansion. 

For a period of time, paper and digital processes operated side by side, reducing disruption and helping employees adapt to new ways of working.  

“By listening to feedback and incorporating user suggestions, departments became partners in the transformation rather than feeling like a new system was being imposed on them,” Wiemuth said. 

The university also learned that common forms don’t always mean common processes, making broader end-user involvement a key part of future projects. 

The modernization effort reduced paper routing, printing, copying, interoffice mail handling and manual status tracking across multiple workflows. 

The Controller’s Office has experienced fewer status inquiries because users can independently track requests. Validation rules help ensure required information is entered correctly before forms move forward, reducing delays and rework. 

Document management has also become more efficient. Work that previously required manual importing and indexing into Perceptive Content now occurs automatically in many cases, improving consistency and reducing administrative effort. 

As a result, employees spend less time managing paperwork and more time supporting campus priorities.

The success of early projects has expanded the IT team's role beyond application support and integrations to include process improvements, workflow design and operational efficiency initiatives. 

Approximately half of the team’s effort is now focused on process improvement work, with additional projects underway across human resources, payroll, academic affairs and procurement. 

Looking ahead, the university continues to build on its modernization efforts, using each project as an opportunity to reduce administrative burden, improve visibility and help departments work more efficiently.