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Situation
The Financial Aid Office at this major
University is using LibertyNET software
to electronically maintain over 70 types
of loan forms, tax returns, and other
related financial aid documentation. Coupled
with appropriate hardware, the system
currently stores over 750,000 images in
less than five cubic feet of space.
Solution – Productivity
and Security
Operating in a Windows environment on
a Novell Netware Ethernet network across
over 30 workstations, LibertyNET shares
data with the financial aid office’s
COBOL-based database and with the University’s
mainframe system. This shared data reduces
manual indexing requirements and greatly
enhances office automation.
LibertyNET has captured over one million
images. These images are available to
the central financial aid office and the
auxiliary remote office, which serves
the University’s School of Medicine.
Prior to implementation of the LibertyNET
software, paper copies of all financial
aid documents were maintained for up to
five years after a student stopped attending
classes. Now, only a handful of specific
documents are maintained in their original
form, and these are maintained for less
than one year.
In addition to simple document storage,
LibertyNET allows staff to rapidly retrieve
necessary student data based upon one
of seven elements including the student’s
name, social security number, or identification
number.
Working in conjunction with the University’s
New Financial Aid Management On-Line Users
System, LibertyNET has greatly improved
services to faculty, staff, students,
and parents.
Always on the forefront of technology,
the Financial Aid Office is actively using
Automatic Indexing, Optical Character
Recognition (OCR), and Bar Code technologies
to assist in the automation process.
For this reason, certain forms, such
as the Financial Aid Award Letter, require
no manual indexing at the point of capture.
Client Benefit
When asked how LibertyNET has affected
the Financial Aid Office, the Assistant
Vice Chancellor stated, “Now our
office runs much more smoothly. And the
file cabinets, with their thousands of
pieces of paper, are gone!”
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