Contract Insights: The Leading Resource for Contract Management & Procurement Professionals

Why School Systems Need Education Contract Management Software

Written by Rosemary Shields | 04/4/19

School systems, colleges, universities, and other education institutions are choosing to implement contract management software to create better transparency and a streamlined process. 

Paralegals, legal counsel, procurement specialists, executive assistants, and other education professionals often have a significant number of contracts laying around.  Finding a specific document can be a hassle due to the manual search across shared drives, stored files, and other possible locations.  Manually creating a new contract usually results in searching for specific clauses and absorbing the whole day due to an unorganized process.  Wouldn’t it be easier to have all your contracts stored in one searchable repository?  That way, when it’s time to create a new contract, all you need to do is click a few buttons and the correct terms and clauses are pulled together for you.      

Education contract management software provides users with a secure contract repository, contract templates and clauses, automated contract workflows and eApprovals, automated alerts and reminders, and more.  

Discover features that can benefit you as an education institution and learn how contract management software can help you take control of your contracts.

Secure Contract Repository

Education contract management software provides users with a secure contract repository that can store an unlimited number of contracts and related documents.  Each contract is stored in the system as a “contract record” and, based on your organization’s preferences, you can outline every detail you’d like saved to that contract record.  You and your team can search for a specific record and be presented with all the information you need in seconds.

Contract Templates and Clauses

Contract templates replace the manual drafting process for fast, streamlined contract authorization.  By clicking a few buttons, the system can create the contract for you from a template rather than searching and pulling the parts you need out of a bunch of documents.  You can configure the system to automatically pull the correct terms and clauses based on contract type, ensuring all necessary terms are included.

Automated Alerts and Reminders

Automated alerts support post-execution tasks like annual reminders, renewals, payments, and more.  Many schools and higher-ed institutions are transitioning from no process at all to automation and workflows.  Communicating about contracts and negotiations through email and phone can result in process bottlenecks and missed steps.  With automated approvals, obligations can be tracked with transparency, eliminating the possibility of missed due dates.

FOIA Public Records Request Portal

For those legally required to respond to public record requests, or FOIA requests, education contract management software provides the general public with self-serve access to select information, relieving contract admin and other team members from having to manually respond to information requests by email or physical mail.  The portal can be displayed as a web page on your company website, customized with your branding and providing the public with a tool that’s convenient for them and you.

eSignatures

eSignatures streamline the signing process and can be seamlessly integrated with education contract management software so documents never have to leave the system.  From the moment the contract is created to the time of signing and completing the process, everything can be done from within the system.

For more on eSignatures, check out our blog post on using Adobe Sign in our software, Contract Insight®.

Education Contract Management Software

CobbleStone Software provides award-winning education contract management software for contract request tracking, reporting and analytics, FOIA request portal, eSignatures, and much more.  CobbleStone’s Contract Insight® is a web-based, flexible solution that benefits thousands of users in both large and small educational institutions throughout both the public and private sector.

Contact us for a free demo of our software to see CobbleStone in action.