If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught international education offices anything over the last two years, it’s how to adapt to change. As the Greek philosopher Heraclitus famously said, “change is the only constant.” This is truer now than it has ever been.

As international student offices learned how to adapt to new ways of operating, other procedures and requirements left offices struggling to find a better solution. One of those requirements is the need to manually sign Form I-20s for F-1 students.

From the start of the pandemic, international mail and courier services were significantly affected, preventing students from receiving documents in a timely manner. Additionally, the inability for university officials and students to meet on campus due to travel restrictions and closings only made the situation worse. However, Terra Dotta, the leader in higher ed solutions for global education, recognized an opportunity to provide even more value to international education offices when the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) authorized the use of electronic signatures for the Form I-20 in October of 2021.

As part of the latest 22.0 release in Terra Dotta International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS), international education offices are now able to integrate their ISSS solution directly with DocuSign, a leader in electronic signature solutions. After a simple integration of DocuSign within Terra Dotta ISSS, international education offices can expedite and streamline the process of signing Form I-20s for both the university as well as the student.

Terra Dotta's integration with DocuSign allows international education offices to easily send documents to DocuSign either via batch interface with SEVIS or through Terra Dotta's RTI Connect within ISSS Student. This removes so much of the headache associated with the manual sending of documents to students.

After the document is sent to DocuSign, DSO's will have instant access to all documents in their email address where e-signatures can be applied to the document and automatically sent to the student. Not only does Terra Dotta's integration with DocuSign streamline the process of printing, completing, and sending Form I-20s to students but even automatically notifies the student on the behalf of the DSO.

Furthermore, Terra Dotta ISSS will also record that the Form I-20 was sent to DocuSign in the student's general history log creating an important audit trail even when e-signatures are involved.

With Terra Dotta's ISSS integration with DocuSign, DSO's and international student admins will be able to streamline their document processes, instantly deliver Form I-20s with no need for printed resources, and even notify students on the behalf of the university. Click here to learn more about how Terra Dotta ISSS can help streamline your university's process for incoming students.