Case Study: Oakwood University cuts graduation clearance time from months to weeks with Laserfiche

How Oakwood University Streamlined the Graduation Clearance Process

Oakwood University, a private historically Black university in Huntsville, AL serving about 1,800 undergraduates, faced slow, paper-heavy administrative workflows. Its legacy imaging system couldn’t automate key tasks—most notably the graduation clearance process, which required students to gather multiple physical signatures, make backup copies, and often took months to complete.

Oakwood implemented Laserfiche Forms integrated with its Jenzabar student system so students complete a prepopulated e-form online that is automatically routed to Financial Aid, Student Accounts and advisors, with reminders, rejection workflows, audit reporting and repository storage. The change cut clearance time from months to weeks, improved transparency and faster notifications for remediation, enabled mobile review by advisors, and reduced unnecessary trips and calls to the registrar.

Oakwood University

Kirk Nugent

Chief Information Officer