WSU HOSTS TRAINING SESSION ON ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT AND RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The WSU Registrar’s  Division hosted a training session on Tuesday for various departments on the Electronic Document and Records Management System (EDRMS).

The session, held at the Phyllis Ntantala Collaborative Library in East London, included training on Agenda Management Systems, the Litigation Process system, and EDRMS, which was conducted under the guidance of the Datafinity group.

The EDRMS, first introduced in 2022 after consultations with all relevant departments, aims to enhance the management of WSU records and improve access for both officials and students.

The system captures records electronically and allows for the integration of past manually captured documents, aligning with the university's digital transition strategy.

WSU Head of Archives and Records Management, Nozipho Giba-Fosu, described the implementation as a historical milestone for the institution, noting that WSU has never had a formal system for record-keeping before.

"The Senior Records Officer, in discharging her responsibilities, came up with the conceptual frameworks and methodologies that provided broad scientific and systematic management control over all records generated through the business activities of the university.

She added that these frameworks resulted in the university acquiring EDRMS, which ensures records’ authenticity, integrity, reliability, and accessibility.

"Corporate governance departments and all departments affecting student life were the first to come on board. Over time, this initiative will expand to all other relevant WSU departments," she said.

" The last one is Policy Portal which is already running on our intranet with all university policies classified on the EDRMS accessed through SharePoint."

Giba-Fosu emphasized that the system will enhance business continuity, promote transparency, and improve governance, thus limiting maladministration.

"In the past, we kept our records manually, stored in boxes. With this transition, we will be aligned with the global move towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)," she said.

She further highlighted that this system acknowledges the evidential weight and legal admissibility, aiming to foster accountability, transparency, good governance, promote compliance with relevant legislation, and eliminate maladministration.

"These processes assist the consolidation of WSU records as part of the current R&C implementation plan. Most of the university records are still in physical format due to manual processes that were previously used. All the WSU physical records will be migrated to this EDRMS through a digitization process."

Datafiniti Solution Delivery Manager, Kobus Labuschagne, along with developer Dylan Harntland, shared similar sentiments.

They highlighted that the training provided upskilling opportunities and that the system they developed would enhance user proficiency,

"The manual system was a waste of paper. The new system aims to digitalize records by capturing and integrating them with the portal, allowing even former students to access their records easily,” Labuschagne said.

By Yolanda Palezweni