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    1. Home
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  1. DocuSign
  2. Getting Started
Retention and Disposition Requirements

Envelope Purge/Documents to Be Removed

DocuSign eSignature is the university’s electronic signature solution for its legally binding agreements, contracts, and standard VCU business forms. All VCU policies apply to VCU DocuSign system use. All envelopes and templates in the VCU DocuSign domain belong to the university. VCU DocuSign domain accounts are not intended as a long-term storage solution for University records.  A copy of completed documents will reside in DocuSign no longer than 18 months. Please familiarize yourself with the Envelope Purge process.

It is the sender's responsibility to ensure that the completed official/public record is archived in a long-term storage solution, retained and destroyed in accordance with the VCU Records Management policy and time periods listed in the Library of Virginia’s Retention and Disposition Schedules.

For a list of applications approved for long-term storage, please the Where Can I Store My Data? page.

Applicable university policies include, but are not limited to:

  • Delegation of Signatory Authority
  • Information Security
  • Records Management

DocuSign eSignature training is provided through free Docusign University instructor-led webinars and self-paced courses. Please review the VCU DocuSign Training Roadmap and complete all DocuSign University training--in the order presented--prior to using DocuSign in a live business process.

Key Features

Electronic Signatures 

Signing with DocuSign is faster, safer and more accessible than using traditional “wet” signatures.


Legally Binding

Electronic signatures are legally binding in the United States and most countries around the world. The ESIGN Act of 2000 defined the legality and enforceability of electronic signatures across all 50 states. The ESIGN Act ensures that contracts and signatures cannot be denied validity or enforceability because they are in electronic form.  In Virginia state law, the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act supports the use of electronic records and electronic signatures for transactions between parties each of which has agreed to conduct transactions by electronic means.  VCU's agreement is shown to each new recipient in DocuSign.  The recipient must read and agree to the VCU terms before viewing or taking action on the documents sent them.


Mobile Friendly

If you are using an iPad, iPhone, Android or Windows device, download an easy-to-use app so you can create, tag, send and sign documents on the fly. Even if you don’t have a DocuSign mobile app installed, you can easily sign documents from your mobile web browser.


PowerForms

PowerForms let your department generate on-demand, self-service documents for signature. This helps eliminate document preparation time and easily pulls the data you collect into existing applications.


Systems Integration

Enables departments to download envelopes, documents, and data from DocuSign for use with other University systems. See the DocuSign Developer Center for more information: https://developers.docusign.com/


Templates

Prepare documents for rapid sending with reusable templates that save tags and field placement, workflow routing, and other settings. Templates standardize processes, reduce preparation time and enable end-to-end automation.

Department Projects

Interested in seeing a product demo or starting a DocuSign project for your department?  Please review our Demos and Training Roadmap.

How do I gain access to DocuSign?

All you have to do is log in.

Since 2017, all faculty, staff, affiliates, and students with an active eID have had access to a VCU DocuSign account. You do not need to request a DocuSign account: your VCU DocuSign account is automatically created the first time you log into DocuSign using your eID@vcu.edu email address. Your VCU DocuSign account allows you to receive, complete, sign, and to upload and send documents for signature.  

All DocuSign eSignature training is provided through free Docusign University instructor-led webinars and self-paced courses. Please review the VCU DocuSign Training Roadmap and complete all DocuSign University training--in the order presented--prior to using DocuSign in a live business process. This is particularly crucial for template creators and individuals performing Bulk Send. We cannot stress enough the importance of gaining a thorough understanding of how to create and manage templates and PowerForms so that you may take full advantage of what DocuSign can do to meet your specific business needs.

Use your @vcu.edu email address at the following URL, and you will be redirected to the VCU CAS login.vcu.edu page for authentication:

  • Production Environment
  • Test (Demo) Environment

NOTE:  The VCU DocuSign domain is @vcu.edu, not @vcuhealth.org, @mcvh-vcu@edu, or other formats. Your standard VCU DocuSign account will be your eID@vcu.edu email address. Please thoroughly review the Logon Information. Issues logging on to VCU CAS should be reported to the VCU Technology Services IT Support Center at 828-2227.  

Elevated Access: DocuSign Template/PowerForm Creator and Bulk Send

Please note that each individual requesting elevated access must submit their own request for access. You may not request access on behalf of another person. For generic/departmental eIDs, only the registered owner of the generic eID may request elevation.

Hospital-only personnel should direct their request to VCUHS IT: it is expected that hospital-only documents/records reside solely on the VCUHS DocuSign domain, not on the university's DocuSign domain. Please contact VCUHS IT through the Employee Intranet (https://intranet.vcuhealth.org/) or 804-828-6447 for questions regarding any hospital records. VCUHS IT can assist you in determining whether the documents you are creating should be stored solely on the VCUHS DocuSign system. The VCU DocuSign support personnel cannot assist with the VCUHS DocuSign system.

Please note that if you merely need to receive, complete, sign, and to upload and send documents for signature, you already have such access simply by signing into your VCU DocuSign account using your @vcu.edu email address at the following URL:

  • Production Environment

If you require the ability to create DocuSign templates (which includes the ability to create PowerForms based on those templates), as well as to perform a Bulk Send on the VCU DocuSign production account, please request an account elevation via DocuSign support ticket. Perform a search for DocuSign, and submit either the Request Account or Request Assistance form. The request for elevated access must be on a DocuSign Request form because of the prohibited data usage acknowledgement in the Special Instructions pane. 

All DocuSign eSignature training is provided through free Docusign University instructor-led webinars and self-paced courses. Please review the VCU DocuSign Training Roadmap and complete all DocuSign University training--in the order presented--prior to using DocuSign in a live business process. It is crucial for template creators to thoroughly understand basic DocuSign functionality.

DocuSign Developer

To develop integrations with DocuSign and your specific University application leveraging APIs, your developer (whether this is someone in-house or professional services from your application's vendor) must create a free DocuSign Developer account https://developers.docusign.com/ and perform all testing in the Developer account. Your developer must carefully review the information in the DocuSign Developer site, particularly:
https://developers.docusign.com/platform/

https://developers.docusign.com/docs/

https://developers.docusign.com/platform/auth/oauth2-requirements-migration/

https://developers.docusign.com/docs/esign-rest-api/go-live/

Due to the nature of API access to envelopes in a DocuSign domain, any standalone/third-party integration requiring Connect or integration keys will be segmented into a separate DocuSign domain account. Standalone/third-party APIs requiring Connect or integration keys will not be promoted to the standard VCU DocuSign enterprise account. If you require additional information regarding the requirements for API access, please contact docusign@vcu.edu.

More information about APIs and creating a free Developer account is available at the DocuSign Developer Center.

 

Any questions, please let us know!

Virginia Commonwealth University
Technology Services
Collaboration Services
707 West Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23284-2041
drgee@vcu.edu

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