Digital Signatures

["McLaughlin, Bryan S." <bmclaughlin () CREIGHTON EDU>]

As Creighton University reached deeper into online education we (IT) are being asked to provide a solution to allow 
distance students to 'sign' electronic documents as they pertain to their educational pursuits.  Documents like 
Dissertation proposal forms, plan of study document, etc. are used by traditional students and physically signed by 
program personnel and the student as they are guiding documents tailored for each student.  As our distance student 
population grows we are beginning to recognize where some of our traditional practices have to change to meet new 
demands.  We do not have a PKI infrastructure in place today so this initiative will be from the ground up.

Have others implemented digital signature solutions to address the needs of distance students?  If so, what products 
are being used and how successful have these programs been, are these solutions used across campus or only for small 
populations, and are these standalone solutions or are you integration digital signatures into other application?

Thanks,

Bryan McLaughlin
Information Security Officer
Creighton University