Sending Media Release Forms With DocuSign

The following is a guide for those with permission to use DocuSign to send Media Release Forms (called "Envelopes" in DocuSign).

Each of the media release forms has their own template within DocuSign:

  1. SPS Standard Media Release Form: Requires one signature from the recipient.

  2. SPS Standard Media Release Form - For Minors: Requires two signatures, one from the recipient and one from the recipient's designated parent/guardian.

  3. SPS Guest Lecturer Recordings Release: Requires one signature from the recipient.

  4. Columbia University Office of Public Affairs Standard Release Form: Requires one signature from the recipient.

Instructions for Sending Media Release Forms via DocuSign

This is a guide to the standard workflow used to send a media release form to a single signer using DocuSign.To conveniently send envelopes/media release forms to many signers at once for the same event, follow the Bulk Send Instructions below.

View a video of these instructions here: DocuSign Individual Envelope Instructions - Video

DocuSign Individual Recipient Workflow

  1. Log in to DocuSign using your LionMail address, then your UNI and password.

  2. On the homepage, select Start > Send an Envelope.

  3. On the next page, under Add Documents to the Envelope, select Use a Template.

    Note: if you want to cancel this entire envelope at any point, click Actions > Discard at the upper-right corner.

  4. In the Select Templates window that opens, click to expand Shared Folders on the left, then select SPS Media. On the right, select the media release form you want, then click Add Selected.

    Note: if you're not sure which media release form to use, please consult this page.*
    *The "    SPS Standard Media Release Form - For Minors" is for recipients who need a parent/guardian to sign.

  5. Under Add Recipients to the Envelope, enter the signer's name and email address.

  6. Under Envelope Custom Fields, the Email Subject should be renamed to better match the particular course/event/project, but [[Signer_UserName]] must be kept at the very end so that the signer's name will appear in their respective email's subject. For the sake of identification and organization, please follow this naming scheme:

    Please Sign: Media Release Form-[course/event/project]-[date as MM.DD.YYYY]-[[Signer_UserName]]

    e.g. Please Sign: Media Release Form-Bioethics Career Panel-11.29.2021-[[Signer_UserName]];
    Please Sign: Media Release Form-WMGTPS5900_D01_2021_3-11.29.2021-[[Signer_UserName]]

  7. Customize the Email Message as you see fit.

  8. At this point, you can click Send Now to finish the process and send the media release form to the signer, unless you're interested in the following options.

    Note: if you want to cancel this entire envelope at any point, click Actions > Discard at the upper-right corner.

Optional: Advanced Options and further editing

  • If you want to change any of the default settings listed below, click Advanced Options at the upper-right corner, make your changes, and cilck Save. 
  1. An envelope's signer is allowed to delegate someone else to sign instead.
  2. An automatic reminder is sent via email if the envelope has not been completed and signed after three days.
  3. Following the first reminder, another reminder is sent after every three days.
  4. An envelope will expire after 120 days if not completed and signed.

  • If you want to complete some of the media release form's fields before the signer receives it (like labeling its affiliated course/event/project), click Next at either the upper-right or lower-right corner.

  • Click on each field on the media release form, type in your entry, and click Send when finished.

    Note: if you want to cancel this entire envelope at any point, click Actions > Discard at the upper-right corner.

Additional Details

  • As usual, completed forms will be sent to [email protected].
     
  • For envelopes sent by you, their statuses can be checked from Home immediately after login by clicking either Waiting for Others or Completed.
     
  • When viewing envelopes in a list in the Manage section, the options shown to the right of each one depend on whether you're viewing only the envelopes you've sent (default view) or Shared Envelopes.
     
  • When viewing only envelopes you've sent, the ones in the Waiting for Others section will show options to its right for Move, History, and Delete, and the ones in the Completed section will have options for Download, Print, Move, Forward, History, and Delete.
     
  • When viewing Shared Envelopes, the ones in the Waiting for Others section will show options for Resend, Correct, Copy, Void, History, Form Data, and Export as CSV, and the ones in the Completed section will have options for Download, Print, Forward, Copy, History, Form Data, and Export as CSV.

Bulk Send allows you to send envelopes to multiple signers simultaneously. This saves time by not having to create a new envelope in DocuSign for each signer in a given project.

All you need to create a Bulk Send is a list of names with their corresponding email addresses and this Google Sheet template.

*View a video of these instructions here: DocuSign Bulk Send Video Instructions

**As of June 2023 a new option is available to send envelopes via Bulk Send which allows you to not have to use a CSV file.

Method 1: Copy and Pasting Recipient's Names/Email Addresses in DocuSign

  1. Log in to your DocuSign account.

  2. On the homepage, select Start > Send an Envelope.

  3. On the next page, under Add Documents to the Envelope, select Use a Template.

    In the Select Templates window that opens, click to expand Shared Folders on the left, then select SPS Media. On the right, select the media release form you want, then click Add Selected.

    Note: if you're unsure which media release form to use, please consult this page.

  4. Once the Select Templates window closes, click Bulk List (under Add Recipients to the Envelope).

  5. In the upload window that opens, you will be in the "Manual Input" tab. Copy and paste the names and their respective email addresses in each line.

  6. In the Bulk List Preview window that appears, review and verify the imported information, then click Finish Import, after which you will see the uploaded file under Uploaded Bulk Send list.

  7. Complete the rest of the page:

    Batch Name (under Bulk Send Details) is for our purposes only and will not be displayed to signers. For the sake of identification and organization, please follow this naming scheme:

    [academic program as XXXX/department/team]-[course/event/project]-[Date as MM.DD.YYYY]

    e.g. BIET-Bioethics Career Panel-11.29.2021; Student Affairs-Course Registration Webinar-05.01.2021

    (See the Program/Department Codes below for guidance.)

    OnBaseClient should be skipped.

    Email Subject can be renamed to better match the particular course/event/project, but [[Signer_UserName]] must be kept at the very end so that each signer's name will appear in their respective email's subject. For the sake of identification and organization, please follow this naming scheme:

    Please Sign: Media Release Form-[course/event/project]-[date as MM.DD.YYYY]-[[Signer_UserName]]

    e.g. Please Sign: Media Release Form-Bioethics Career Panel-11.29.2021-[[Signer_UserName]];
    Please Sign: Media Release Form-WMGTPS5900_D01_2021_3-11.29.2021-[[Signer_UserName]]

    The Email Message can be customized as you see fit, but please remember that with Bulk Send, everyone will receive the same message.

  8. Click Send Now, or click Next to review the form which all signers will receive.

    Note: if reviewing, the media release form template will not be populated yet with imported information for its fields. This review is simply to check the document template being used.

  9. If you clicked Next and are done reviewing, select Send.

Method 2: Using Google Sheets/CSV File (recommended when you have many recipients or need to use the template for minors)

Part 1: Creating the File Using the Google Sheet Template

  1. Prepare a list of signers' names and email addresses*, and make sure each knows to expect a DocuSign email requesting completion of a media release form.

    *For those needing parent/guardian signatures, also have the names and email addresses of the parents/guardians available.

  2. Make a copy of the BULK SEND TEMPLATE – Media Release Form** sheet by right-clicking its tab at the bottom of the Google Sheet and selecting Copy To > New Spreadsheet.***

    Once the new spreadsheet has been created, click Open Spreadsheet.

    **For those needing parent/guardian signatures, use the MINORS - BULK SEND TEMPLATE – Media Release Form.

    ***Creating this spreadsheet is mandatory to successfully process a Bulk Send request.

  3. In the newly created spreadsheet, each column corresponds to a field on the media release form. Enter the recipients' names, email addresses, and phone numbers in the corresponding fields.

  4. Complete column C to indicate the event name and date.

  5. Once all names and email addresses have been added, download the CSV file by clicking File > Download > Comma-separated values (.csv, current sheet).

    Note where on your computer you are saving the CSV file. If you don't have a destination set in mind, typically, your "Desktop" or "Downloads" folder are ideal choices for temporarily storing files.

Part 2: Using DocuSign

  1. After downloading the CSV file, log in to your DocuSign account.

  2. On the homepage, select Start > Send an Envelope.

  3. On the next page, under Add Documents to the Envelope, select Use a Template.

    In the Select Templates window that opens, click to expand Shared Folders on the left, then select SPS Media. On the right, select the media release form you want, then click Add Selected.

    Note: if you're unsure which media release form to use, please consult this page.

  4. Once the Select Templates window closes, click Import a Bulk List (under Add Recipients to the Envelope).

  5. In the upload window that opens, find and open the CSV file you previously downloaded.

    You may encounter a Bulk Send Matching Exceptions window, but this is due to not having provided entries for all fields in the chosen media release form. If you correctly entered names and email addresses, click Accept.

  6. Follow the steps from method 1 beginning at step 6.

Additional Details

  • DocuSign sends a separate envelope to each recipient for a Bulk Send.
     
  • As usual, completed forms will be sent to [email protected].
     
  • To check how many recipients have completed their media release forms, do the following:

    Go to Manage > Shared Envelopes > SPS Media > Select > Bulk Send (on the left). A list organized by date/time of submission will appear.

    Find your Bulk Send by its Batch Name, then check its status and progress to the right. Clicking a Bulk Send will show you individual statuses of all envelopes within that Bulk Send. If an envelope's status is still Waiting for Others, there is an option to Resend on the right.
     
  • For envelopes sent by you (Bulk Send or not), their statuses can be checked from Home immediately after login by clicking either Waiting for Others or Completed.
     
  • When viewing envelopes in a list in the Manage section, the options shown to the right of each one depend on whether you're viewing only the envelopes you've sent (default view) or Shared Envelopes.
     
  • When viewing only envelopes you've sent, the ones in the Waiting for Others section will show options to its right for Move, History, and Delete, and the ones in the Completed section will have options for Download, Print, Move, Forward, History, and Delete.
     
  • When viewing Shared Envelopes, the ones in the Waiting for Others section will show options for Resend, Correct, Copy, Void, History, Form Data, and Export as CSV, and the ones in the Completed section will have options for Download, Print, Forward, Copy, History, Form Data, and Export as CSV.
     
  • For more guidance, click here for DocuSign's official instructions for Bulk Send.

This is a guide to storing completed media release forms by uploading them to DocuSign as PDFs.

Since DocuSign serves as centralized storage for media release forms, this workflow can be used to submit media release forms that were completed, signed, and returned outside of DocuSign.

*View a video of these instructions here: DocuSign Uploading Completed Media Release Forms as PDFs

  1. Log in to your DocuSign account.

  2. On the homepage, select Start > Send an Envelope.

  3. On the next page, under Add Documents to the Envelope, select Upload.

    Note: if you want to cancel this entire envelope at any point, click Actions > Discard at the upper-right corner.

  4. Find and select the PDF(s) you want to upload to this envelope, then click Open.

    Note: multiple media release forms related to the same course/event/project can be uploaded together here into a single envelope.

  5. A Select Matching Templates window may appear and offer to apply detected templates. If this happens, click Cancel.

  6. Under Add Recipients to the Envelope, enter your own name and email address, then change the assigned action next to it from Needs to Sign to Receives a Copy.

  7. Under Envelope Custom Fields, edit the Email Subject to label the particular course/event/project and signer(s), as room allows. For the sake of identification and organization, please follow this naming scheme:

    [academic program as XXXX/department/team]-[course/event/project]-[Date as MM.DD.YYYY]-[signer's name]

    e.g. BIET-Bioethics Career Panel-11.29.2021-David Hoffman; Student Affairs-Course Registration Webinar-05.01.2021

    (See the Program/Department Codes below for guidance.)

    Note: if there are multiple signers', use their last names and exclude any that may not fit; consider adding them to the Email Message instead.

    e.g. BIET-Bioethics Career Panel-11.29.2021-Hoffman-Klitzman-Ladha

  8. Customize the Email Message if you want to add a note that may be helpful for you or others when viewing the envelope in DocuSign.

    Note: unfortunately, this will not be searchable information in DocuSign.

  9. Click Send Now.

Additional Details

  • As usual, completed forms will be sent to [email protected].
     
  • When viewing envelopes in a list in the Manage section, the options shown to the right of each one depend on whether you're viewing only the envelopes you've sent (default view) or Shared Envelopes.
     
  • When viewing only envelopes you've sent, the ones in the Waiting for Others section will show options to its right for Move, History, and Delete, and the ones in the Completed section will have options for Download, Print, Move, Forward, History, and Delete.
     
  • When viewing Shared Envelopes, the ones in the Waiting for Others section will show options for Resend, Correct, Copy, Void, History, Form Data, and Export as CSV, and the ones in the Completed section will have options for Download, Print, Forward, Copy, History, Form Data, and Export as CSV.

Watch a video of these instructions here: DocuSign: Managing and Searching for Media Release Forms

Looking for DocuSign forms sent by users other than yourself is handled through DocuSign's "Manage" tab. You will then need to select "Shared Envelopes" and then "SPS Media."

You should see a yellow banner with the text "Envelopes belonging to SPS Media." This indicates that you are looking at all DocuSign envelopes sent on behalf of SPS Media. 

You can use the search box to find a signee by name, email, program, and event. This is why it is important to follow the DocuSign envelope's subject line formatting as indicated above.

Once you've found the appropriate signee, the right side of their envelope information will list different ways to manage their envelope. If it's already been signed, you can choose to "Download" it. If it's awaiting a signature, you will see options to "Resend" and "Correct," among other options.

 

SPS Program Codes

If you need further assistance, please contact the SPS Media team at [email protected].

Video Resources

The playlist below features videos on the different processes SPS uses to secure media release forms via DocuSign. They mirror the above instructions.

These four videos will guide you through the current SPS workflow as of 07/26/2022