That is an interesting situation and I am sure many others share a similar concern.

I would recommend trying out Podio (free), it lets you create all sorts of templates to capture and work with information (text fields, categories, dates, etc).

You can set it to receive e-mail for you and it will automatically insert the appropriate information into the fields (including attachments). You can decide if your staff only sees the name of the student and the attachment if you wish.

You can also create a workflow that informs you when your staff members finish the corrections and are ready to be sent back.

You can even use it to keep track of all pending essays, their progress and due dates so you are always on time.

Let me know if you have any questions!