Clark Atlanta University is testing digital technology that can give graduates their degrees the day after they cross the stage and cut down on forgeries.
It is part of a pilot program in which graduates can receive their diplomas by email the day after graduation. University officials are working with Parchment, a Scottsdale, Ariz., company to allow convenient access to verified credentials and official transcripts.
The university began testing the electronic degree disbursement with December’s graduating class. Susan W. Gibson, Clark Atlanta’s registrar, said the quick turnaround has significantly helped international students, many of whom return home immediately after completing their coursework. About 15 percent of the university population are international students who need access to their official transcripts and degrees for international travel.
“We’re just trying to meet the needs of the 21st century,” she said.
The digital documents also cut down on forgeries. Gibson said she’s seen a rise in the number of forgeries sent to the university for verification by employment and educational agencies. Typically, the university receives about two forged documents a month, usually with obvious flaws including type fonts and the wrong names for administration officials.
“It’s very sporadic, but diplomas are being asked for more frequently,” she said. “The point is, if we’re getting those one or two, there’s several others out there that have not been reported (to us).”
The degrees are encrypted with several security measures, said Martin Hill, Clark Atlanta’s academic records manager. Those includes watermarks as well as “copy” written several times over the document. Access to the documents is available using a university-issued password.
“It’s providing more of a streamlining process,” he said. “They have to go through number of verifications. It can go directly into their email … the day after graduation.”
So far, people are pleased with the turnaround. While they wait for the paper documents, job verification and travel documents for those returning to their home country can be scheduled much faster. Some people have been shocked by the electronic availability, Hill said.
“We have people walk in and calling to make sure it’s real,” he said.
Parchment CEO Matthew Pittinsky says having the information handy “unlocks the value” of the transcript or degree more freely.
“There’s lots of information to help place (students) in courses … and for employment,” he said.
Making degrees and transcripts available digitally cuts down on the time taken to become verified for a job or degree-seeking program, he said, while building confidence of employers and licensing boards in a program’s credibility.
“Having them trapped as paper documents creates a lot of inefficiency and wasted cost,” he said. Digital versions “means the data in those documents are untrapped and now useful.”
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