The University will offer certified electronic diplomas alongside physical copies beginning with the graduating class of fall 2023.
The electronic diplomas, called CeDiplomas, are a “secure, verifiable and official” document easily distributed to potential employers to validate credentials in real-time, according to the University’s webpage. The University distributes the CeDiplomas through their vendor partner Paradigm, a diploma distribution company.
Bethany Bell, associate registrar of the office of the registrar, said the University decided to offer CeDiplomas to meet students’ digital needs.
“We are in a generation of instant need (and) accessibility,” Bell said. “This is something that an employer can validate very quickly. We just saw it as an added need (for) students, (and) for students to get excited about that credential … and then in the electronic space we’re in, it just made sense.”
Bell said the CeDiploma helps students get their diplomas “at a faster pace than waiting for that physical copy to be printed and delivered.” She said this especially helps students who need to show their diploma, not just their transcript, for work and graduate school applications.
The CeDiploma also helps meet the needs of international students looking for employment, said assistant registrar Jason Andres.
“I think internationally, the diploma is necessary for a lot of our international grads, and going back, the diploma is much more important than just a transcript,” Andres said.
Bell said while the process of offering CeDiplomas began in the spring of 2023, the conversation has been going on for at least the past five years.
Hanna Guidry, who graduated last semester, said the CeDiploma might be useful during the application process to law school.
“(The CeDiploma) was one of those things that just given how everything is so digital nowadays, I kind of assumed that many universities were already doing this,” Guidry said.
Guidry said the CeDiploma’s digital format will be helpful when sharing the news of her graduation with others.
“Especially because I don’t walk in graduation until May, I’m in an interesting limbo right now,” Guidry said. “But it definitely is a lot easier to share, and I’m sure when I send out things like graduation announcements, it’ll be useful to have a file like that if I’m sending those digitally.”
