Electronic degree certificates are here!
It has been possible to apply for an electronic degree certificate from 4 May 2023, and the first ones were submitted to graduates on Thursday, 11 May 2023. The last printed degree certificate was signed by Dean Jari Ojala at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences on Wednesday, 10 May 2023. The recipient of the last printed degree certificate was MPhil Mona Sainio.
“It was a bit nostalgic moment to sign the last certificate as it was the end of a long tradition,” Ojala says. “The pen I used for signing certificates will be kept in our museum.”
Student and Academic Services has taken care of the certificate renewal. Project Manager Jutta Aalto says that the renewal is significant and historic for the whole university. The implementation project has required a lot of work and several parties have contributed to it, including people from different Digital Services teams, Legal Services, University Communications, systems suppliers, faculties, and Student and Academic Services.
Vice Dean Lauri Kettunen from the Faculty of Information Technology signed the first electronic degree certificate
on Thursday, 11 May 2023.
“It was a festive moment,” Kettunen says. “It is outstanding to notice the magnitude of changes taking place in our times. When I was a schoolboy, we still used slide rules and now even degree certificates are electronic.”
The recipient of the first electronic degree certificate was Oskari Hämäläinen, student of cyber security. If he had wished, he would have had time to apply for the traditional printed version of the certificate, but he chose the electronic one.
“At the end, it was an easy decision,” Hämäläinen says. “This way I have the electronic certificate with all its benefits, and a concrete copy of the certificate to remind me of my studies. I find it very important that the University will offer students the opportunity to order a paper copy of the certificate also in the future.”
Digitalisation reduces work phases
An electronic degree certificate is submitted by email as an attachment of the congratulations message, from which the graduate can download the certificate. The graduate can also request a paper copy of the certificate. After the change, graduates get degree certificates easier and faster. Earlier, the process with signed printed degree certificates required many work phases until the certificate was in the graduate’s hand.
“Unnecessary work phases have been removed, and it is now possible to send the certificate immediately after the signature,” says Project Manager Aalto. The certificate is also more reliable and secure and easier to connect to electronic service processes. The authenticity of the certificate can be verified with several checkers, which discover immediately if the original certificate has been changed somehow.
The transfer also saves plenty of deans’ time. At the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, the dean signed almost two thousand printed degree certificates every year.
“Even though it is a pleasant duty to sign the certificates, the number of signatures is notable,” says Dean Jari Ojala. “The electronic signature streamlines the process and is surely a more functional solution for students.”
It is possible to sign certificates electronically from anywhere so there is no need to come to the office to write the signatures. “One year it was the Midsummer Eve when I came to the campus to sign certificates in a hurry and saw a huge pile of them,” says Vice Dean Lauri Kettunen laughingly. “It took an hour and a half to sign the certificates – and I got a tenosynovitis as a result.”
