Volume 8/ Number 2 May 2021 Article 3

Rethinking the Attributes of Academic Certificates: Implications for Policy and Practice

CHRISTOPHER M. OWUSU-ANSAH CHRISTOPHER M. OWUSU-ANSAH holds a PhD in Information Science from the University of South Africa. He is a Senior Assistant Librarian and College Librarian, College of Agriculture Education, Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development, Ghana.

AUGUSTUS KWAW BREW AUGUSTUS KWAW BREW holds an MA in Adult Education from the University of Ghana. He is College Registrar, College of Agriculture Education Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development, Ghana.

ROSEMARY ADU POKU ROSEMARY ADU POKU holds an MSc in Technology from Purdue University in USA. She is an Assistant Registrar, Office of the College Registrar, Division of Operations, College of Agriculture Education, Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development, Ghana.

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Recommended Citation: Owusu-Ansah, M. C., Brew, K. A. & Poku, R. A. (2021). Rethinking the Attributes of Academic Certificates: Implications for Policy and Practice. All Nations University Journal of Applied Thought (ANUJAT),8(2): 31-55. All Nations University Press. doi: http://doi.org/10.47987/TZKK9575 Available at: http://anujat.anuc.edu.gh/Vol8/No2/3.pdf

Research Online is the Institutional repository for All Nations University College. For further information, contact the ANUC Library: [email protected]

Abstract

Educational institutions and employers who depend on the authenticity of academic certificates for making admission and hiring decisions face a considerable challenge in identifying the features of genuine academic certificates including tedious verification processes and wrongful engagement of unqualified personnel. The purpose of this paper was to identify trends in academic certificate production with specific regards to their standard features, such as wording, security enhancements and features, and other unique features, and the extent to which these features contribute to the intrinsic and extrinsic values of certificates. Furthermore, the paper investigates the extent to which selected universities replace lost or damaged certificates. The study employed a qualitative design involving document and web content analysis. To address the central question of the study, the authors analysed the standard features of academic certificates issued by 20 universities across the globe. Furthermore, we performed a web content analysis to find policies or guidelines on the replacement of academic certificates. The results revealed that while academic certificates from the selected institutions bore a few unique characteristics, most of the certificates, however, bore many common features. Some of the common features included the location of the emblem/logo of the on the certificate, date of the award, degree name, signature specimen of top officials, and security features such as holograms. On the other hand, unique features included some certificates displaying a statement on the availability of electronic certificates, rendering of the university’s name in multiple languages, among others. The study also found that lost or mutilated certificates are replaced by European-based universities, whereas those in Africa did not. Among others, the paper recommended that awarding institutions in Africa should consider re-issuing lost or destroyed certificates.

Keywords: Awarding institutions, Lost Certificates, Content analysis, Universities, Verification

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Introduction Higher education institutions are expected to educate, train, and, eventually, award certificates or certify their learners as competent, qualified, and to some extent, employable, at the end of their studies (Carnevale, Rose, & Hanson, 2013). Through a combination of curricular and extra-curricular activities demonstrated through tuition, assessment and evaluation in several cognitive, behavioural, and skill-based tasks, training institutions ensure that only those learners who meet the expected standards of performance are awarded certificates for symbolising their mastery and or expertise in a field of learning or practice. The awarding of an academic certificate and or certification at the end of a programme of study is indicative of the acquisition of expected knowledge, skills, and aptitudes in a field of study or practice. Certification may also imply that the certified person possess the minimum level of skills to embark on lifelong learning in the specified area. Certification may be indicative of the certificated person’s ability to contribute meaningfully to the workforce, improve on the state of an existing phenomenon, and carve a niche in one’s chosen profession (Garwe, 2015).

Academic certificates issued by most universities and colleges worldwide are paper-based, embedding in them several standard physical features and security enhancements as proliferation in technology and degree mills result in credential fraud and certificate piracy (Cohen & Winch, 2011; Garwe, 2015; Ochieng, 2016). Despite these features, it is inevitable for paper-based documents to be subjected to the forces of nature, mutilation, or loss (Library of Congress, 2019). To address this challenge, some universities have policies for the replacement of issued academic certificates (University of Sussex, 2021). These policies persist on the recognition that losing a certificate on the basis of external factors is inevitable. There is a need for universities and colleges to update their policies on the replacement of academic certificates.

Previous studies concerned with this problem explored several aspects of the credential crisis including qualification fraud (Garwe, 2015; Mohamedbhai, 2020); degree mills (Cohen & Winch, 2011); credential fraud prevention with block chain and artificial intelligence (Al Wahaibi & Jose, 2020; Kosasi, 2020; Sharples & Domingue, 2016); entry requirements and qualifications (Amasuomo, 2014; Denholm, 2017; Odukoya et al., 2018; Yusuf & Onifade, 2018a), among others. However, a few, if any, of these studies examined the actual features of academic certificates relative to their standardization. Also, there is little focus on the phenomenon of replacement policies for academic certificates. This paper examines the physical features of selected academic certificates of universities from several global regions to ascertain commonalities and uniqueness in their features with a view to identifying standards and best practices in academic certificates production and how these features might influence awarding institutions to evolve policies on the replacement of academic certificates. Garwe (2015) reiterated the need for institutional, national and international strategies to curb the scourge of credential fraud. To this end, the paper makes up for the dearth of empirical research on trends in academic certificate production and the related policies of their awarding institutions on the replacement of academic certificates.

A certificate is a mark of distinction, identity, and authenticity. It carries not just authority but an assurance that its holder is credible in whatever body of knowledge area or capacity he or

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she represents. Again, an academic certificate carries a notion of truth and elicits trust. It is an essential commodity in the educational enterprise and the job market (Garwe, 2015). The importance of certificates has necessitated the need to safeguard their production and distribution. Different educational institutions award their certificates, and, often, these certificates have various features. However, a rising problem in the higher education sector is that certificates are being pirated by unscrupulous persons for commercial, and qualification or credential fraud. The requirement to produce certificates before one can secure employment has resulted in the astronomical popularity of degree mills and “certificate pirates”. Improved technology has also made pirating certificates very easy and sophisticated. The consequence of this rising trend is that educational institutions and employers who depend on the authenticity of certificates for making admission and hiring decisions face a considerable challenge in identifying the features of genuine academic certificates.

Occasionally, the process of verification is prolonged because verification institutions are inundated with requests from employers and other organisations to verify certificates that bear several features, which may sometimes be unfamiliar to the verifying authority. Some organisations and institutions that rely on the verified results also lack an understanding of the features of authentic certificates. This often results in credential fraud perpetrated by students on educational institutions on the one hand, and employees on their employers, on the other (Cohen & Winch, 2011). Furthermore, circumstances beyond the control of genuine certificate holders may culminate in the loss or damage of an authentic certificate. In many African countries, including Ghana, while universities in, practice, do not generally replace lost or damaged certificates, there is also a lack of policy on replacement of lost or damaged academic certificates.

This study identifies trends in academic certificate production with specific regards to their standard features, such as wording, security enhancements and features, and other unique features, and the extent to which these features contribute to the intrinsic and extrinsic values of certificates. Furthermore, the study investigates the extent to which universities across the world replace lost or damaged certificates. The study achieves its aim by reviewing the academic certificates of selected universities across the globe to find answers to the following questions: What are the standard features of an academic certificate? When and or how does an academic certificate lose its value? Can an academic certificate be replaced once issued?

The study will, hopefully, contribute to, and enrich the scholarly discourse on academic certificates which, at present, has not attracted adequate attention among researchers. The recommendations may be useful to training institutions, particularly universities, in ensuring that their certificates remain valuable, difficult to pirate, and of international standards.

The study provides insights for academic institutions, employers, embassies, high commissions and any other institution that depend on certificates of patrons to make decisions on providing requested services to the patrons. It also provides guidelines to universities on the subject of replacement of academic certificates. The study will deepen understanding on enhancing the features of academic certificates and contribute to discussions on emerging problems on the value and role of academic certificates in higher education.

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Conceptual framework

The intrinsic value of academic certificates Piccolo (2017) refers to intrinsic value as the “ethical philosophic value” of an object, for the sake of the object, and not due to the external appreciation of what the object is. Thus, an academic certificate has an intrinsic value to the extent that it may be seen as an “end-in-itself”. In other words, a certificate is worth its “treasure” status because it deserves it and not because someone says so. Consequently, a certificate obtained must be seen by all to be meritorious to the holder. To merit the intrinsic treasured status in society, certificate holders must necessarily achieve the acceptable standards required for the award of the certificate. On the other hand, the standards must be diligently applied to the letter to meet the requirements of the standards as determined by law. In this vein, it may be deduced that the intrinsic value of certificates may be lost with the commission or omission of relevant standards, procedures or actions detrimental to the perception of the value of the certificate.

Since institutions of learning set out to train and educate students with the ultimate aim of awarding them certificates to symbolise the students’ successful attainment of relevant knowledge, skills and, attitudes, they have an important responsibility to ensure that the students they award certificates merit them. As a result, some issues of standards relevant to the intrinsic value of certificates include entry (admission) requirements for students, in-study academic matters, and completion issues. Consequently, it is conceptualised that once past students who were “meritoriously” awarded certificates lose them, the awarding institutions are bound to replace them upon the request of the certificate holder as the certificate holder intrinsically own the certificate.

The concepts of certificates and certification Training, professional, and educational institutions aspire to certify and/or award certificates to their members or students at the end of their studies. However, the concept of certificates and certification present a chicken and egg scenario where it is not clear to determine which came first or which gave birth to the other. Despite this confusion, the field of academic certificates has received minimal attention. Melonchon (2012) opines that this situation has persisted as a result of the complicated nature of certificates and certification. For instance, there exists a difference between the terms “certificate” and “certification”. While a certificate connotes achieving a certain level of academic competence through the passing of examinations and tests, certification implies meeting the standards and requirements of a professional or licencing body.

In Ghana, while one can enrol in a university for an undergraduate degree in accounting to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree in the subject or the programme accounting, the same person may not qualify to practice as an accountant until such a person takes and passes the professional examination of professional bodies such as the Institute of Chartered Accountants (Ghana) or Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (UK). Similar requirements exist for the medical, law, and engineering professions. In these professions, one must be certified to practice. On the other hand, enrolling in a university for a Bachelors, Masters, or Doctoral

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Degree results in the award of a certificate of achievement, where the student had passed all required tests or examinations. The difference between these two examples is that while certification signifies competence, the award of a certificate connotes the acquisition of knowledge. As to whether the knowledge acquired and attested by a certificate can be applied competently, a process of certification may have to be employed.

Beyond these two, there are also the typical academic certificate programmes which are the results of “short courses”; often awarded after a study or apprenticeship lasting days, weeks, or months but, usually, not lasting more than a year. These “short course” certificates are often issued by individual training institutions specialising in some field of competency. Melonchon (2012) describes this type as an academic certificate programme, pointing out that it “remains an educational programme with specific outcomes and objectives”. Awarding or issuing institutions may be academic institutions, such as schools and universities, which affords undergraduate students to “complete a certificate [bachelor’s degree] and gain an extra credential upon graduation, and students, who already have a degree, may return to complete a graduate certificate as a way to update skills, earn a promotion, or change careers”. Short courses are run by bodies or organisations, other than academic institutions, who design tailor- made, market-driven courses for individual professionals or people interested in improving their skills and competencies.

To this end, it is reasoned that the concept of certificates or certification can take any of the following forms:  Certificates earned after not less than an academic year of study in which case a specific minimum credit hours/loads have been attained or syllabi covered. This usually includes undergraduate and postgraduate degrees which may last anywhere between one and four years or even more in the case of doctoral degrees;  Certificates awarded after participating in a course lasting between a few days and up to a year, and  Certificates awarded to persons who have satisfied the requirements of a professional body to enable such persons to practice a profession legally.

However, within the scope of this paper, we shall focus on the first type of (academic) certificate which involves a long-term study, with tuition/study materials, assessment, graduation, and awarding a qualification at a ceremony by a training institution, usually a higher educational institution, such as a university.

What is an academic certificate? A certificate has been defined from varied perspectives. The Collins Cobuild Advanced Dictionary of English (2009) defines a certificate in several ways. In one of such definitions, a certificate is described as “an official document stating that particular facts are true”. In this definition, the role of the certificate is one of affirmation of a fact, irrespective of the domain. In the second definition proffered in Collins, it describes a certificate as “an official document that you receive when you have completed a course of study or training”, adding further that the qualification obtained in the process may also be referred to as a certificate. What is

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common with the two definitions is that the concept of a certificate is intended to establish formal evidence of the existence of something. What is, however, peculiar in the second definition is that it is an evidence for determining that the certificated has undergone training, whether academic or vocational and has been found meriting an award for meeting desired outcomes. This definition fits into the scope of the academic certificate we describe in this paper.

Earning a certificate is proof that a person so certified is capable of performing certain functions (Senders & Harwood, 1993). According to the University of Udaho (2017), “an academic certificate is a coherent body of work designed to reflect specialised expertise”. The “expertise” referred to may reflect a body of codified knowledge acquired through training, but not necessarily an indication of the competence of the certified (Senders & Harwood, 1993).

Despite the generic conceptions of the term “certificate”, it should be noted that a holistic conception of the term is unattainable without recourse to the contexts in which they are seen. One school of thought approaches its conception of the term according to the institution type awarding it (Xu & Trimble, 2016). According to Xu and Trimble (2016), a “certificate” represents “non-degree awards of different lengths by typically requiring less time to complete compared with degree programmes”. This conception of a certificate is associated with the competency-based disciplines, usually technical and vocational education (TVET). It is, in this conception, contrasted to the degree programme which requires not less than three years of academic study to obtain. In the context in which this conception appears, these types of certificates are usually awarded by community colleges, a variety of post-secondary education in the United States and other countries. Such certificate programmes are generally less than a year in duration and may be aimed at a very particular vocation which the prospective learners wish to obtain a credential.

According to Zahavi and Friedman (2019), the Bologna Process was aimed at enhancing the standardisation of educational certification in the various educational and training systems in European countries. The Bologna Process uses the term “Diploma” to denote different qualifications awarded by colleges and universities within the European Higher Education Area (European Commission, 2019). According to the Diploma system of the Bologna Process, qualifications may be a two-cycle model, an undergraduate and graduate, culminating in an academic degree such as a Degree, Masters, or a Doctoral Degree.

The origin of academic certificates Verger (1998) recounts that the history of academic degrees can be traced back to 13th Century European universities. Organised according to Guilds (Faculties), members of staff of those universities were expected to be of guild status to teach. To attain the guild status, a student was expected to obtain a master’s or doctoral degree, which was a licence to teach in a university. Consequently, the master’s or postgraduate (doctoral) guilds were the only recognised qualifications in medieval universities. The Baccalaureate or the Bachelor was only a “step” towards attaining the status of a master’s or doctoral degree. Also, the term doctor, master or professor was used interchangeably to refer to a teacher holding a guild. Later developments in the higher education system led to the use of a hierarchical structure where

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doctoral degrees assumed foremost relevance, followed by the master’s degree, with bachelor’s degree considered a preparatory pathway to obtaining a master’s or doctoral degree.

The origin of academic certificates cannot be extricated from that of the universities and institutions of higher learning which awarded them. According to Dmitrishin (2013), the University of Bologna is pre-eminent among medieval European universities having been established in the mid-eleventh century. Not too long after, the first universities of the Anglo- Saxon tradition emerged in Oxford (1167 AD) and Cambridge (1209 AD). In France, the University of Paris could rival the legendary pre-eminent status of Bologna. As one of the symbols of a rising European nation-state system, universities sprang up in several other countries in Eastern Europe (such as University of Prague) and in the German territories to characterise this new wave. Among others, a critical feature of this kind of education was “the right to formal certification” (Dmitrishin, 2013). Academic certificates documented academic achievements.

Methods The methods employed for this study are described as follows:

Research method This study employed a qualitative design involving the use of both document and web content analysis.

Sources of data In terms of sources for the documents content analysis, the physical features of academic certificates issued by 20 universities from selected universities across the world were examined. The universities were as follows: Four universities from Ghana: University of Ghana, University of Cape Coast, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, University of Education, Winneba; four universities from South Africa: University of South Africa, University of Cape Town, Rhodes University (South Africa), North-West University; one from United States of America: University of Florida; One from The Netherlands: Universiteit Gent; one from Germany: Georg-August-Universitat Gottingen; one from France: Paris Graduate School of Management; one from New Zealand: Massey University; seven from the United Kingdom: University of Bristol, Heriot-Watt University, The Open University, University of Hull, Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Cambridge, University of Portsmouth. In respect of web content analysis, the websites of selected universities that publicly displayed their policies on replacement of academic certificates were searched. Also, published and unpublished literature sources, and webpages were consulted for information on the subject.

Data collection To address the central question of the study, which was, the features of academic certificates in universities, the authors solicited for specimen copies of academic certificates of 20 universities across the globe. The photos of the certificates were collected in a request the researchers placed on the WhatsApp Group Platform of academic staff and senior administrators of a university in Ghana. The researchers examined certificates that were issued

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between the years 2000 and 2020. The reason for this delimitation was that within this period, new media technologies proliferated resulting in the enhancement of the security features of academic certificates issued by many universities.

Data analysis The data analysis of the study was through a process of content analysis. The content analysis process in this study is akin to that described in Regaña et al. (2019), which involved three stages, namely coding, categorisation, and interpretation or inference.

1. Identification of units of information: Coding. This process consists of developing a standard coding system, described as features in the top row of Table 1 for the data through the identification of units of information. This would serve as the meaning unit to accurately describe the key characteristics of the content. These characteristics, in this study, include the variety of unique records and identifiers on the selected academic certificates of various universities. Some of these individual records include the names of the universities as designated on the certificates, emblems and logos, personal details of certificate holders, date of award, degree names, and signatories on the certificates. These unique records represent the codes. 2. Categorisation: Following the identification of the analytical units, the unique records so identified were organised and categorised according to the “features”. 3. Interpretation: This step involved writing-up once the categories were identified.

Results Table 1 presents a summary of the features of the certificates of the universities:

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Table 1: Summary of features of academic certificates of 20 selected universities Name of Logo/ Action Personal Statement Date of Degree Signature Hologram Authentication/ Overleaf Other unique FEATURES the Emblem word/s details of a describing Award Name/ specimen of & / verification information information University signifying certificate academic Program/ top executive Certificate/ information endorsement holder achievement Class by: Serial e.g “To e.g “…having Number Certify” passed the required courses…” AWARDING INSTITUTION University of Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes VC & Yes Yes Yes N/A Ghana “To Certify” Registrar (Ghana)

University of Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes VC & Yes No No N/A Cape Coast “To Certify” Registrar (Ghana) Kwame Yes Yes Yes Yes/ Yes Yes Yes VC & Yes No No N/A Nkrumah “To Certify” Title of Registrar University of female Science and holders Technology after the (Ghana) name University of Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes VC & Yes No No N/A Education, “To Certify” Registrar Winneba (Ghana) University of Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes VC, Registrar, Yes No No N/A South Africa “To Certify” Executive Dean University of Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes VC & Yes Yes/ No The Cape Town “We certify Registrar Institutional electronic (South Africa) that” website & copy of email certificates also available

Name of the university in English and

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two other national languages Rhodes Yes Yes Yes Yes/ Yes Yes Yes VC, Dean, & No Yes/ No Watermark University “This is to Name Registrar Quick of (South Africa) certify that” only Response Code verification & Website authority North-West Yes Yes No Yes/ Yes Yes Yes VC & Yes No No university University Name Registrar name (South Africa) only indicated to be registered/ Name of a university in English and two national languages University of Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Governor, Hologram No No N/A Florida (USA) “Has President only conferred” Chairman Board of Trustees Dean Universiteit Yes Yes Rector Yes Yes Yes Yes Rector Yes Yes No Qualification Gent “grants” “Cum fructu” framework (Belgium) degree of the country of origin; credit load of the programme Georg- Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Dean of the Yes No No Legend for August- Faculty “Confers Place of “After having Day- “Cum Faculty grading Universitat name upon” Birth completed the Month- laude” for system Gottingen precedes Date of doctoral Year thesis (Germany) the name Birth examination “Magna of the requirements…” cum laude” university For oral examination Paris Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes General Yes Yes No Watermark Graduate However, “Confers Date of Day- Director Physical with a School of name of upon” birth Month- Dean address human Management degree Year Phone Number image

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(France) precedes Website university name University of Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Vice- No No No N/A Bristol (UK) “We hereby Day- Chancellor certify that” Month- Registrar Year Massey Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Academic Yes No No Legislative University “This is to Day- Class Registrar power stated (New certify that” Month- obtained for Zealand) Year Masters’ Chancellor degree Heriot-Watt Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Vice- Yes No No A statement University A statement Day- Chancellor indicating (UK) indicating Month- Head of the the Year School nationality/ signatories Secretary of location of precedes the the University the name of the university holder The Open Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes The Vice- Yes No No No University “has been Day- Chancellor awarded” Month- Secretary Year University of Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Chancellor Yes No No No Hull “This is to “Having Day- The Vice- certify that” pursued an Month- Chancellor approved course Year of study and having satisfied the examiners…” Manchester Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes The Vice- Yes No No For PhD Metropolitan “Has been Day- Chancellor Certificate, University granted the Month- the title of award of” Year the thesis is reproduced on the certificate.

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University of Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Administrative No No No No Cambridge “I hereby Day- Officer certify that” Month- Registrary of Year the University

University of Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes The Vice- Yes No No No Portsmouth “In recognition Month- Chancellor of a Year Academic programme…” Registrar

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Research Question 1: What are the standard features of an academic certificate?

The results revealed that, despite a few unique characteristics, the features on the certificates of the selected universities were standard in many ways. The most common features are presented as follows:

Name of awarding institution The results of the content analysis revealed that 100% of the certificates had the names of the awarding institutions at the top of the certificates. In addition, one university’s (Georg-August- Universitat Gottingen, Germany) certificate had the Faculty of the student precede the university name. Names of universities are essential for several reasons. The name of an institution may identify the academic focus of the institution, for example, University of Education, Winneba and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology which have education and science respectively, as their focus. In contrast, other names reflect some unique attributes of the institution such as the locale of the institution, for example the University of Cape Coast and the University of South Africa, which are universities in Cape Coast, a city in Ghana, and South Africa, respectively. Furthermore, other institutions may be named to honour personalities such as Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. While this study was not about the names of the awarding bodies of certificates, it is essential to emphasise the unique importance of institutional names on academic certificates.

Names of universities appearing on academic certificates help stakeholders such as employers and educational institutions to ascertain where the certificate holder was educated immediately. Names of universities also form significant evaluation tools for the corporate identities and images of universities (Akova & Kantar, 2020). It is, therefore, important to note that certificates that do not bear names of the awarding institutions or if they do, in a legitimate order, are invalid for further education, employment or legal purposes.

Logos and Emblems Closely related to names of awarding institutions are the logos and emblems of the institutions which awarded the certificates. The analysis also revealed that all the certificates (100%) had logos and/ emblems of their awarding universities on them. Logos (abbreviation for logotype) and emblems are special designs or ways of writing an organisation’s name. The logo of an institution usually appears on all the institution’s products, advertisements and documents. Buono and Fortezza (2017) support this notion by opining that logos represent the visual identities of the organisations they symbolise. In this study, the authors noted that the institutions’ logos appeared close to the names of the institutions. With a few exceptions where a university’s logo appeared at the head of the certificate, most logos on the sampled certificates appeared after the names of the institutions. As logos may contain special symbolic characters and features, it may sometimes be challenging to duplicate except with special computer software. The difficulty of duplication may help to ward off the work of pirates and other criminals who may wish to duplicate it for commercial gain and perpetuate qualification fraud.

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Logos also carry special messages such as the history or focus of the institutions they represent (Buono & Fortezza, 2017).

Introductory wording Another noteworthy common feature on all the certificates was the introductory statements preceding the name of the certificate holder. The analysis shows that 80% of the certificates had brief preliminary remarks. Most of the remarks were very brief. Though they were of varying lengths, most of them include the words “certify”, “confer”, “grant” etc. The infinitive “to certify”, in the academic context, suggests that the awarding body affirms that the bearer of the certificate passed several courses and was qualified to be awarded a certificate which further qualifies the holder to legitimately possess and use the certificate for whatsoever legitimate purpose they choose to apply the certificate.

Name of the certificate holder Following the introductory statements were names of the certificate holders. In this, all 20 (100%) certificates had the names of the holders embossed on them. The certificate holder’s name is his or her official and recognised name when he or she was a student, so any omission or commission of error on the rendering of the name invalidates the certificate. It is, therefore, important that officers who are responsible for obtaining the names of students ensure that the full names and the correct order of the names are collected and double-checked before printing to avoid the invalidation of certificates. For identification, some universities print the dates of birth of the certificate holders. Universiteit Gent is one of the universities which print the dates of birth and origin of the certificate holder beneath the name of the bearer. This is a unique feature on the certificate of this University. Also, it was interesting to find that at KNUST in Ghana, the names of female certificate holders were appended with a title such as Mrs, Miss, Ms to indicate their marital status. As novel as this practice appears, no other institution practised this. This was not a common practice on the sampled certificates as it is unique. However, this may pose a challenge to bearers who do not identify with particular genders as it is increasingly become common to find people not identifying with the male/female classification. Again, one institution, Georg-August-Universitat Gottingen (Germany), had the date of birth and place of birth recorded on the certificate, while another had just a date of birth in addition to the bearer’s name.

Statement of achievement Another important common feature of academic certificates is a statement describing the fact that the student has satisfied the minimum requirements for the award of the certificate. Notwithstanding, 4(20%) of the certificates did not have this statement, evidence that this feature is not quite widely used on certificates. The statement of achievement sometimes makes allusions to the mandate of the awarding institution from which it derives its authority to award the certificate. For instance, the Universiteit Gent refers to the Flemish Qualification Structure and European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning to describe the level of attainment of the certificate holder. From the analysis, only three of out of 20 institutions did not present this information.

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Date of award The study revealed that 100% of the sampled certificates had a date on which the certificate was conferred on them. Academic certificates are usually conferred at public events or congregations on specific dates. Consequently, these certificates bear the dates at which these programmes were held. One advantage of this practice is to identify the specific date at which the certificate was issued. This date may not be known to certificate pirates and impersonators and can make distinguishing the original certificate from pirated copies a bit easier. Together with the logo of the awarding institution, dates constitute security features on the certificate. It is essential to point out that most of the institutions used the day-month-year system. More importantly, the dates on certificates say when the awarding institutions officially issued the certificate or conferred rights and privileges on certificate holders.

Name of programme Another notable characteristic of an academic certificate is the name of the programme of study and the class obtained (in the case of classified certificates). In this case, 100% of the certificates had this information. Students apply to study particular programmes of interest which include many courses that they must pass in the course of their studies. Academic certificates often bear the name of the programme the graduate studied, while sometimes the class obtained are added to distinguish between high performers, average, and low performers. In the case of postgraduate degrees such as doctorates, the class feature may not be present. It is also very crucial that officers responsible for collecting students’ information to ensure that the correct programme of a student and the right name of the programme are obtained and validated. A wrong capture and rendering of the programme of study, similar to the name of the student, also invalidates a certificate.

Signature specimen of officials Academic certificates are signed before they are issued. As a result, all the certificates examined were signed. In all the cases, the signatories had their signature specimen at the base of the certificates. The signatories are high ranking officials who are clothed with authority to represent their universities in their official capacities and so are qualified to sign certificates following tuition and assessment of students in their respective departments and faculties. Their signature specimen may be pirated, but it is very likely to subject the specimens to forensic investigation and detect forgery of the signature. It is, therefore, important for certificates to be signed before they are issued, without which they become invalid.

In terms of which officials signed the certificates, there appear to be disparities. In the case of universities in Ghana, for instance, certificates were endorsed by both Vice-Chancellors (VC) and Registrars of the awarding institutions. However, certificates from the University of South Africa and the University of Florida had more than two officials endorsing their certificates. In the case of the former, the Executive Dean of a graduating student’s college was part of the signatories, whereas, in the case of the latter, signatories included the Governor, Chairman of the Board of Trustees in addition to the President (whose equivalent is the Vice-Chancellor), and Dean. In the case of the Universiteit Gent, the Rector was the sole signatory. These findings imply that the number of signatories on certificates varies, much as the designations of officials qualified to append their signatories. It must, however, be conceded that, overwhelmingly, the

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most common officers with authority to sign certificates were the VC and Registrar (or Secretary) (10, 50%).

Holograms, Seals, Identification numbers, and Security enhancements Eighty-five per cent of the certificates had any one of holograms, seals, and identification numbers such as serial numbers. Most of the certificates had seals affixed on them which are special marks or designs that represent the authority of the universities. Lastly, it was also noted that all the certificates had holograms with some form of identification numbers. Holograms are three-dimensional photographic images created by a laser beam. Holograms enable large amounts of data to be stored. In this context, holograms present added advantages of enhanced security of a certificate as it contains information that can only be verified from the issuer of the certificate. The serial numbers on a certificate can further be applied to verify its authenticity.

Verification features It was interesting to find that only 25% of all the certificates provided features or methods to verify the authenticity of their certificates. This is a severe security flaw on the certificates considering the proliferation of credential fraud technologies available to perpetuate credential fraud ((Garwe, 2015). Among the few institutions that provide a verification feature, some of these include the provision of a Quick Response Code, websites and phone numbers. These make it easy for one to ascertain the veracity of certificates for a variety of purposes. Garwe (2015) concurs with the assertion that there is a need to address credential fraud with verification technologies as these technologies are used to perpetrate these crimes.

Other unique features Some of the institutions had special features on their academic certificates. Some of the features include a statement on the availability of electronic certificates (University of Cape Town) and rendering of the university’s name in three languages; English and two other national languages for two universities in South Africa. Again, another university (Massey University) provides the qualification framework from which the certificate derives its legitimacy. Besides, the credit load of the degree or diploma was also stated on the same certificate. Another institution also provides information on the legislative authority from which it drew legitimacy to award the qualification. Another university also provided a legend for interpreting the degree; while another also included a statement indicating the nationality and location of the university that awarded the degree. In respect to doctoral degree certificates, some institutions including Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Portsmouth reproduce, on the certificates, the areas of specialisation of the certificate holders. These features help to enhance the value of the certificates; however, these features are not considered standard as they were the exception and not the rule.

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Research Question 2: When and or how does an academic certificate lose its value?

To answer this question, it was determined that this might be looked at from the intrinsic and extrinsic perspectives relative to the value of academic certificates. In terms of the intrinsic value of academic certificates, the following were identified:

Entry requirements Academic institutions are required to apply standard procedures for admitting students (Odukoya et al., 2018; Yusuf & Onifade, 2018b). For instance, in Ghana, students who desire direct admission to any tertiary institution are required to pass the West African Examinations Council’s Senior High School Examination with a minimum pass of C6 in six subjects including Mathematics, English and Integrated Science, in addition to three other elective subjects. Subsequently, they are to apply for admission in any institution of their choice taking into cognisance the institution’s own internal admission criteria including cut-off points, programme requirements, gender policy, and affirmative policy (Denholm, 2017) among others. Similarly, the institution being applied to reserves the right to admit or refuse admission whether or not an applicant possesses the requisite qualifications, as well as apply its internal admission regulations based on several factors such as previously enumerated in this section and also, availability of academic facilities, support services, and human resource capacity of the institution. Beyond this traditional method for admission into tertiary institutions, there is also a Mature Applicant entry method for applicants who are 25 years or older by the time the application is completed. In this method, prospective students are required to sit for the subject area and general aptitude tests. At the end of these two tests, they are required to score 50% or more to be eligible for admission. These regulations, save the institutions’ internal guidelines, are implemented by the National Accreditation Board and are expected to be enforced in conjunction with the National Council for Tertiary Education.

Regardless of these regulations, in the case of direct applicants, some students manage to apply to and obtain admission to institutions of their choice without the requisite qualifications. Some of them apply for admission with pirated certificates from degree mills (Mohamedbhai, 2020; Ochieng, 2016), while others impersonate others (Ogunniran et al., 2019). Notwithstanding that some students use illegitimate approach to gain entry into higher education institutions, the responsibility is on the awarding institutions and regulators (accrediting agencies) to ensure that those admitted and trained and subsequently awarded certificates were qualified and met the standards for admission in the first place (Ochieng, 2016). Without this condition, a certificate awarded to a graduate does not have an intrinsic value as it was not merited in the first place. Awarding institutions, therefore, must consolidate their post-admission auditing or verification of certificates and qualifications of admitted students to expose students who do not merit the certificates they are awarded. It is also necessary for awarding institutions to ensure that students who are admitted based on the Mature Entry examination are so admitted based on their scoring the requisite marks for admission. Without these measures, if it is ever discovered that students who were awarded certificates from a specific institution were not qualified to be admitted in the first place, the credibility of the certificates from that institution

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would be dented gravely. Consequently, the inherent value of the certificates would be in question.

Study issues At the tertiary level, students are required to pass many courses to merit the award of certificates. For instance, the Universiteit Gent in Belgium requires, according to the level 7 of the Flemish Qualifications Structure and of the European counterpart, her graduates of master’s programmes to pass a minimum of 120 credits. This requirement has been spelt out on the university’s certificate, which is a unique feature in itself. The significance of this is that, without passing a certain number of credits, a student may not be awarded a certificate. If this condition is not met, and a certificate was awarded, the certificate loses its intrinsic value.

Indiscipline Furthermore, students are expected to abide by the rules and regulations governing their admission to an institution of higher learning. Once a former student who had previously been awarded a certificate is found to have been involved in a malpractice or been undisciplined contrary to the regulations governing his or her admission, the former student holding the certificate may suffer consequences which may include withdrawal of the certificate. Some of the causes of indiscipline that may result in withdrawal of an awarded certificate include impersonation (when a student is found to have misrepresented another person and used their documents to apply for admission; forgery) and plagiarising a thesis or dissertation of another in or outside the awarding institution. These issues may considerably, negatively, affect the image of the institution in which case the institution may decide to withdraw the certificate. Once the certificate is announced to have been “withdrawn”, whether the holder returns the physical copy of the certificate to the awarding institution or not, the certificate would have lost its credibility and inherent value both to the holder and society.

Death of a certificate holder The intrinsic value of a certificate is also lost once the holder is deceased. However, if the certificate holder when alive used the qualification title obtained with the certificate after his name, as in the case of the Universiteit Gent where the Rector encourages the degree holder to “use the title of Master of Science” after his name, it may not be out of place to continue to use the qualification title in his or her absence at the mention of his name at any given occasion. An example of such rendering may be Kofi Owusu, BSc. (deceased), or in the case of a doctoral holder, Dr Kofi Owusu (deceased) or Kofi Owusu, PhD. (deceased).

2. Extrinsic factors that devalue an academic certificate Extrinsic factors may also affect the value of an academic certificate. Extrinsic factors refer to external reasons or factors that exist outside of a phenomenon and that which affects the phenomenon. Several extrinsic factors could potentially affect the value of an academic certificate, and these include fading of texts and content, humidity, contact with water, fire, pen or pencil-marks, among others. From an information management perspective, the academic certificate, being a paper-based material, may lose its extrinsic (physical) value as a result of several factors including brittling (hardening and breaking), defacing and fading of text, soiled,

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or simply mutilating. Furthermore, these may be due to several factors such as high humidity, water coming into contact with the certificate, encapsulation, pen-marking by children, mishandling, among others. Certificate holders must, therefore, apply appropriate paper preservation measures to secure the extrinsic value of their certificates. Certificates are printed on flat paper, and as a result, several factors can cause the certificate to lose its value without strict adherence to proper care and handling principles. According to the Library of Congress (2019), some of the processes that can lead to deterioration and devaluing of a certificate include:

 soiling certificates with food and drinks;  using dirty hands to touch the certificate;  making inscriptions with ink, instead of pencil (if need be at all), on the certificate;  using paper clips or fasteners to keep certificates; and  using rubber bands, self-adhesive tapes and glue to encapsulate or “protect” the certificate.

On the other hand, the Library of Congress outlines several measures certificate holders may adopt to ensure a longer life-span of their academic certificates:

 storing certificates in a cool (room temperature or below), relatively dry (about 35% relative humidity), clean, and stable environment (avoid attics, basements, and other locations with a high risk of leaks and environmental extremes);  exposing certificates to minimal light and avoiding exposure to direct or intense light;  keeping certificates at a reasonable distance from radiators and vents;  maintaining unfolded and flat storage for certificates; and  storing away from acidic papers to prevent acids from migrating into certificates.

These measures, if adhered to, can go a long way in preserving the physical qualities of certificates. Notwithstanding these measures, other conditions may be beyond the control of certificate holders that can erode the extrinsic value of certificates. This is congruent to Finandhita and Afrianto (2018) who reasoned that printed certificates are subject to vulnerabilities including physical deterioration. Furthermore, vulnerabilities to printed certificates include natural disasters such as flooding and man-made causes like fire and theft of certificates.

Research Question 3: Can an academic certificate be replaced once issued?

To answer this question, information on academic certificates were obtained from pages of university websites dedicated to issuing of certificates. Academic certificates may be lost, defaced, mutilated or simply become weak after a very long time as it is paper-based. However, there are varied practices and policies on the subject of replacement of original academic certificates. A content analysis of websites of some universities in Ghana, for instance, revealed that certificates are not replaced. Rather, at the University of Ghana, for instance, a student who

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needs a replacement of a certificate may be issued an attestation. A statement on this subject on the university’s website reads:

The University does not replace lost certificates. A former student who misplaces his/her certificate may apply for an ‘attestation letter’ in lieu of the certificate. Former students who have copies of a lost certificate that they need certified should attach an original transcript to it for processing.

At the University of South Africa, the University issues the following statement on replacement of lost certificates:

Duplicate certificates will not be issued under any circumstance. If your certificate has been lost, stolen or destroyed, Unisa can issue a statement in lieu of a lost certificate. To obtain a statement from Unisa, one must: …provide an affidavit in which you declare the loss of the original certificate, a covering letter which includes your postal address and contact details, and a certified copy of your identity document or passport. From the preceding, it appears that certificates are not replaced by the universities which issued them.

However, further investigation from the websites of several universities in the United Kingdom, for instance, revealed that some institutions have policies and guidelines for the replacement of lost or damaged certificates. These universities include the University of Sussex, University of Warwick, and the University of Bristol. These institutions provide guidelines on how to access a replacement for a lost or destroyed certificate. At the University of Sussex, the following statement appears on the website of the University concerning the subject:

If your award certificate has been lost, defaced or destroyed and you wish to obtain a replacement award certificate please read the guidance below.

However, the university offers a disclaimer on the quality of the certificate issued as a replacement to the original:

Duplicates, while having precisely the same standing as the originals which they replace, are produced in the format currently in use and may not be a facsimile of the original.

Furthermore, the University offers guidelines to former students who require this service. The procedures include filling an online request form, providing a photographic identification such as a passport or a driver licence, change of name notification (if any or needed), the cost of the service, and mailing address. These procedures were noted to be similar to that of other universities in the United Kingdom, which replace lost or damaged academic certificates.

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Since certificates have legal implications for their holders, persons desiring a replacement for a lost or destroyed certificate are expected to fulfil some legal conditions. The University of Bristol, for instance, makes this legal requirement:

A request for replacement of a lost certificate can only be granted where the original has been irretrievably lost. As part of the process, applicants will be required to submit a statutory declaration, setting out the circumstances of the loss.

It is imperative to note that a change of name may be permitted but this is not a very common practice among the universities studied. For instance, unlike the University of Sussex which grants requests for a change of name on the new requested certificate, De Monfort University Lancaster (UK) does not allow this except in the case of transsexual or transgender persons:

It should be noted that changes cannot routinely be made retrospectively e.g. you cannot have your award certificate re-issued in your maiden name following a divorce, marriage or change of name after you have finished your course at DMU. However, a transsexual or transgender student may ask for a degree/diploma certificate to be re- issued in his/her new name.

The common notion identified on the subject of replacement of certificates is that certificates once issued are not replaced in the institutions that were included in the web content analysis. It was, however, noted in our presentation on the intrinsic value of certificates that a certificate may be considered an end in itself, and that despite extrinsic factors that may threaten the physical existence of the certificate, this study suggests that certificate holders are perpetual owners of their certificates once they met the criteria for awarding the certificates (Finandhita & Afrianto, 2018). In this regard, lost or damaged certificates may be replaced with a footnote placed on the re-issued certificate indicating that it was not the copy that was originally issued to the holder.

Furthermore, re-issued certificates may be in electronic form (e-diploma). This suggestion is supported in Finandhita and Afrianto (2018) who intimated that there was a need to safeguard the authenticity of academic degrees by issuing e-diplomas through the application of digital signature authentication. Rahardja et al. (2020) proposed the use of the block chain technology to address credential fraud due to the transparent and decentralised nature of the technology. With this technology, students, employers, educational institutions, and regulators will have instant access to the academic record of a graduate for authentication and validation purposes. In this way, users of the certificates including prospective employers, other educational institutions and society, in general, may have a basis to judge the quality of the person in respect to his qualification, competence and trainability. Furthermore, this position is supported by the results of the web content analysis of mostly UK universities where it was noted that the practice of replacing lost or damaged academic certificates is commonplace and that with the right procedures and policies, it is possible to replace lost or damaged academic certificates to certificate holders upon their initiative to request for the replacement.

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The web content analysis of university policies and guidelines on replacement of academic certificates has revealed that the practice of replacing lost or damaged academic certificates is not uncommon to some universities in Europe. However, this appears not to be the case among universities in Africa. With the right procedures and policies in place, it should be possible for African universities to consider replacing lost or destroyed academic certificates. If this opportunity to replace lost or damaged certificates are not offered former students, they may resort to degree mills and pirates who will only succeed where universities failed, albeit, to the detriment of a society which relies on citizens with integrity to improve it (Garwe, 2015).

Conclusion The purpose of this study was to explore the concept of academic certificates in academic institutions with a focus on the standard features, replacement procedures, and determination of their value. This was confirmed through the content analysis of academic certificates of staff of a public university in Ghana. This method was supplemented by content analysis of websites of selected universities across the globe. The results revealed that while academic certificates from the different institutions bore a few unique characteristics, most of the certificates, however, bore many common features. Some of these features include an almost similar position of the location of the name and emblem/logo of the issuing institutions on the certificate, a statement containing the infinitive “To certify”, a standard ordering (first-last name order) of the name of the certificate holder, statements describing the courses passed, date of the award, degree name, signature specimen of top officials including the Vice- chancellors and Registrars of the universities, and security features such as holograms. The study also concluded that academic certificates might lose their value through extrinsic factors such as improper paper handling and preservation, but most importantly through lack of adherence to standards on the part of the awarding institutions, the poor performance of students and or an established act of indiscipline on the part of a former student who had been awarded the certificate. Finally, it was found that lost and mutilated certificates are not replaced by the selected universities, especially those from Africa, whereas those in Europe, specifically, the United Kingdom did. It is concluded, therefore, that African universities have not updated their policies on the replacement of lost or mutilated academic certificates in line with international best practices.

Future Research Directions While the authors of this paper do not claim generalisation of the findings to that of other academic institutions not included in the study, as the sample size of certificates examined was small, it is cautiously suggested that other institutions in the jurisdictions of our study may have similar practices. A future study may examine all the academic certificates issued by accredited chartered public universities in a particular country and obtain qualitative insights from previous certificate bearers on their perspectives of what characteristics or features on a certificate makes a certificate valuable. Another study may also examine the perspectives of academic registry officials for the reasons why they do not replace lost or destroyed academic certificates.

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Recommendations The paper notes with delight that all the institutions appear to practice standard norms on the design and production of their certificates. Notwithstanding the positive evidence, the following recommendations are made to consolidate the positive gains of academic institutions on the development and enhancement of practices in regards to academic certificates

First, security features and enhancements of academic certificates are critical. Awarding institutions must be abreast with new security-enhancing technologies to forestall piracy and illegal duplication of their certificates by qualification fraudsters who continue to explore new technologies to stay in their trade. Furthermore, awarding institutions must sensitise their students, alumni, employers, the traditional media, and other educational stakeholders on the security features of their certificates to forestall incidents of forgery, piracy, and impersonation or identity theft.

Second, universities, employers, and certification institutions must develop and or employ the use of technologies to verify certificates used by applicants. In this regard, the use of mobile and web-based applications for the verification of certificates is proposed. There are the open (free) source and proprietary software options to verify the authenticity of academic certificates. Again, awarding institutions may consider issuing electronic diplomas (e-degrees) through the application of digital signature authentication.

Third, with respect to the physical preservation of academic certificates, academic institutions must sensitise their graduating classes to practice good paper preservation strategies with regards to their certificates to forestall incidents of damage to the certificates. Furthermore, with the emergence of cloud storage technologies, certificate holders are encouraged to electronically duplicate their certificates and store them in their integrated applications such as Google Drive and Dropbox. The digital images of their certificates can be useful in cases of loss of their certificates as a result of theft, flooding, fire or any disaster.

Finally, it is recommended that awarding institutions should consider re-issuing lost or destroyed certificates. This call is also consistent with the intrinsic-value rationale of academic certificates. In the process of replacing the certificates, footnotes may be indicated on the re- issued copy to indicate that that copy is not the original certificate. This will help alleviate the plight of many graduates who, sometimes, through extrinsic factors, lose their certificates. This will also forestall certificate holders resorting to the services of degree mills and pirates.

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