Digital document information for employers, institutions and third parties

University of Auckland students and graduates can now access certified digital copies of their academic records (transcripts, certificates and official letters) online.

The University of Auckland is proud to be the first New Zealand university to implement My eQuals, a secure online credentials service.

My eQuals has replaced current paper documents with certified digital documents, managed through a secure and trusted source. It gives students and graduates the ability to access and share their certified digital documents online, with anyone they choose e.g. potential employers or other institutions.

You will no longer receive hardcopies of a student or graduate’s academic record(s). These documents will be shared with you securely online making it easier and quicker to verify their authenticity.

Look out for the ‘blue ribbon certification’ which  signifies the documents’ validity. For more information, refer to the Quick Reference Guide.

To view a student or graduate’s certified digital document, ask them to share it with you through My eQuals.

This can be done in two ways:

1. Directly from the My eQuals system

A student/graduate can email a link directly from My eQuals to a third party, or paste the link into the third party’s application/process form.

This method is recommended for a number of reasons:

• The digital document is viewed directly in the My eQuals system.
  
  Documents in My eQuals can only be produced by the participating Universities. Students and graduates cannot upload or modify documents in My eQuals. They can only view and share. More information on the security of a digital document is available on this page, under the heading, How can I trust a My eQuals document?
  
  
• If a document needs to be updated, or on rare occasions revoked by the university, this can be done online and verified by a third party, unlike paper where we may be unable to remove the physical artefact.
  

2. PDF format

A student/graduate can download their digital document in a pdf format and attach it in an email to a third party.

PDF documents produced through My eQuals contain cryptographic digital signatures to ensure their authenticity and integrity. These signatures are automatically verified when the document is opened in Adobe Reader version 9 or later. In Adobe Reader, you will see the "blue ribbon" digital signature at the top of the document that indicates its validity.

• Certified digital documents give you peace of mind by greatly reducing
  opportunities for fraudulent documents.
• My eQuals saves you time in manually verifying scanned or hardcopy qualifications. Digital documents received through My eQuals are verified by the University of Auckland.
  
• Verified online documents protect our environment, saving as many as 13,000 pieces of paper annually in academic record hard copies.

My eQuals is built on the concept of “privacy by design”, an approach that embeds privacy controls into the technical architecture of the system. My eQuals documents are authentic, tamper-proof and legally valid. The underlying systems have been independently tested by security experts and documents contain digital signatures that meet the legal requirements set by the European Union for authentic electronic documents, which exceed New Zealand requirements.

The "blue ribbon" digital signature at the top of the document indicates its validity.

My eQuals has been implemented by 49 Australian and New Zealand tertiary educators (Including all 8 New Zealand Universities).

The initiative is endorsed by both Universities New Zealand and Universities Australia.

This leading edge project is managed by Higher Ed Services, and is linked to the Groningen Declaration a global commitment to enhance student mobility and provide credential integrity and security for digital student academic data globally.

• As the education sector across Australia and New Zealand incorporates digital academic records, you may need to review your processes and systems to take advantage of the benefits certified online documents provide.
• Communicate the change to relevant department/groups within your organisation e.g. HR/Recruitment and IT.
• Request a digital document instead of a paper copy from the student or graduate you are dealing with.
• If your organisation’s current business processes and systems do not support the acceptance of digital academic records, please contact the project team to discuss further. See contact details below.

If you would like to discuss how this impacts your organisation please contact:

Records, Enrolment and Fees
Academic Services
University of Auckland
Email: records@auckland.ac.nz