Why Indian River State College Calls Parchment a “Game Changer” for Diplomas & Certificates

Learn why Indian River State College partnered with Parchment for both diplomas and certificates to improve staff efficiency and student engagement.

Since 2020, Indian River State College has partnered with Parchment to issue diplomas and certificates through Parchment’s Award platform. Sandra Nelson, Registrar, explains why Parchment has been an incredible asset to staff and students.

Seeking a Diploma Solution

“We were really living in the dark ages and were strictly paper-based. We have an in-house printing shop for printing diplomas and certificates and my department was responsible for all the mailing. We would get the address labels, peel them off, stick them on the envelopes, stuff them with the chipboard, and hopefully stuff them with the correct diploma or certificate that matched the address label. We would then seal and cart off to the mail room for shipment. We had no tracking capabilities once they left our mail room. If a student came to me and said they didn’t receive their diploma or certificate, it was a mini research project to try to figure out what happened. There was also a severe lag time — about six weeks between commencement and when students received their diplomas and certificates. They had no opportunity during that time to share them with their family and friends or potential employers.”

“All of this hit my department at a bad time because we were trying to get students in their seats for the next semester. At the same time, we had to prepare all these certificates and diplomas for mailing. We were strictly paper. There was no electronic credential. Students could not post anything on social media or share with a potential employer. We really felt like we needed to improve our processes in order to serve our students better.”

Choosing a Partner

“Parchment offered us the best possible solution, which was a unified platform where we issue all of our credentials. We wanted one platform for transcripts, diplomas, and certificates in both a paper and digital format. Fortunately, we have a comprehensive contract with Parchment that allowed us to cover all of those services. It came at no cost to the institution. In fact, it provided us with the means of getting a small revenue stream as well. That was extremely important because we were in a severe budget crunch at the time and, like many institutions across the country, we wouldn’t have been able to get a contract that required capital outlay from the institution. Overall, it worked out extremely well for us.”

Benefits for Students

“Our students get their electronic credentials on the same day they graduate when they’re super excited about it and they’re able to share it with their family, friends, and potential employers. They can jump right into the job market with that verifiable credential.”

“And of course the tracking capabilities have been absolutely critical because if someone contacts me, I can immediately go onto the website, find out exactly what happened to their diploma, when it was issued, when it was mailed, if there are corrections that need to be made, I can do that immediately on the spot and request a reprint of their diploma and their verifiable electronic credential is available immediately.”

Working with Parchment

“It’s been wonderful. Parchment’s customer service team is fantastic. They’ve been very friendly and easy to work with. I appreciate that very much. Overall, contracting with Parchment has been an enormous blessing for us. I’m certainly thankful that we decided to partner with Parchment.”

“I can’t tell you exactly the number of hours we’ve saved, but it is massive. It’s been a huge, huge time saver for us.”

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