Market intelligence for international student recruitment from ICEF
7th Sep 2016

Imagining the digital future of academic records

We live in a world where messages, financial transactions, and digital content of all sorts can circle the globe with a click of a computer mouse or trackpad or touchscreen. But the realm of academic records – transcripts, credentials, and other official documents – remains largely paper-based. Indeed, officially authenticated, and printed, records are still very much the gold standard for many institutions and admissions offices. But a rapidly growing group of stakeholders have set out to build a global system for authenticating, storing, and sharing digital records. The concept is still on the drawing board but the idea has gathered steam over the last four years since the Groningen Declaration Network (GDN) was founded in 2012. The network now includes more than 50 signatories worldwide, both institutions – such as Stanford University and the University of Málaga – and academic associations, including The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), the European Association for International Education (EAIE), and the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). Twelve new signatories joined the network this year alone, following the GDN’s annual meeting in Cape Town in May. Canada signed on a year earlier, in may 2015 and through its Association of Registrars of the Universities and Colleges of Canada (ARUCC). “We don’t want Canada to be left behind,” Kathleen Massey, university registrar and executive director of enrolment services at McGill University, said to University Affairs. Ms Massey also chairs the ARUCC Groningen and Student Mobility Task Force, and adds, “It’s about making it easier for Canadians to transmit their credentials within Canada and abroad and to have them fairly recognised in a timely fashion.” The goal of the network is just that: to make it easier for authenticated student records to travel from institution to institution and country to country, and the vision is for a truly global system. There is an aspect of efficiency in this in that one of the inherent promises of digital is that the process of retrieving and sharing academic records could be made a great deal easier and less expensive. “In my experience, every time you need to send (transcripts) to another organisation, be it another school you are applying to or a granting agency, you need to manually request the transcripts, sometimes pay a fee and they are sent by mail,” says University of Toronto PhD candidate Jessica Robin, echoing the experience of students the world over. “It’s a very slow process and it can be costly.” The GDN is squarely aimed at making this experience very much easier and more efficient for all concerned, and signatory organisations are currently engaged in targeted pilot projects to test emerging practices and systems and also expand the use of digital records. Beyond efficiency, another overarching goal of the GDN is to combat credential fraud, especially in the form of falsified transcripts or test scores as well as bogus credentials from so-called diploma mills. With higher education participation rates climbing, and with several million mobile students abroad today, the issue of academic integrity remains a pressing concern for all stakeholders. There are a number of task forces operating within the GDN currently, a number of which are focused on the development of systems and standards to establish and expand the integrity of digital records. Seen from both vantage points – improving efficiency and combatting fraud – an effective digital records system is arguably one of the next important levers for increasing international student mobility. As the original declaration text sets out, “Digital student data portability and digital student data depositories are becoming increasingly concrete and relevant realities, and in the years to come, they will contribute decisively to the free movement of students and skilled workers on a global scale.” “The Groningen Declaration is very aspirational,” Margit Schatzman, president of the non-profit Educational Credential Evaluators, a GDN signatory, explained earlier this year to University World News. “The question is, ‘How are we going to do this?’” The impression one gets from the growing roster of GDN signatories, however, as well as the level of activity in network task forces and pilots, is that the focus of the network will increasingly shift to the development and operation of a global system going forward.

Most Recent

  • Global student satisfaction survey highlights growing attention to career services Read More
  • OECD tracks global student flows to developed market-based economies Read More
  • UK ELT reports declining enrolments for first half of 2025 Read More

Most Popular

  • Which countries will contribute the most to global student mobility in 2030? Read More
  • Research shows link between study abroad and poverty alleviation  Read More
  • Beyond the Big Four: How demand for study abroad is shifting to destinations in Asia and Europe Read More

Because you found this article interesting

Global student satisfaction survey highlights growing attention to career services The 2025 Global Student Satisfaction Awards were announced this week, and they provide some important indicators of student...
Read more
OECD tracks global student flows to developed market-based economies The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) is an inter-governmental organisation made up of 38 member countries....
Read more
New analysis forecasts marginal growth for foreign enrolment in Australia through 2030 In the five years leading up to the pandemic, Australia’s foreign enrolment grew at an average of 10%...
Read more
China opens up to global STEM talent with new visa class The contrast offered by the global news headlines over the past couple of weeks could not have been...
Read more
US Office of Management and Budget grants budget reprieve to key exchange programmes In a highly unusual intervention in an area of Congressional authority, the US Office of Management and Budget...
Read more
Asian destinations show their strength in latest ranking of student cities The QS Best Student Cities 2026 rankings were released last month, and, for the first time ever, Seoul...
Read more
Many foreign students want to stay in Germany but need more help with the transition to life after study Early findings from an extensive survey of international students in Germany finds that two-thirds would like to stay...
Read more
How post-study work rights can make or break the return on investment for study abroad The following is a guest post contributed by Tim O’Brien and Claire Clifford from INTO University Partnerships, where...
Read more
What are you looking for?
Quick Links