Ordering diplomas (Paradigm)

Owned by Ashley deRoche (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Dec 04, 2024 by Jana Whipple
12 min read

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Parchment Orders

There are 3 main types of orders: paper replacements, PDFs (pre-2020), and Apostille/Notary

To create an order from a Parchment request:

 

  • Select the first order on your Parchment screen by clicking “more” underneath of the name and address.

 

Line 1 is a CeD/PDF type; line 2 is an Apostille(Notary) type; line 3 is a paper replacement type.

 

  • Special notes about orders from the Parchment site:

    • You may not have a student ID in the order. Use the other information from the order to help locate your record, once you reach the point of entering the degree information.

      • DOB

      • Degree/Diploma Type; year awarded

      • Special Notes

    • You must add a period “.” to any first or middle initials added as part of the Diploma Name

      • In our example above, we see the learner entered “Leon A Dufresne” - we must change that to “Leon A. Dufresne” in the order.

    • Pay attention to the selected shipping:

      • Apostille/Notary orders indicate if they would like a transcript added to their order by selecting the transcript attachment at the shipping section of the order.

        • transcript_international_express or transcript_domestic_express indicates that the learner would also like a transcript to be certified with their diploma in the process.

      • Some paper replacements may be requested with faster shipping. You will need to process these as stand-alone orders, or with apostille orders only, so that you can select “3 day” or other shipping aside from “standard USPS” shipping. See the Paradigm Order Placement section for more information.

  • PDF duplicate orders on this website are for graduates from BEFORE 2020 ONLY. If a student from 2020 or later places an order here, cancel the order and indicate in the comments that the student placed the order through the wrong process, with the following statement:

    • Please order your electronic diploma by visiting the Gibson Portal and accessing your credential through the Alumni tab. This order form is only for graduates from BEFORE 2020. Pdf diplomas purchased through here are $50 while the one purchased through Gibson is only $15.95. If you are a recent graduate, your PDF diploma will be available when your paper diploma ships (4-6 weeks after your conferral date). Contact the registrar’s office if you have any questions. You will be issued a refund.

    • The cost for pre-2020 orders is $50; the cost for 2020 and later is only $15.95, so it is important to differentiate this for the students.

 

Lost, Damaged, and Previously Held Orders

  • Students will also submit a ticket for an original document order to be placed.

    • The student may have never received their original due to it being lost in the mail.

    • The student may have received the original, but it was damage during shipment, or there was a mistake in their name.

    • The student may have had a hold on their diploma order due to Accounts Receivable, but that hold has since been cleared and they are ready for a shipment.

    • The student’s awarding may have changed, and a new original needs to be ordered (a rarity).

  • You will need to collect the following information from a student in order to place an order without the Parchment screens assisting:

    • Full name they would like to appear on the diploma. (If this is a recent order redo, you can also find this on SHADIPL).

    • The address where they would like their diploma sent.

    • Their student ID.

  • Add the order to the Excel sheet:

    • Copy the “name on your diploma” exactly to the column in the sheet FULL_NAME (column I)

      • You do not have to enter all of the name fields.

    • Copy the Student ID if the learner has included this information to STUDENT_ID (Column D); leave that blank for now if they have not.

    • Copy the address.

      • include an email address as well as a physical address if the student graduated in 2020 or later and this is a correction for a mistake in the name, a previously held diploma, or an updated awarding. The order will also be indicating that a new CeD should be generated with the paper original.

    • Complete the fields AA-AE as is applicable to the type of order you are placing, to instruct the printer:

      • Lost/Damaged: DUPLICATE - N; CED - N; PRINT_DOC - Y; HOLD IN CART - N; COMMENTS - Lost Reorder/Damaged Reorder

      • Held**/Mistake/Changed - DUPLICATE - N; CED - Y; PRINT_DOC - Y; HOLD IN CART - N; COMMENTS - Held Order/Mistake Reorder/Updated Reorder

        • ** IF the student’s diploma was held, but they graduated BEFORE 2020, do NOT generate a CeD for them: therefore, CED - N.

Now that you have entered all of your names and addresses for orders waiting printing and shipment, you will need to add the degree information.

Degree Information

To include the degree information on the order, you will need to have the following tools at hand:

  • Tulane Paradigm Code Translations - Some older major, degree, or school codes may need to be added to the database Paradigm maintains for Tulane. If you are unsure, check the sheet for the codes listed on the students' records, and use this as a guide if you have never seen a code before as well.

  • The Sample Spreadsheet - this document shows examples of how to complete the sheet, but also indicates which type of documents (i.e. paper) are available and should be used.

    • The options below are available:

Document Types

Document Types

UGRAD - for NTC students; undergraduates from Fall 2006 and later.

MED - for MD/MD students only.

GRAD - for ALL graduate and professional degrees other than MD, regardless of gradaution term.

PA - for the colleges PA, NC, CS, PT, AS, EN, UC, UP; for the colleges BS, LA, SE from ONLY before Fall 2006.

HON - for honorary diplomas.

UD - for the NTC students with PA majors, signified as college = UD.

** The late 1990 and early 2000 undergraduate paper selection can be unclear. Please check with a Registrar if you are unsure of which DOC_TYPE to enter on the order.

  • Navigate to SHADEGR.

    • Enter the student ID from the order sheet, if available.

      • If not, try searching by pressing tab, then typing last name, first name.

      • If you are unable to locate with the name alone, access the order on Parchment to use the DOB, or reply to the email from diplomas inbox to gather this information.

    • Select the correct degree by clicking the ellipses … next to the degree sequence field.

      • SHADGMQ will be called up; select the degree which most closely applies to the one described in the order details, or listed in the email.

      • If you are unsure of which degree should be printed on the diploma, contact the learner.

    • Open the degree record and obtain the following information:

      • DOC_TYPE: Using the degree level, then the school, and then occasionally the date, to determine which applies. See the chart above to assist you.

      • TERM: The graduation term is listed under the graduation information section on the Learner Outcome tab.

      • CONFERRAL DATE: The graduation date is listed under the graduation information section on the Learner Outcome tab.

      • STUDENT ID: If you have not already entered it, the Banner screens will have populated the student ID in the upper left, so copy that into the spreadsheet now.

      • We’ve already completed the name and address information, so you can skip those fields.

      • COLLEGE: The college code is listed under the curriculum block. Use the code, not the name.

      • DEGREE: The degree code is listed under the curriculum block. Use the code, not the name.

      • MAJOR: The major(s) are listed under the field of study block.

      • HONORS: Any honors are listed under the Honors tab; Latin Honors have one column, departmental honors have a column for major one or major two, depending on which applies.

    • Review the line for any missing information or mismatches (I.E. doc type matches the school, etc.) and move on to the next line item for the order.

  • Once you have added the relevant information for each line of the order, you will need to verify that the learner does not have a hold on their account preventing the release of their document.

    • Navigate to SOAHOLD.

    • Enter the student ID.

    • Review the holds for any mention of the word “diploma” or hold types BD, B3, B2, etc. that have an END DATE which is GREATER THAN TODAY. If the date is in the future, we cannot release the diploma.

  • If you find a diploma which needs to be held is a Parchment order, revisit the order and Cancel the order as described above under the section “Cancelling a PDF from the wrong year” but instead, select “Learner has a hold” and include the following comment:

    • Your diploma cannot be released due to a hold with accounts receivable. Please contact their office at 504.865.5368. Once you are able to resolve the hold, you will be able to place a new order. This order will be refunded.

    • Remove the order line from the Excel sheet.

  • If the diploma is not a Parchment order, remove the order line from the Excel sheet and contact the student via email, with the same message as above, excluding the information about a refund.

  • Once you have ensured that none of the diplomas you are ordering have a hold against their release, you are ready to upload the document to Paradigm.

  • Save the document As: Mixed Reorder, Standard/Rush, Date in Registrar > Paradigm > Reorders 202x (using the year you are currently in).

    • Select Standard or Rush based on the type of processing you plan to order this under.

    • Any order with an apostille/notary diploma order must be done on a gold rush order.

    • Any order with a faster than USPS shipping selection must be done on a gold rush or platinum order.

Uploading the Order to Paradigm

Log into Paradigm.

You will receive an email at the account user’s email address when placing an order, to confirm receipt.

Searching for and tracking diploma orders

  • A student may request information about the tracking of an order, after having placed a replacement order or after graduation.

    • Log in to Paradigm.

      • Select “paper credential search”

      • Enter the student’s diploma name, or their student ID.

      • Access information about the address, the tracking information, etc. by clicking through the various tabs, and share that information with the graduate.

      • If the search brings no results, check to see if the student’s diploma is on hold (or may have been at the time of graduation) and contact the student about resolving the hold.

        • Check SOAHOLD for holds and also try searching Parchment for more information.

  • PDF diplomas may be difficult for learners to access once the order is completed. They will receive an email at the address they indicated that the order is ready, but are unable to access Gibson or are struggling to collect their diploma.

    • Collect the document for them and email it to the address they indicated on the diploma (or responding to the email they have sent requesting the document.)

      • Log in to Paradigm.

        • Select “digital credential search”

        • Search by student name; enter the graduate name in the field below the drop down.

        • Click on the arrow on the left side of the order to open more details; click on the CeDiD link to download the document. You should NOT receive a warning about being charged (as the payment has already been made by the student for this document and we will be invoiced for it separately.)