Explanation of Various Letters and Forms
Requests for documentation other than transcripts or diplomas may be necessary for alumni to provide various proofs.
Certified letters are written to provide evidence that an alumni or student:
Has completed a degree. Often used when the diploma or transcript is being held, or is not yet ready.
Has an application for the upcoming graduation. While we cannot speak to the student’s completion of requirements, we can say if they have applied to complete their program in the same term.
Has completed their program in person or in English. The modality of a program is often in question when the student is an international student or is applying overseas.
Uses a chosen name, and needs to provide evidence that the chosen name on certain documents and the legal name on other documents refer to the same student.
Completed a course during COVID/Spring 2020 and needs to provide information about the grade mode that was used for their course(s).
Submitted their transcript to AMCAS without the most recent grades, and needs a letter confirming that the new transcript is accurate.
Has withdrawn from all coursework and is no longer registered.
Has never actually been a student. A non-attendance letter must be confirmed by the lack of a transcript for that record.
Enrollment Certificates / Enrollment Verifications are used by current and former students:
To verify the dates of enrollment for past or current semesters.
To verify that a degree has been awarded, when the transcript or diploma cannot be released.
To provide documentation with their legal name and address in association with the Tulane University Seal and Signature of the Registrar.
State Board and Licensing, and other organizations will request documentation be completed:
Social Work Licensure
Certified Public Accounting Licensure
State Bar Associations for Law Practice
Residency and Medical Education
Letters
A student will request a letter by phone or email; all requests should be funneled to Diplomas@tulane.edu.
Verify that the parameters of the letter are accurate. For example:
A non-attendance letter can only be written for a student who truly does not have a transcript. If any transcript generates, even only one term with all Ws, the student cannot have this letter.
The degree has been completed for a “completed degree” letter.
The student has applied for graduation for an “upcoming graduation” letter.
Open the folder Registrar > Verifications > Templates https://tulane.box.com/s/3ml8y2nx2lqy3rqhrwjrgpj1mgepwckr
Select the corresponding letter from the templates which you are going to prepare.
Updated the CAPITALIZED portions of the letter to match the information regarding the student.
Now that you have your letter text prepared, there are two options for completing the process.
You may wish to print the letter on Registrar Letterhead.
Save the document as the name of the student and the type of letter (I.E. John Smith, Completed Degree) in the folder Registrar > Verifications > 202x (whichever year you are in). DO NOT overwrite the template - be sure to “save as.”
Print the document on Registrar Letterhead and prepare for mailing or handing to the student in person by sealing in a Registrar envelope.
If this document is going to be sent digitally, you may now scan the document back to yourself via email, and send the document to the recipient as requested; however, you may want to consider the next option if this is an email request.
You may wish to create a “signature on letterhead” document to use for recurring letter requests.
Create a document by printing an empty sheet with nothing but your name and title under a signature line on Registrar Letterhead.
Sign the blank document, then scan it to yourself and save it as “signature on letterhead XX” using your initials to replace the XX.
Using the template you previously updated to match the details of the student request, copy the text from the Word document.
Open your signature on letterhead PDF and add the text to the document, adjusting so that the formatting and placement appears authentic.
Certify the document with an invisible signature - this will force you to save the document as a new PDF; use the name of the student and the type of letter as the file name, and save it in the folder Registrar > Verifications > 202x (whichever year you are in). DO NOT overwrite the blank letterhead - be sure to “save as.”
Email the document to the recipient as requested.