Digitise document verification for alumni abroad: Mumbai University senate members

In a letter to the University of Mumbai (MU) vice-chancellor, Suhas Pednekar, some of the members of the varsity senate proposed an online document verification process for its alumni studying or working abroad.

According to members, belonging to the Yuva Sena, an online system will make the verification process faster, cheaper and more convenient for the students. With the digital transcription system in place, the students will be able to finish the process within a week and will no longer have to run around to get their work done.

Currently, the university has a manual verification process.

The alumni have to apply for the transcript by submitting 25 documents at MU’s student welfare department at Churchgate. After the varsity attests the documents, the students have to send the documents to one of the credential evaluation firms for international students, such as the New York and Toronto-based non-profit World Education Services (WES). These firms seek a reverification of these documents online from the varsity before the process is completed.

“It’s a time-consuming and expensive process, especially for the MU alumni staying abroad, who have to come all the way to the university. The students have to make multiple rounds of the welfare department, which is always crowded, and spend considerable amount of money on sending the documents to the evaluation firms,” said Pradeep Sawant, a senate member.

According to a university official, between 80 and 100 students apply for transcripts every day.

“We work round-the-clock to ensure that the documents are attested within two to three days. However, the subsequent process takes a month or two,” said a university official requesting anonymity. The official added that the university is already mulling to set up a portal for students to apply for verification online. It will also start sending the attested documents digitally to the WES, according to its new guidelines.

“There won’t be any need for re-verification if the documents are sent by the university instead of the students,” Sawant said.