A model for a Diploma Supplement was developed by the European Commission, the Council of Europe and UNESCO/CEPES in order to facilitate transparency and recognition of qualifications for academic and professional purposes. A distinction must be made between recognition for academic purposes and for professional ones. Each Member State is responsible under the Maastricht Treaty for its own educational content and organization and there are no Community provisions imposing mutual recognition of diplomas, except for certain regulated occupations that are under the heading of recognition for professional purposes. That is why there are currently no diplomas that are recognized at the European level. The universities, that are autonomous institutions, are entirely responsible for the content of their curricula and for awarding diplomas and certificates to students, recognized by the authorities of the Member State concerned.

However, the Commission has encouraged mutual recognition for academic purposes between the various education systems in Europe in order to facilitate transparency and recognition in States other than those in which they were dispensed. The importance of Diploma Supplement was furthermore underlined in the Convention of Recognition of Qualifications Concerning Higher Education in the European Region, adopted in Lisbon in April 1997.

This software follows the outline structure for the diploma supplement, providing sufficient independent data to improve the international transparency and fair academic and professional recognition of qualifications. It is designed to provide a description of the nature, level, context, content and status of the studies that were pursued and successfully completed by the individual named on the original qualification to which the supplement is appended. It should be free from any value judgements, equivalence statements or suggestions about recognition. Information in all sections should be provided. Where information is not provided, an explanation should be give the reason why.

The topics of the Supplement are the following:

1 Information identifying the holder of the qualification

1.1 Family name(s):

1.2 Given name(s):

1.3 Date of birth (day/month/year):

1.4 Student identification number or code (if available):

2 Information identifying the qualification

2.1 Name of qualification and (if applicable) title conferred (in the original language):

2.2 Main field(s) of study for the qualification:

2.3 Name and status of awarding institution (in the original language):

2.4 Name and status of institution (if different from 2.3) administering studies (in the original language):

2.5 Language(s) of instruction (examination):

3 Information on the level of qualification

3.1 Level of qualification

3.2 Official length of programme:

3.3 Access requirement(s):

4 Information on the contents and results gained

4.1 Mode of study:

4.2 Programme requirements:

4.3 Programme details: (e.g., modules or units studied), and the individual grades/marks/credits obtained: (if this information is available on an official transcript this should be used here)

4.4 Grading scheme and, if available, grade distribution guidance:

4.5 Overall classification of the qualification (in the original language):

5 Information on the function of the qualification

5.1 Access to further study:

5.2 Professional status (if applicable):

6 Additional information

6.1 Additional information:

6.2 Further information sources:

7 Certification on the supplement

7.1 Date:

7.2 Signature:

7.3 Capacity:

7.4 Official stamp or seal:

8 Information on the national higher education system

2 2 Requirements

The software runs on a computer or a network of computers operated by Windows 98 or Windows NT. The program uses a database in Microsoft Access format but other different database models may be used, including database engines on a Linux server, such as Informix, Oracle, Microsoft SQL server, just to refer a few. Security was one of our main concerns. Data are protected by passwords and advanced techniques for encryption and deencryption have been used. The supplement is printed using Microsoft Word.

3 3 Running the Software

The first run is for the configuration of the software. The user may select two languages: the first one is the original language of the institution, the second one is for translations. In later runs the administrator may select different languages for the supplement

3.1 3.1 Languages

The first language is selected by choosing the appropriate command button (English is being selected).

The second language is selected by choosing the appropriate command button in (French is being selected).

More languages may be selected using the more button.

If your language had not yet been added to the system, please select English as the first language, add your native language at the Resources menu option, fill down with the translations and set up the system with the Setup Language menu option.

If the terms in your native language are not available, the terms in the english language will be loaded. The next step is the introduction of the software license data using the original language selected in the previous step.

The user may introduce the name of the institution, as well as the installation date, serial number and the software’s generated key. After saving and exiting the form the user is able to use the software.

3.2 3.2 The First Screen

The first screen of the application is for user identification.

The Administrator may enter into the key field the key that was distributed with the software. The other users are defined with the user information menu where the code is inserted.

3.3 3.3 The Splash Screen

A splash screen is presented before the main menu.

4 4 Setup

4.1 4.1 The Main Screen

The main screen is as seen.

4.2 4.2 The Setup Menu

The Setup menu is divided into three options:

The setup DSDT screen is divided into four tabbed forms:

4.3 4.3 High Degree National System ;

4.4 4.4 Awarding Institution;

4.5 4.5 Teaching Institution;

4.6 4.6 Accredited by;

4.7 4.7 Previous Versions

Some of the data refer to files that may be saved on disk. These files may be selected using the Search button and previewed using the Preview button. All the forms show the date of the creation, date of the last modification, the first and last user that manage the record. Previous versions of the record may be seen using the Previous button.

The New Version button allows for the creation of a new version of the record that may be saved using the Save button. The Exit button is used with the purpose of unloading the form and return to the main one.

4.8 4.8 The Setup Language Menu

The original and/or second language may be changed using the Setup Language menu.

The tools menu presents three options:

4.9 4.9 Resources

q q to translate all the messages, fixed texts and captions to each one of the idioms;

4.104.10 Import/Export Resources

q q to save language translations into a text file that can be distributed to other institutions that may use the same language (export) or to save an external text file into the local database (import); The file extension "lng" is used by the application.

4.114.11 Database tools:

q q clean option to delete all records of a table (the table name may be checked first);

4.124.12 Import data

q q to get data from external databases; "DSN" may be correctly configured.

5 5 Tables

5.1 5.1 The Tables Menu

These are the options of the tables menu:

5.2 5.2 user information;

5.3 5.3 institution types;

5.4 5.4 institution status;

5.5 5.5 instruction languages;

5.6 5.6 study forms;

5.7 5.7 qualification system;

5.8 5.8 types of qualification ;

5.9 5.9 detail programmes;

The file "Layout01.doc" in the DSDT directory contains a list of variables as {Txx} that are used in the header, footer and/or SQL text section.

The connection to the external database is parametrized in this screen and may be configured at the windows control panel. The SQL commands to access data are written for each group. Columns' types are set in the type column (T for text columns, Nk with numeric columns with k decimal digits).

1 1 Introduction