UB logo mix up questions certificates� authenticity

Baboki Kayawe | Friday August 5, 2016 14:49

 

SRC president, Bakotelo Mmipi said his office has been awash with complaints regarding the matter. He added that an academic facility of UB’s calibre must be consistent and avoid instances where the authenticity of academic qualifications is questioned.

“We have received complaints about the use of the UB logo, and that some employers are questioning certificates owing to the inconsistencies in the final transcript and graduates’ certificates,” he said.

Of recent UB has come under scrutiny for sending mixed messages to the job market through the appearance of its contested abstract logo that was recalled in 2014 in graduates’ transcripts.

Concerned alumni say the mix-up has led to employers questioning the authenticity of their qualifications because while the certificates bear the traditional logo, transcripts issued in 2015 and 2016 bear the other logo.

Affected alumni who preferred not to be named wrote in a letter that Mmegi is in possession of that “No University the world over has ever issued such contradictory academic documents and this is affecting us as graduates in the labour market.”

“The credibility of UB academic documents is being questioned. Even the good image of the University of Botswana is being dented,” the letter reads.

“Up to now (July 2016), the University of Botswana is issuing transcripts bearing the disbanded logo yet the degree certificates for 2015 bear the official logo,” the letter says.  A communication from the Office of the Vice Chancellor issued July 2014, bearing the signature of then acting VC Otlogetswe Totolo, now at the helm of Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) called on all correspondences and documentations to bear the original logo.

“Following last meeting of Council’s decision to revert to the original logo, please be informed that we are all required to use the original logo in our correspondence including advertisements in local papers and UB website,” Totolo directed then. 

Director of pubic affairs at UB, Mhitshane Reetsang had not responded to questions on why a mix up in logo usages existed yet an official decision was taken to revert to the traditional logo.