Teacher Access

[paulo-psi]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Question

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Evidence and Image Capture

Hi everyone,

Hello, I would like some help. I am a professor at PUCPR, a Brazilian university (https://www.pucpr.br/). I have already sent a photo of my ID badge, a photo of my class register, and other documents, but it is always rejected. The message says: "We were unfortunately not able to verify your academic status. Please address the following issues and apply again." Does anyone know how I can resolve this?

[godseyeinternational]

Hey there.

If your ID badge and register keep getting rejected, try providing an employment verification letter or a link to your faculty profile on your university's website. If you've already done that, contacting GitHub Education Support directly is probably the fastest way to find out what's missing.

Here's a link to GitHub Education Support:
https://support.github.com/contact/education

Feel free to ask me about anything further.

[01iamysf]

The GitHub Education automated verification system can be notably strict, and faculty members frequently encounter these generic rejection loops. This usually happens because standard university ID badges often lack the specific, current-year data the automated system is trained to look for.

Here are the most common triggers for this rejection and how you can resolve them for PUCPR:

1. The "Current Date" Requirement (Most Common for Faculty)

The automated system (OCR) actively scans your documents for a current date to prove you are actively teaching right now.

• The Issue: Many faculty ID badges do not have an expiration date, or they only show the date you were hired. If the system cannot read a date for the current academic year, it will reject the application.
• The Fix: Provide a document from PUCPR that explicitly states the current semester or year. A formal employment verification letter from your HR department on official letterhead, or a current official course schedule showing your name, the PUCPR logo, and the current academic term is much more likely to be accepted than an ID badge.

2. Location and Network Mismatch

GitHub strict-checks your physical location (via IP address and browser location services) against the registered location of the university.

• The Fix: Ensure you are applying while physically located near the PUCPR campus, or at least within Brazil. Turn off any VPNs, proxies, or privacy extensions (like iCloud Private Relay) before applying. If your browser prompts you for location permissions during the application, you must grant them.

3. Email Alignment

While having an academic email is not the only requirement, it is heavily weighted by the system.

• The Fix: Double-check your GitHub account settings. Ensure your official @pucpr.br email address is added, fully verified, and ideally set as your primary email address before you submit the application.

4. Image Clarity and Language Barriers

Because your documents are in Portuguese, the automated system might struggle to parse terms like "Professor" or "Docente" if the image quality is slightly degraded.

• The Fix: Ensure there is absolutely no glare on laminated badges or screens. The text must be perfectly crisp. If the system prompts you to take a live photo using your webcam, ensure the room is brightly lit.

How to Escalate to Manual Review

If you ensure your IP location is correct, use your @pucpr.br email, provide clearly dated documents, and the system still rejects you, the automated reader is likely just failing to parse PUCPR's specific document formats.

At this stage, you need to bypass the bot and get a human to look at it:

1. Go directly to the [GitHub Education Support Portal](https://support.github.com/contact/education).
2. Open a ticket stating you are a professor at PUCPR and the automated OCR system is repeatedly rejecting valid, dated academic documents.
3. Attach your clearest, dated documents (like the current class register or employment letter) directly to the support ticket so a GitHub staff member can manually verify your academic status.