The certificate of acknowledgment (PDF) must be in the form set forth in California Civil Code section 1189. The dissertation acknowledgements are where you thank the people who helped you during your thesis and dissertation process.In today's video I'm going to show you how to complete a California Acknowledgement and a California Giraffe. The document discusses writing acknowledgments for a thesis. WITNESS my hand and official seal. Signature. (Seal). A notary public or other officer completing this certificate verifies only the identity of the individual. To complete this part of the Acknowledgements section, you need to address the following three questions: QUESTION ONE: What challenges did you face?