Resolution
NetIQ Best Practices highly recommend against removing the Certification Signoff Popup, though technically, it is entirely possible to remove the popup. There is no technical barrier to stop you from doing this. However, this has been shown not to be a best practice in everyday usage. In fact, is has been our expereince that every client that requested the removal later came to realzie the value of the annoyance in having signoff completions being followed through by staff.
The reason for the popup is to insure that managers will complete and signoff the recertification of their subordinates. In theory, if a amanager has been shown the signoff button, they should remember that they still have to signoff the report. In actual practice however, several reports were found to remain incomplete and not signed off by certifiers if the signoff popup was removed. The reason which was given was that it was due to "a lack of being reminded" by the tool to signoff and certify the report.
The actual practical result was a much higher number of incomplete reports without the annoyance of the popup versus the much higher number of completed reports with the annoyance of the constant reminder of the popup. So, while technically there is no barrier to removing the popup, as a best practice, it is not recommended.