SoDAA Alumni Map

Introduction

Michael Strand, the director of NDSU School of Design, Architecture, and Art, initiated the idea of alumni map, building an interactive map that displays the school’s alumni network. When I received this work request, I noticed a bigger pain point. Previously, they updated the list of alumni manually on the website. The information is often outdated because it was hard to track everyone’s information over time. So, rather than just creating a map page, I created a content management system that allows the alumni to create an account and manage their location and profile by themselves. The information will be updated on the map automatically. It was successful. And people loved it.

My goal in this project is to create a configurable content management system that can be used for any geological-related information, not just a static design for the fixed content. So, I optimized the coding and database so that it could be easily configured for different purposes. Later, I adapted the system for the projects of other organizations, such as American Craft Council, SoDAA Advisory Board, and NCBDS 38 Conference.