alumni_lookup

Degree Upload with Alumni Data Management

This feature adds a comprehensive two-step import for Degrees and Alumni data under Settings → Alumni.

Upload CSV on Settings → Alumni → Upload Degrees.
Preview page shows which degrees will be imported, which alumni will be created/updated, and any rows to be skipped (with reasons).
Click Commit Import to create missing Alumni records, update existing Alumni with new data, and add Degree rows.
Key Feature: Existing alumni can be updated with new information even when degrees already exist.

Accepted Columns (case-insensitive)

Required:

buid - Alumni BUID identifier
degree_code - Degree type (e.g., BA, BS, MBA, etc.)
major_code OR major_desc - Major information (see Major Mapping below)

Optional:

degree_date - Graduation date (any parsable date format; displayed as YYYY-MM-DD)

Alumni Data (Optional): When creating new alumni records, the system will also import any available alumni information:

first_name, firstname, fname, given_name - First name
last_name, lastname, lname, family_name, surname - Last name
email, email_address, e_mail, personalemailaddress, personal_email_address - Email address
phone, phone_number, telephone, mobile - Phone number
city, permanentcity, permanent_city - City
state, province, permanentstate, permanent_state - State or province
pref_name, preferred_name, nickname - Preferred name
maiden_name, birth_name - Maiden name
contact_id, advrm_contact_id, advrm - contact id, crm_id - CRM Contact ID

Major Mapping

The system supports flexible major specification through two approaches:

Direct Major Code: Use major_code, major, majorcode, primarycuriculum, primary_curiculum, primarymajor, or primary_major columns with exact major codes (e.g., “ACC”, “ECO”, “A&I”)
Major Description Lookup: Use major_desc, major_description, currentmajordescription, current_major_description, or majordescription columns with full major names (e.g., “Accounting”, “Economics”, “Accounting and Info Syst Mgt”)

The system will automatically map major descriptions to their corresponding codes using the majors table. If both are provided, direct major codes take precedence.

Validation and Skip Reasons

Missing BUID - No alumni identifier provided
Missing degree_code or major_code - Required fields missing or unmappable
Invalid degree_date - Date provided but not parsable
Unknown major_code - Major code/description not found in majors table
Duplicate degree - Same buid + degree_code + major_code combination already exists

Import Behavior

Alumni Management:

If an Alumni record for a BUID does not exist, a complete record is created with any available alumni data from the CSV
If an Alumni record exists but has missing data, it will be updated with any new information from the CSV
Alumni updates happen independently of degree creation (useful for data enrichment)

Degree Management:

Degrees are only created if they don’t already exist (no duplicates)
Degree creation is independent of alumni updates

Processing Logic:

Rows with alumni data but duplicate degrees will still process to update alumni information
Rows are only skipped if BUID is missing or if there’s no useful action to take
Preview view truncates to the first 1000 rows for display but commits all parsed rows
Major descriptions are automatically converted to major codes during processing

CSV Format Examples

Example 1: Using Major Codes

BUID,Degree,Major,GradDate
B00123456,BA,ECO,2025-05-15
B00789012,MBA,ACC,2025-08-30

Example 2: Using Major Descriptions with Alumni Data

BUID,DegreeCode,CurrentMajorDescription,FullDate,FirstName,LastName,Email,ContactID
B00123456,BA,Economics,2025-05-15,John,Smith,john.smith@email.com,C-123456789
B00789012,MBA,Accounting,2025-08-30,Jane,Doe,jane.doe@email.com,C-987654321

Example 3: Mixed Data (some alumni info, some not)

BUID,Degree,Major,GradDate,FirstName,LastName,Email
B00123456,BA,ECO,2025-05-15,John,Smith,john.smith@email.com
B00789012,MBA,ACC,2025-08-30,,,
B00555333,BS,ECO,2025-12-15,Sarah,Johnson,