alumni_lookup

Alumni Network — Technical Overview

Canonical sources: Portal philosophy, posture, and language live in /docs/planning/champion-portal/source/README.md.
Use these sources (including CHRIST_CENTERED__IDENTITY_STATEMENT.md) when writing specs or user-facing copy. Prefer quoting/paraphrasing over inventing new language.

Version: 4.0
Last Updated: March 2026
Status: Beta Launch Ready — All 17 phases complete (Phase 9.6 email drip deferred to Backlog)

Prerequisite: Authentication & Roles System — fully implemented. Alumni Network leverages the SSO foundation, role patterns, and Pundit policies from that project.

📋 For stakeholders: See STAKEHOLDER-OVERVIEW.md for executive-level summary, value propositions, and roadmap.

🎯 For marketing & prioritization: See JOBS-TO-BE-DONE.md for user motivations, marketing angles, and phase prioritization guidance.

🤖 For AI context: See ai/ for the Claude Project context bundle (9 files).

Executive Summary

The Alumni Network is the digital home for Belmont University alumni, hosted at belmontalum.com. It transforms the current one-way champion signup process into a full-featured community platform serving three tiers of engagement.

Core Purpose

  1. Foster belonging by helping every alum feel part of a community
  2. Enable action by giving alumni simple tools to find, connect, and contribute
  3. Strengthen collaboration across geography, affinity, and interest
  4. Extend Belmont’s mission through hospitality, connection, and generosity

(Aligned with messaging pillars in the canonical source documents and Language Style Guide.)

Two-Portal Architecture

The Alumni Network is the external counterpart to the existing Lookup Portal:

Portal Domain Users Tiers/Roles
Lookup Portal alumnilookup.com Internal Staff Admin, Portal Admin, Staff
Alumni Network belmontalum.com External Alumni Member, Champion, Community Leader

Both portals share a single PostgreSQL database. Alumni Network tables are prefixed with cp_.

See ARCHITECTURE.md for technical architecture details.

Three-Tier Engagement Model

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  ALUMNI NETWORK (belmontalum.com) - External Alumni                     │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Tier 3: Community Leader (~1%)                                         │
│  └─ Staff-promoted from Champions                                       │
│  └─ Moderate discussions, pin announcements, coordinate communities     │
│  └─ Elevated permissions within assigned communities                    │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Tier 2: Alumni Champion (~10%)                                         │
│  └─ Opted in via Champion Role discovery quiz                           │
│  └─ Profile badge, role-aligned daily ideas, recognition signals        │
│  └─ Four roles: Community Builder, Connection Advisor,                  │
│     Digital Ambassador, Giving Advocate                                 │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Tier 1: Alumni Member (100%)                                           │
│  └─ Every registered, verified alum                                     │
│  └─ Browse directory, join communities, connect, consume content        │
│  └─ Submit news and events for staff review                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Key Design Principle: Tier detection is derived from existing data, not a new field:

Tier Detection
Community Leader Has CL assignments (community_leader?)
Champion Has completed role quiz (has_champion_role?)
Member Default — everyone else

Geographic Structure

Primary City

Location Hierarchy

ZIP Code → City → District → Region
└─ 37027    └─ Brentwood  └─ Nashville  └─ Southeast

Districts are user-facing (community type). Regions are internal only (NOT user-facing).

Community Structure

Alumni belong to communities based on shared attributes:

Community Type Description Example
District Metro area from ZIP code Nashville, Atlanta, Dallas
College Academic college College of Music, Massey Business
Major Academic major Music Business, Nursing
Affinity Clubs, organizations, interests Phi Mu, SAAC, Towering Traditions
Industry Professional sector Healthcare, Entertainment, Finance
Custom Staff-created for special purposes “Class of 2015” reunion
National Portal-wide (auto-join) “Alumni Champions”

Dynamic community creation occurs when 3+ alumni share an attribute. Community landing pages include members, discussions, news, and events.

Feature Areas (What’s Built)

Implemented Features (Phases 1–5, 7–14 Complete)

Area Features Phase
Authentication Email/password, Google OAuth, email verification, progressive signup 1
Profiles Multi-step wizard, photo upload, privacy controls, affinity selection, completion tracking 1
Directory Search/filter by district/year/college/industry, “Champions Like You” recommendations 1, 5
Connections Connection requests (Say Hi, Career Advice, Networking), connection-gated messaging, settings/caps 10
Messaging Thread-based messaging between connected alumni, emoji reactions 1, 10
Communities 7 community types, landing pages, membership management, CL moderation 1, 2
Discussion Boards Per-community boards, national board, threaded comments, reactions, moderation, seeded questions 3, 9
Events Admin-created events, community targeting, alumni event submissions 1, 14
News District/community-targeted announcements, alumni news submissions 1, 14
Content Submissions Alumni submit news/events, staff review/approve/decline, conversation threads, attribution 14
Career Center Public career hub, downloadable resources, career events, OCPD partnership 7
Champion Role Card Daily engagement ideas (3/day), role quiz, roles landing page, 115 seed ideas 11, 1C
Photo Albums Admin photo albums, gallery with lightbox, dashboard carousel 5
Notifications In-app notifications (bell icon), email digests (daily/weekly), per-type preferences 8
Settings & Help Account management, privacy controls, notification preferences, FAQ with search 1
Admin Tools Verification queue, CL assignment, content review, discussion admin, career resources, analytics, impersonation All
Mobile-First Responsive design, design alignment, UX polish across all views 4
Source Alignment Full audit of user-facing text against 20 source documents, alumni-first inclusive framing 12
Progressive Dashboard Journey engine (8 stages), tier detection, progressive disclosure, activity feed, nudge engine, milestone celebrations 13
Design Consistency Border radius, card headers, typography, and gradient cleanup across all cp/ views 15

In Progress

All active phases are complete. See BACKLOG.md for deferred items.

Verification Tiers

Status How Achieved Access Level
Unverified Account created, email not confirmed Cannot log in
Email Verified Clicked verification link Can log in, edit profile, browse communities (trust-first access)
Champion Verified Staff linked to alumni record (BUID) Full access to all features

Trust-first access: community browsing allowed pre-verification; contribution requires verification.

Technology Stack

Layer Technology
Framework Ruby on Rails 7.1.5.1
Language Ruby 3.2.3+
Database PostgreSQL
Frontend Tailwind CSS (TailwindUI), Hotwire (Turbo + Stimulus)
JavaScript Import maps (no bundler)
Authentication Devise with OmniAuth (Google SSO)
Rich Text ActionText with Trix
File Storage ActiveStorage
Search PgSearch (PostgreSQL full-text)
Background Jobs Solid Queue
Hosting Heroku

Development Phasing

Phase Name Status Key Deliverables
1 Foundations ✅ Complete Auth, profiles, directory, dashboard, messaging, events, news, communities, notifications (16 sub-phases)
1C Role Selection & Quiz ✅ Complete Champion Role quiz, profile wizard integration
2 Community Leadership ✅ Complete CL roles, admin CL assignment, permissions, action items
3 Discussion Boards ✅ Complete Per-community boards, national board, moderation, analytics, public landing pages (11 sub-phases)
4 Mobile-First Cleanup ✅ Complete Mobile consistency, design alignment, UX polish
5 Pre-MVP Updates ✅ Complete User state alignment, non-alumni support, contacts→connections, recommendations, photo albums
6 Reporting & Insights ⏳ Deferred Never implemented — full phase spec moved to Backlog; build user base first
7 Career Center ✅ Complete Self-serve career hub, resource downloads, staff admin, analytics
8 Notifications & Digests ✅ Complete Unified notification preferences, discussion triggers, digest scheduling, immediate templates, web push
9 Onboarding & UX ✅ Complete Enhanced wizard, seeded questions, admin CRUD, metrics, welcome content, trust-first access (9.6 email drip deferred to Backlog)
10 Connections ✅ Complete Connection requests, connection-gated messaging, contacts migration, admin metrics
11 Champion Role Card ✅ Complete Daily idea packs, roles page, admin CRUD, 115 seed ideas
12 Source-Alignment Review ✅ Complete Full audit of user-facing text against 20 source documents; inclusivity framing
13 Progressive Dashboard ✅ Complete Journey engine, tier detection, progressive disclosure, activity feed, nudge engine, milestone celebrations
14 Content Submissions ✅ Complete News/event submission forms, admin review queue, conversation threads, attribution
15 Design Consistency Pass ✅ Complete Visual consistency pass for all cp/ views — border radius, card headers, typography, gradient cleanup

Key Decisions Made

Decision Answer Rationale
Domain belmontalum.com Alumni-first identity; not just Champions
Design approach Mobile-first Phone browser is primary use case
Table naming cp_ prefix Clear ownership, e.g. cp_champions, cp_connections
Location input ZIP-first ZIP → city/state with minimal friction
Area terminology District (not Region) District = metro area (Nashville), Region = internal only
SSO integration Google OAuth Reduces signup friction; covers most users
Account provisioning Progressive Account Creation Name + email first, wizard after verification
BUID requirement Optional + Two-tier verification Email Verified = limited access; Champion Verified = full access
Account timing Single cp_champions table with status verification_status enum
Messaging approach Connection-gated (Phase 10) Must connect before messaging; replaces email relay
Terminology Alumni-first (Phase 12) Default to “alumni” and “Bruins”; reserve “Champion” for celebration
Engagement model Three-tier (Phase 13) Member → Champion → Community Leader, derived from existing data
Content model Alumni submit, staff review News + events; maintains quality while enabling contribution
Photo ownership Separate per portal Staff photo for ID (Lookup); alumni photo for profile (Network)

For Stakeholders

Planning (This Folder)

Development

Phases

Implementation

AI/Dev Conventions

Document maintained by the Alumni Engagement and Engineering teams. Last updated March 2026.