Fall

Bus 310

Alumni Mapping
Ryan Lindbergh, Lance Cleveland, Angela Wu.

Organizational Management; Bus 310

08
02

Alumni Mapping

Alumni GIS Mapping

1) Audience
Mission
The objective of this document is to provide insight into the development of a student
accessible GIS map. GIS, or Geographic Information System, is a system designed to
capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present geographic data. GIS maps are
used for informed decision-making and have many applications related to engineering,
planning, management, transport and logistics, insurance, telecommunications, and
business. This interactive map will grant University of Redlands students access to
information about business department alumni. A range of data will be collected (1992Present) in an effort to most efficiently collect relevant information. The qualitative aim
of this project is to provide current students with a competitive advantage post
graduation. Students will be able to refine alumni contacts by geographic location,
current careers, and degrees from the University of Redlands. Ideally, this map will
enable students to obtain internships, jobs, and advice in their ensuing professional
careers.
Clients
This project was organized and initially developed by Dr. Mara Winick, both a professor
and advisor in the business administration department at the University of Redlands; she
is an expert in organizational research and scale development. The mission delegated to
our team directly benefits the entire business department student body, this project if
successful could be utilized by every department at the university, providing an essential
element in the successes of students in their professional careers.
Our Team
The alumni mapping team consists of Lance Cleveland, a junior attending the University
of Redlands, who is majoring in Business Administration with a minor in Accounting.
Angela Wu, a sophomore at the University of Redlands, who is majoring in Global
Business. Ryan Lindbergh, a junior who is majoring in Business Administration with an
accounting minor.
2) Research
In order for this project to continue and be successful, an efficient means of obtaining
business alumni data is essential. In order to gather the relevant information, we first
needed to develop topics we thought were most relevant to our goals and ambitions. We
believed that the most useful information to seek was related to location, majors, minors,
and current professions. Alumni relations and services have the capability to provide our
team with comprehensive lists including all the aforementioned details. In addition to
alumni relations, our team is developing immediate contacts through the Greek system
and through the use of business department advisors and professors.

University Contacts
Our group met with two individuals from the University of Redlands with extensive
experience in the use of GIS, in order to better understand how it functions, and learn
which systems, applications, and coding would best fit and most efficiently produce our
vision of the project.
Dr. Steven Moore
We first met with Dr. Steven Moore, the Director of Spatial Studies at the University of
Redlands. After informing him about our project he recommended that we use a product
from ESRI called ArcGIS Online. He recommended this product because we would be
able insert our data into the map using an Excel spreadsheet. He also noted that the Maps
for Office is a free Microsoft download which will be easy to operate. The online version
would also allow for self-population of the map if our group chose to pursue that route,
although he brought up drawbacks to user editing power. The direction he appointed us to
go with first was to collect information and lay it out in an excel spreadsheet with names,
address, email, contact information, field, major, graduating year, context and possibly a
photograph of the alumni. Dr. Moore also recommended that we create a GIS account
with a username and password for our group to access information. Dr. Moore also
showed our team a web map as an example of what our project could potentially look
like.
Victoria Beckley
Dr. Moore also referred us to Victoria Beckley, a Johnston Alum currently working for
the University. Ms. Beckley recently completed a project very similar to ours for
Johnston Alumni using ArcGIS Online. Ms. Beckley recommended that the best way to
collect data would be to contact alumni through email to avoid permission issues and to
receive the most up-to-date information that reflects what the individual wants displayed.
She was kind enough to show us her project, so that we could see what our map could
potentially look like. Her map however did not include a filter search bar that we want in
ours. She separated her alumnis by year such as 00, 90s, 80s, 70s so that it was easier
to view. Ms. Beckley also brought up privacy issues that might arise during our data
collection. She told us that entering only the city, state, and country would be more
preferable than exact addresses.
3) Deliverables
Development of a mock-GIS map
Through our research we have developed a mock GIS map. This mock representation
emphasizes a global and domestic spectrum, pinpoints the geographic location of alumni,
displays the necessity for refinement of searches, and finally a profile of alumni including
contact information and specifics of industry, company, and university major/minor. This
mock GIS map also includes whether or not contacting the specific alumni has had
successful outcomes. A rendering of the initial mock GIS map may be found in the
Appendix A of this document.

Alumni Mapping

Meeting with Victoria/ Dr. Moore

Our consulting team has contacted industry professionals, inquiring about necessities and
barriers pertaining to the development of business department alumni mapping and
tracking. Through these meetings we have further refined the criteria of which we will
request from alumni, recognized the invasive tendencies of this project, and viewed
examples of existing maps that correlate directly with the objectives and mission of this
endeavor. Contact information may be found in the Appendix B of this document.
Contacting the office of alumni relations
Currently our team is in the stage of developing data and contacts for the continuation of
this project. We have requested information from alumni relations and expect results
within the next three weeks. This data will be inserted into an excel worksheet format and
imported into a GIS mapping program.
ArcGIS Online v. ArcGIS desktop
The current options in the continuation of this project reside in two opportunities, ArcGIS
online and ArcGIS for desktop. The two options are both products of ESRI, a local
company that is at the forefront of GIS mapping technology. ArcGIS online is a basic
online program that utilizes previously generated maps. Features of ArcGIS online
include: Ready-to-Use Apps, Ready-to-Use Maps, powerful analytic tools, ArcGIS
market place, Ready-to-Use plug-ins for business systems, ease of addition of data,
security and data ownership, and tools for developers. This is the basic option provided
by ESRI, our team contends that this is the best product in the continuation of this
project. In the utilization of ArcGIS online we believe that we can fully develop a useable
product that can continuously adapt as alumni data is received.
ArcGIS for desktop is an advanced platform that contains advanced GIS mapping
features. The key features of ArcGIS for desktop include: special analysis, data
management, mapping and visualization, advanced editing, geocoding, map projections,
advance imagery, data sharing, and customization. This option may be the more
attractive of the two based on the advanced levels of customization that may be achieved,
however we conclude that our team lacks the needed knowledge of GIS coding and
development. This product comes at a high cost for multiple users and will require
professional assistance. The mission of this project is to supply University of Redlands
students with a competitive advantage post graduation and ArcGIS for desktop may be
too advanced at this stage of development.
Based on the previously established goals and motives of this project we conclude that
ArcGIS online provides the basic elements needed and will be most efficiently utilized.
ArcGIS for desktop is a product that may be purchased in the future to further add detail
and advanced options after the initial launch.
Issues/Challenges
We have been faced with different challenges in this project. The biggest challenge that
we had was to gather Alumni information in order to enter into our excel spreadsheet. We

first contacted the Registrars office and asked them if they could provide us with a list of
business graduates and they directed us to the Alumni Department because they could not
provide this information. We then contacted the Alumni Department and asked them for
the list of business graduates in the past ten years. Considering how busy they are, we
were not able to get a list of business graduates in the past ten years. Therefore, we met
with Professor Winick and she suggested that we go on her LinkedIn and gather Alumni
information through her connections with Alumni.
When we met with Ms. Beckley, she mentioned that there were privacy and consent
issues that needed to be considered. She was able to easily gain access to the Johnston
Alumni information because the Johnston office keeps a list, and she was able to get it
without any trouble. However, she mentioned that in order to keep peoples information
private, the address that is entered on the map only consists of city, state and zip code.
There was no specific address to enter.
When Professor Winick brought up using LinkedIn as a source to gather information, we
immediately thought of the different types of privacy issues that could arise. Not
everyone wants their information public, and by gathering their information off LinkedIn,
we are uncertain whether they consent to it or not. We reasoned that if they are connected
to Professor Winick, then Professor Winick is allowed to attain the information that is
shown on LinkedIn. From this point on, we have agreed with Professor Winick that this
project is for her eyes only. With this approach, we have gathered information for about
50 alumni using LinkedIn.
Next Steps
Continuation for the project
We have created a trial run version of the map that only Professor Winick can gain access
to. After working on and researching this project, we believe it should be further
developed. This project will not only benefit students, it will also improve the business
department as a whole. It will become a resource that advisors can utilize. Advisors can
help out students if they wanted to do something in an industry that the advisor has
minimal information about. The advisor can utilize this map and direct the student to the
Alumni for more information.
However, there are many questions still left to answer. If this project continues, faculty
should consider the following:
Who has access to editing and controlling what information gets put into the map?
Business department? Advisors? Everyone?
Who do we allow to view this information? All students? Selected students? Professor
selected students? Students with the best grades? Students that are top 100 according to
GPA?
How do we evaluate whether a student is qualified to use the map?

Alumni Mapping

As well as attempting to answer the above questions, students who continue to work on
this project should carry on collecting alumni information and entering it into the map.
Further development of the map should also be considered. New software and technology
is constantly emerging, and a better template might be discovered. Those with GIS
experience may also want to switch to ArcGIS desktop in order to utilize the more
advanced applications it has to offer. Finally, we believe a map should be developed for
each department at the University of Redlands. This project will afford a great advantage
to our graduating students, and we should try to give as many students that advantage as
possible.