Dear reader,
If you've been a part of SJNY (student/alumni/faculty/staff) for more than a week, you probably know this feeling. Events get announced in one place, clubs live in another, alumni resources are somewhere else, and career resources are... in a whole different place.
None of it is missing. It's just spread across so many platforms and interfaces that finding any one thing takes more effort than it should.
AlmaBond is my attempt at fixing that.
The idea is simple, even if building it is not: one main platform where everything happening at SJNY can live. Networking, events, alumni engagement, career resources, clubs, elections, budgets, all of it in one hub, instead of a different login and a different tab for every single thing.
Where things are today
AlmaBond has grown past the foundation. You can browse every club and office on campus, join the ones you care about, find and register for events, check in when you get there, and vote when a club runs an election. If you help run a club, you can request events and budgets and see them reviewed in one place. Student Life and the other offices can now build forms right inside AlmaBond, like surveys, sign-ups or award voting, and send you a notification when one needs you.
It's also where students, alumni and staff meet. The community has a feed (with a tab for each campus), an alumni directory and messages, one-to-one or in groups, with photos and files up to 25 MB, so connecting with a classmate or an alum can be as easy as finding a club. If you're about to graduate, you can ask the alumni office to move your account over to alumni and keep your clubs. And if you graduated a while ago, you can ask to join from the sign-in page.
Signing in is easier and safer too. Use your school account with Google or LinkedIn, or an email and password, or a passkey, and add two-factor sign-in if you want it. Once a year, we'll ask you to confirm you're still at SJNY, with a heads-up two weeks ahead. The SJNY Connect link in the menu under your initials still takes you to the alumni department's platform. There's more to do, and I'm still working through the plan.
The honest part
I hope this works out. I hope it becomes the first place you check instead of the fifth. But I don't know the future yet, and I'd rather tell you that than pretend otherwise. What I do know is that I'm going to keep working on it, keep fixing what's broken, and keep making it better.
And your information? It stays within the university, and it isn't shared with anyone else for any reason. You can read the details in the privacy policy.
This is where you come in
AlmaBond only gets good if it fits how people at SJNY actually live. If something is confusing, broken, or missing, I want to know. If you just have an idea, or want to talk about where this could go, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
What's one thing at SJNY you wish you could find in one place? Tell me about it:
I'll read every email.
And if you'd like to know more about me, you can find my writing, my projects, and my weekly newsletter on my website, surajc.com.
Warmly,
Suraj