Team Name
The Pathfinders
Timeline
Fall 2024 – Spring 2025
Students
- VINCE BANKS – Software Engineering
- JACOB KETTERER – Software Engineering
- DIWAS SAPKOTA – Computer Science Engineering
- SAJAN GAUTAM – Computer Science Engineering
- JAVIER PACHECO – Computer Science Engineering
Sponsor
Dr. Marika Apostolova
Abstract
The CSE Student Success Center is a web tutoring platform developed for the University of Texas at Arlington to improve the management of the CSE tutoring services. Designed for students, tutors, and administrators, the system streamlines session scheduling, attendance tracking, and performance reporting. Students can book sessions with ease, tutors can manage their availability and monitor their performance, and administrators can oversee operations through scheduling tools and custom reports. By enhancing communication, securing access, and providing actionable insights, the platform supports UTA’s academic success initiatives and boosts the overall efficiency of the Student Success Center.
Background
The University of Texas at Arlington’s (UTA) Student Success Center currently lacks a system to manage tutoring session scheduling, attendance tracking, or the generation of student engagement reports. These tasks are performed manually, resulting in inefficiencies that hinder both students and staff. Without an organized system, students struggle to find available tutors and book sessions, while staff must spend extra time managing attendance and session records. This absence of structure leads to missed opportunities for academic support and creates unnecessary administrative burdens.
The goal of this project is to develop a centralized application that automates these tasks, improving both efficiency and usability. With the new system, students will be able to quickly book tutoring sessions, while staff can manage attendance and generate reports with minimal effort. Automation will not only save time but also reduce human error and enhance data accuracy, allowing the center to concentrate more on student support rather than administrative work.
UTA is sponsoring this initiative due to a clear need for improved operations within the Student Success Center. The new system will enhance the student experience by making academic support more accessible and user-friendly. Under the guidance of Dr. Apostolova, the development team is working closely with the university to ensure the system meets its specific needs. Dr. Apostolova’s involvement ensures alignment with UTA’s broader mission of improving student outcomes and providing essential academic resources.
This project will deliver tangible benefits for both students and staff by simplifying the coordination of tutoring sessions and tracking academic progress. Students will gain better access to support, while staff will benefit from a streamlined process that reduces time spent on repetitive tasks. Ultimately, the Student Success Center will operate more effectively, enabling it to support a larger number of students in achieving their academic goals.
Project Requirements
Efficient Tutor Scheduling
Tutors should have the ability to easily submit their availability, while administrators must be able to seamlessly create and manage tutoring schedules. A streamlined scheduling process will ensure that sessions are well-coordinated and accessible to students when needed.
Secure, Role-Based Access
The system must include secure authentication with clearly defined access levels for different user roles—students, tutors, and administrators. This ensures that users only have access to the features and data relevant to their roles.
Session Management
Students need an intuitive interface to book, attend, and track tutoring sessions. Similarly, tutors require tools to manage their session schedules, confirm bookings, and maintain session records efficiently.
Attendance Tracking
Accurate session check-ins and check-outs using student ID cards are essential for performance monitoring and accountability. This feature helps maintain reliable attendance records for both students and tutors.
Reporting System
Administrators need a robust reporting tool to generate insights on performance and attendance. These reports will support data-driven decisions to improve the effectiveness of the tutoring program.
User Management
Administrators must be able to manage user profiles, verify tutor credentials, assign user roles, and issue or manage ID cards. Effective user management is crucial for maintaining system integrity and accountability.
Accessibility & User Experience
The platform must be responsive and user-friendly across all devices, including desktops, tablets, and mobile phones. An intuitive interface ensures that users can navigate and use the system with ease.
Notifications & Feedback
Students and tutors will benefit from timely alerts regarding session bookings, cancellations, and other updates. Additionally, built-in feedback mechanisms will enhance communication and help improve session quality.
Data Security & Compliance
Given the sensitivity of academic and attendance data, the platform must adhere to strict data protection and privacy standards. Compliance with FERPA and other relevant regulations is essential.
Scalability & Performance
The system should be designed to scale as the university’s user base grows. It must maintain high performance and reliability, ensuring smooth operation regardless of usage volume.
Design Constraints
- Schedule Constraint
Type: Schedule
The final prototype must be completed and demonstrated by May 1st, 2025. This fixed deadline places significant constraints on the project timeline, requiring careful planning and adherence to a strict development schedule to ensure all critical functionality is completed on time. - Cost Constraint
Type: Cost/Economic
The total development cost must not exceed $800, which limits expenditures on software licenses, third-party services, and hardware. The team must prioritize cost-effective solutions and open-source technologies to stay within budget. - Legal and Data Compliance Constraint
Type: Legal Considerations / Public Health, Safety & Welfare
All customer data collected must be handled in compliance with data protection regulations, including FERPA. The system must implement secure authentication, encryption, and data privacy measures to protect sensitive student information and ensure legal compliance. - Interoperability Constraint
Type: Interoperability
The system may need to integrate with other university technologies or resources, which may require the use of specific platforms, APIs, or authentication systems (e.g., Microsoft SSO, Firebase). This limits the team’s technology stack choices and necessitates close coordination with university IT guidelines. - Usability & Accessibility Constraint
Type: Usability / Accessibility
The system must be easy to use and accessible across a variety of devices (desktop, mobile, tablet) for all users, including students, tutors, and administrators. This includes designing an intuitive UI and ensuring compliance with accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG) to support users with disabilities. - Functionality Scope Constraint
Type: Functionality / Extensibility
Any additional features beyond the agreed-upon scope must receive approval from the Student Success Center team and Dr. Apostolova. This ensures the project remains aligned with stakeholder priorities and avoids feature creep that could delay delivery.
Engineering Standards
- Authentication & Encryption / Security Standards
The system must enforce secure authentication and data encryption protocols to protect sensitive user data, particularly student records and attendance. This includes implementing secure email link authentication through Firebase and using HTTPS for all client-server communication. The backend will also follow standard practices such as token-based authentication (JWT) and encrypted storage for sensitive fields. Compliance with FERPA and general cybersecurity best practices is essential to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the system. - ADA Compliance (Building Codes)
Although the project is software-based, it must still meet digital accessibility requirements outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This includes providing accessible UI components such as screen reader support, proper contrast ratios, keyboard navigation, and ARIA roles. Adhering to WCAG 2.1 Level AA guidelines ensures the application is usable by individuals with disabilities, aligning with federal accessibility standards. - Common Engineering Standards – IEEE
The software development process will follow IEEE standards for software engineering, including IEEE 830 (Software Requirements Specification) and IEEE 1016 (Software Design Description). These standards ensure the project is well-documented, traceable, and maintainable, promoting consistency and best practices throughout the development lifecycle. - OSHA Compliance
While OSHA regulations primarily apply to physical work environments, any hardware-related testing or deployment of the system (e.g., ID card readers or terminals used by staff in the center) must comply with general OSHA safety guidelines. Proper ergonomic consideration will also be given for users interacting with kiosks or other equipment. - Programming/Web Development Standards
The project will adhere to widely accepted programming and web development standards, including RESTful API design principles, modular component structure in React, and consistent coding style using tools like ESLint and Prettier. These standards improve code readability, maintainability, and ensure a uniform development approach across the team.
System Overview
Frontend Implementation
The frontend is developed using React.js and features a fully responsive, role-based interface designed specifically for students, tutors, and administrators. It integrates Firebase Authentication to support secure, email link-based sign-in, restricted to users with a mymav.uta.edu domain. The interface provides components for session booking, schedule management, attendance check-in and check-out, and user profile updates. Custom API calls are used to communicate with the backend, ensuring dynamic and real-time interaction with the database. The frontend also includes a notification system and supports optional calendar integration to enhance scheduling efficiency and user engagement.
Backend Implementation
The backend is built using Node.js and Express.js, structured around a set of custom API endpoints that handle business logic and data management. It utilizes the Firebase Admin SDK to verify sign-ins, enforce domain-based restrictions, and manage secure user sessions. MongoDB is used as the primary database to store critical data, including user profiles, tutor availability, booked sessions, attendance logs, and user feedback. The backend employs middleware-based role-based access control (RBAC) to ensure users only access functionality appropriate to their assigned roles. Additionally, the backend supports real-time session tracking and custom report generation for administrative use. All endpoints are tested, validated, and documented using Postman, ensuring consistent and reliable API interactions across the application.
Results
Our current system supports secure authentication and sign-in using a magnetic stripe card reader, with all session data, user roles, and interactions being properly stored and managed in the database. The platform also features an all-in-one page interactive UI, allowing users to seamlessly navigate between key functionalities without needing to reload or switch pages.
Future Work
While we were able to fulfill all the core requirements of the project, there are still areas for improvement. Future development could focus on enhancing the user interface with more interactive and visually dynamic elements. Potential features include an integrated chat system to support real-time communication between students and tutors, as well as a Degree Checklist tool tailored for CSE students to track their academic progress.
Project Files
Project Charter
System Requirements Specification
Architectural Design Specification
Detailed Design Specification
Poster
References
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