Majors & Degrees Search

Developed a PHP/MySQL academic program search application featuring an administrative CRUD portal, advanced filtering, individual program pages, and reusable department-specific PHP components.

Overview

Developed a custom PHP and MySQL application for Valdosta State University’s Majors & Degrees Search, providing students with a searchable directory of academic programs.

The solution included an administrative management portal, advanced search filters, individual program pages, and reusable PHP functionality that allowed academic departments to display their own program offerings.

The Challenge

Valdosta State University needed an efficient way to manage and present information about its academic programs.

Administrators required a centralized interface for maintaining program information, while prospective and current students needed an intuitive way to explore available majors and degrees.

Individual academic departments also needed to display their own programs without including unrelated offerings from other departments.

The Solution

Built a PHP and MySQL backend application that allows authorized administrators to create, read, update, and delete academic program records through a dedicated management portal.

Developed additional search filters to help students narrow results and find relevant programs. Each academic program received its own dedicated page and unique URL.

Also created a reusable PHP class that enables departmental websites to retrieve and display only the academic programs associated with their respective departments.

Continued expanding the application with additional custom features and database improvements as university requirements evolved.

Technical Implementation

The application included six primary components:

  1. Database architecture: Developed a MySQL-backed system for storing and retrieving academic program information.
  2. Administrative portal: Built a PHP interface supporting create, read, update, and delete (CRUD) operations for program records.
  3. Program search: Implemented additional filtering options to help users narrow academic program results.
  4. Individual program pages: Provided dedicated pages and unique URLs for each academic program.
  5. Reusable PHP class: Developed a component that allows departmental websites to retrieve program information specific to their academic department.
  6. Ongoing enhancements: Updated the application’s PHP code and database structure to accommodate additional features and evolving requirements.

Outcome

Delivered a centralized academic program management and discovery system that enabled administrators to maintain program information while providing students with improved tools for exploring majors and degrees.

The reusable PHP class allowed individual academic departments to showcase their own programs without displaying unrelated offerings. The project received positive recognition for its successful implementation.

The application continued to evolve through additional features and improvements during my tenure at Valdosta State University. Although the website has since been redesigned, portions of my original implementation appear to remain in use. I am no longer responsible for its maintenance.