REU Utility

A utility to make REU (Research Experiences For Undergraduates) administration easier.

Built on Django, this implementation of the original REU utility, located here: https://github.com/sarahyablok/reu-utility, uses only open-source and free software by default.

Purpose

The purpose of this project is to create an open-source, simple way to manage REU programs, reducing the time needed for administration of said programs and allowing administrators, faculty, mentors, and interns to spend more time on the research and other aspects of an REU program, instead of the paperwork side of things.

Installation

Using pip

This is still being implemented

1. Make sure Python 3 is installed
2. Open up a Terminal or Command Prompt windows
3. Type pip install django-iro to install IRO
4. Once Python is finished installing the dependencies, run python3 manage.py migrate to create the database
5. To start the basic server, run python3 manage.py runserver

Downloading this project

The simplest way to install this program from source is to make sure that Python 3 is installed, and download this project. Once the project is downloaded follow the steps below:

1. Go into the folder containing the downloaded program
2. Open up a Terminal or Command Prompt windows
3. Type pip install -r requirements.txt to install Django and other required components
4. Once Python is finished installing the dependencies, run python3 manage.py migrate to create the database
5. To start the basic server, run python3 manage.py runserver

Docker

In the process of being implemented

If you are familiar with Docker, it might be easier to deploy the application using the Dockerfile.

Vagrant

In the process of being implemented

If you want the program to run on its own virtual machine, Vagrant is a great option and can get this program up and running very easily.

Authentication

Authentication works like this: - Applicants apply, and if accepted, sign up for an account allowing them access to progress reports, intern-specific things - Faculty will also be able to create accounts, again giving them access to faculty-specific things - Mentors are the same - Program administrators are superusers - Uses Django-registration-redux for account creation and authenitication

Customizing The Program

Email settings

• Sign in as a superuser (e.g. program administrator) into the admin console
• Find and click on Configuration
• Change the entry named Backend to the appropriate values

Authentication Schemes

Fields

Questions, Survey, Application

Colors, styling, etc

TODO

PDF Generation, Correct email templates, CSS styling, Tests, Documentation