BU GCalSync: Exporting StudentLink to Google Calendar

Inspiration

The inspiration for BU CalSync came from recognizing a common challenge faced by students: managing and organizing their academic schedules effectively. By integrating StudentLink with Google Calendar, our team aimed to streamline the process of tracking academic commitments, making it easier for students to stay organized and on top of their coursework and schedules.

What it does

BU CalSync allows students to export their course schedules from Boston University's StudentLink directly into Google Calendar. This integration simplifies the process of calendar management, ensuring that students have immediate and convenient access to their class times and locations in a format they are likely already using for personal and professional scheduling.

How we built it

The team developed BU CalSync as a Chrome extension, using technologies including Node.js, the Google Calendar API, and Google OAuth for authentication. The extension was designed to recognize when a user is on the StudentLink course schedule page and enable them to seamlessly export their schedule to Google Calendar. The process involved setting up OAuth for secure access, fetching calendar data from StudentLink, and then formatting and transferring this data to Google Calendar.

Challenges we ran into

Some of the challenges might have included handling the authentication process with Google OAuth, ensuring the accurate extraction and formatting of schedule data from StudentLink, and creating a user-friendly interface. Additionally, adapting the extension to work reliably across different versions of the StudentLink page and handling various edge cases in schedule formats would have been significant challenges.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are extremely proud of successfully creating a functional and user-friendly Chrome extension that addresses a real need for Boston University students. Overcoming technical challenges, particularly in integrating different technologies (StudentLink, Google Calendar, OAuth) and ensuring a seamless user experience, are significant accomplishments.

What we learned

Through this project, we gained valuable experience in API integration, Chrome extension development, user authentication processes, and perhaps most importantly, in adapting to challenges and changing directions (as seen in the pivot from the initial ML color style app idea).

What's next for BU GCalSync: Exporting StudentLink to Google Calendar

Future developments could include expanding the extension's capabilities to accommodate different academic calendars, allowing customization for semester start and end dates, and possibly integrating other university systems for a more comprehensive academic management tool. Improving the extension's adaptability to various course formats and exploring the possibility of a backend system to handle more complex processing could also be on the roadmap.