Ideas in Development

Thanks for vising the AMAN Development Page.

Despite what it looks like, the AMAN website is still a work in progress. So we're always looking for support.

We have other ideas that we're pursuing, but have yet to launch. You can read more about the ideas below as well as visit some of our "concept pages". You may even be able to help us bring these projects to fruition!

The highlighted stuff are current priorities. Crossed off stuff has already been accomplished or tested. 

AMAN Articles | AMAN Blog | Resident Experts | Theme Redesign | Semester Cause | Media/Forum Development | Non-profit Status | Strengthening Ties to Qatar | Weblinks | Calendar | Linkedin Group | Chartered A&M Alumni Network | Annual Gathering Planning | Roommate Request | Chat Room | Collapsible Forum Categories | Cloning the Site | Tutoring Database | Resume Review | Fix User Search | CS Vlog | For Sale | New Post Notification | Contact |  Rides | Find/Invite Alumni | Better Facebook Integration | "Ask an Alumni" | Explanation Video

 

  • AMAN Articles: The idea of the AMAN articles section is to have a launch pad for members to write articles on subjects of their interest that provoke discussions from viewers through comments. Currently the format has been established and we are pursuing content generation. Click to learn more about the project.
  • AMAN Blog: The idea of the AMAN blogs section is to provide a place for AMAN moderators to post short articles or updates regarding what's happening in BCS, AMAN projects that are currently underway, news regarding members, etc. Currently the project's scope needs to be better defined. We need to establish a format regarding what kind of articles will be posted, who will be posting them, and how it all should look. 
  • AMAN "Resident Experts": One of the ideas that recently came up was the thought to invite alumni to serve as resident experts on Med school applications, Law School applications, etc. We think its a great idea! If you're willing to help definitely let us know.
  • Modding the Color Scheme / Theme Redesign: Yes. We know the site is blue and not maroon... And yes, we know our logo is an alien's head an ugly minaret... In short, we have yet to begin retheming our website. If you have special skills in HTML/CSS, Photoshop, Flash, or artsy things definitely let us know! (ACHIEVED)
  • AMAN Semester Cause: One of the project ideas we had was what we'd been calling the AMAN Semester Cause, a project where we hope to rally AMAN members around a single humanitarian/philanthropic project. It's an idea we're very excited about, but have yet to put in the time necessary to research potential causes. If you on the other hand know of projects or are willing to research them, let us know. We're particularly interested in projects that are small in scale and little known (don't tell us about Islamic Relief or the Red Cross). We're looking to turn dollars into high impact donations. Some examples of the types of organizations we're looking for: Child's Play, Project Cure, and the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston. You can offer suggestions in the forum at this thread. 
  • Media/Forum Development: The media and forum sections aren't going to develop themselves. In order to make these sections relevant and interesting to the people who visit this site, we need people who see their potential and would be willing to dedicate time to develop them further. If you are willing to help consistently generate content, edit pages, moderate posts, etc... let us know and we'll make you a content moderator.
  • Turning into a non-profit: We are now in the process of initiating the application process fo for 501(c)(3) non-profit status. If you or someone else you know has experience dealing with this process and are interested in helping out, definitely let us know! This is where it begins http://www.sos.state.tx.us/corp/nonprofitfaqs.shtml
  • Strengthening our ties to Qatar: We'd love to increase our presence amongst students at Texas A&M Qatar. If you have ideas or know people who would like to get involved. Let us know!   (ACHIEVED)
  • Weblinks: What weblinks should we be featuring on our website? Obviously: Islamic Center of Bryan College Station (ICBCS), Texas A&M MSA, Lone Star Council.... If you guys know of organizations that you'd like to feature on our website, head to this thread of our forum. Post your suggestions there. Suggestions from the Qatar people are especially welcome (since I have no idea whats going on over there...). We'll add a links section to our website if we get enough. 
  • Calendar of Events: Thinking to add a "calendar of events" feature. Where all registered members can post about events they'd like to let others know about. We could have them tagged as ICBCS, conventions, lectures, socials, weddings, etc... 
  • Setting up a Linkedin Group: Can someone do this? It might help bring more people to our main page.  (ACHIEVED)
  • Becoming a Chartered Member of the Texas A&M Former Students Association: It would be great if we could become a recognized group with The Association. Chartered organizations get reduced rates in reserving the alumni center (what a great place for a picnic eh?) and they become a registered part of the leadershp council. http://www.aggienetwork.com/CN/ . 
  • Annual Gathering Planning: It would be great if we could hold an annual conference back at College Station. We could invite all of our old alumni to meet up, invite speakers, maybe have a few workshops/roundtable discussions, fundraise for ICBCS and other causes. We could post the whole thing on a webcast for our international members as well. Sounds like an idea with lots of potential. If you're interested send us a message or post a comment in this thread of the forum. If we push for becoming a Chartered Alumni Organization with the Association of Former Students, we could even reserve the alumni center!
  • Roommate database: We are thinking to port over the old MSA roommate database to our own site. This would be helpful as only registered members could sing up to set up roommate requests. And.... we think our site is nicer. (ACHIEVED)
  • Chat Room: This might be useful for the occassional group conversation.... (ACHIEVED)
  • Faculty/Staff Database: We're hoping to incorporate a database of Muslim faculty/staff. We think this might be helpful for students interested in getting advice on graduate school. But before we can make this happen.... we'll have to make a few modifications to our registration form (ugggh..). Stay tuned!  (ACHIEVED)
  • Collapsible Forum blocks: Suggested by Fahad.We've got a pretty long list of forum titles. Might be nice to collapse them like we do with the blocks on the right side menus.  Great Suggestion! (Idea was successfully implemented: Jun 28, 2011). Update: Forum was glitchy upon making change.. will need to think of new strategy.  (ACHIEVED)
  • Cloning the Site: If we can build a site that we generally agree is "nice". It might be something beneficial for other communities. The idea has been brought up of replicating the site for other universities as well. 
  • Tutoring Database: We'd like to set up a component of the site where undergrads/grad students can offer their services tutoring lower classmen in classes they might be struggling through. If you would be interested in serving as a tutor let us know. We'll have a place for you sign up inshallah... but it wouldn't hurt to get an early start. (ACHIEVED)
  • Resume/Essay/Application Review: We'd like to port over our editorial support from the forum to something a little more officia. We want to create a place where students can upload resumes, applications, essays (anonymously or registered) and have some of their more experienced peers provide insight.  (ACHIEVED)
  • Fix user search: Right now if you search by people's profession.... they don't come up. This needs to get resolved. (ACHIEVED)
  • CS' Vlog': Idea proposed by Tania is to have a running video podcast of what's going on in CS, ICBCS, and perhaps the Qatar campus? Any takers?
  • For Sale: Section to sell/request books and other items of interest (ACHIEVED)
  • New Post Notifications: No one wants to visit this site time and time again only to find nothing new. It'd be great to have a way to subscribe to features like the "Roommate Request" so when a new request is made you can be sent an email. (ACHIEVED)
  • "Contact all Undergrads", "Contact all Grad Students" - Might be nice to ahve a way of giving users the ability to quickly send messages to all of the registered students/grad students (IDEA DROPPED)
  • Need a Ride: Database for people to request rides  (IDEA DROPPED)
  • Go through Association of Former Students Database: We recently found out that the Texas A&M University Association of Former Students has a database of all alumni. We'd like to have volunteers contact them on behalf of AMAN, inviting Muslims in that directory to register. Let us know if you'd be interested. 
  • Better Facebook Integration: Idea by Fatima Raja. Wouldn't it be great if the entire forum could be integrated with Facebook? That way people wouldn't have to keep coming back here to see what's going on in our forum and that way people could post to their forum via Facebook. Honestly, the idea sounds pretty tough to implement.... but if anyone has ideas (or has seen it be done) let it be known!
  • "Ask an Alumni": This is a new priority idea. Essentially the idea is one where students fill out a form where they can send questions to "experts" in a given area. So if a student, for example, is looking for advice on finding a job in Accounting they can fill out a form and specify that they're looking for "Accounting Work" advice and the question would get forwarded out to the "Accounting" group. Ideas for groups include "Electrical Engineers", "Mechanical Engineers", "IT", "Law School", "Medical School / Healthcare", "Accounting", "Management", "Entrepreneursihp", "Education", "Architecture".... Hope we didn't miss anything? (ACHIEVED)
  • Explanation Video: We'd like to add a video walkthrough of what's on our website. We used to have one for the old page, but since the change we never got around to making a replacement.
  • Alumni Iftar Funds: With Ramadan aruond the corner, we thought it might be a neat idea for alumni to sponsor an iftar dinner through the masjid. We'll set up the calendar for people to sign up soon inshallah. 

If you're interested in helping with any of these ideas or have ideas of your own, let us know by:

 + Filling out this quick form. 

+ Or emailing us at admins@aggiemuslim.org.

Together we can turn these ideas into a reality, inshallah!