CampusSync — College Complaint Management System

Live Demo: https://campussync-1668.onrender.com

A Flask-based web application built to solve a real institutional problem — untracked, unresolved student complaints that fall through the cracks in college administration. CampusSync gives students a structured channel to raise issues and gives administrators full visibility and control over resolution.

App Preview

Landing Page	Admin Dashboard

All Complaints	New Complaint	Staff Dashboard

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Features

• Role-based Access Control: Three user roles — Admin, Staff, and Student
• Complaint Workflow: Submit → Assign → Resolve complaint lifecycle
• Email Domain Restriction: Only @asmedu.org emails allowed for ASM CSIT branding
• Soft Delete: Admin can delete complaints without permanent data loss
• File Uploads: Support for complaint evidence image attachments
• Upvoting & Comments: Students can upvote and comment on complaints
• Dashboard Analytics: Charts for complaint status and category breakdown
• Search & Filtering: Filter complaints by status and category
• Responsive UI: Custom vanilla CSS with dark mode support
• Production Ready: Includes Gunicorn for deployment

Technology Stack

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Installation & Setup

Prerequisites

• Python 3.9+
• pip package manager

Quick Start

1. Clone and navigate to the project:

   git clone <repository_url>
   cd CampusSync

2. Create and activate virtual environment:

   python -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate       # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate

3. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Setup environment variables:

   cp .env.example .env
   # Edit .env with your local configuration

5. Seed the database with demo data:

   python seed_db.py

6. Run the application:

   python run.py

7. Access the application:

   • Open http://localhost:8000 in your browser
   • Login with demo credentials (see below)

Deployment

Local Development

python run.py

The app runs on http://localhost:8000

Production Deployment (Gunicorn)

gunicorn run:app

Or with specific settings:

gunicorn --workers 4 --bind 0.0.0.0:8000 run:app

Environment Variables for Production

export SECRET_KEY="your-production-secret-key"
export FLASK_ENV="production"

Demo Credentials

Role	Email	Password
Admin	admin@asmedu.org	admin123
Staff	it.support@asmedu.org	staff123
Student	alice.cs@asmedu.org	student123

User Roles & Permissions

Student

• Register new complaints with category, priority, location, and description
• Upload evidence image files
• Upvote and comment on complaints
• View and edit own pending complaints
• Track complaint status in real time

Staff

• View complaints assigned to them
• Update complaint status (In Progress → Resolved)
• Access complaint details and evidence images

Admin

• View all complaints with status and category filtering
• Assign complaints to staff members
• Delete complaints (soft delete)
• View dashboard analytics (status chart, category chart)
• Click stat cards to see Pending / Resolved complaint lists

Complaint Categories

• Wi-Fi / Internet
• Classrooms
• Computer Labs
• Canteen
• Washrooms
• Library
• Hostel
• Sports Facilities
• Electricity
• Other

Complaint Status Workflow

1. Pending — New complaint submitted by student
2. In Progress — Assigned to a staff member by admin
3. Resolved — Marked complete by assigned staff

Project Structure

CampusSync/
├── app/
│   ├── __init__.py          # Flask application factory
│   ├── models.py            # Database models (User, Complaint, Comment, Vote)
│   ├── auth.py              # Authentication blueprint
│   ├── student.py           # Student dashboard blueprint
│   ├── admin.py             # Admin dashboard blueprint
│   ├── staff.py             # Staff dashboard blueprint
│   ├── static/              # CSS, JS, uploaded files
│   └── templates/           # Jinja2 templates per role
├── instance/                # Local SQLite database
├── config.py                # Application configuration
├── run.py                   # Development server entry point
├── seed_db.py               # Database initialization & seeding script
└── requirements.txt         # Python dependencies

Key Features Demonstrated

• Flask Application Factory Pattern: Modular, scalable architecture
• SQLAlchemy ORM: Database abstraction and relationships
• Blueprint Organization: Clean separation of concerns per role
• Form Validation: WTForms with CSRF protection
• File Upload Security: UUID naming and type validation
• Role-based Permissions: Flask-Login integration
• Chart.js Integration: Visual analytics on admin dashboard
• Soft Delete Pattern: Data integrity preservation

Development Notes

• Uses SQLite for simplicity (easily replaceable with PostgreSQL for production)
• Email domain validation enforces ASM CSIT branding
• CSRF protection on all forms
• Session-based authentication
• Error handling with custom 403/404/500 pages

Why CampusSync Exists

In most institutions, student complaints are handled informally — emails get lost, verbal complaints are forgotten, and nothing is tracked. CampusSync solves this by:

• Giving every complaint a trackable lifecycle: Pending → In Progress → Resolved
• Letting students upvote issues so high-impact problems are prioritised
• Giving admins a real-time dashboard with analytics to spot recurring problems
• Ensuring accountability by assigning complaints to specific staff members
• Preserving data integrity with soft deletes and role-based access control

Future Enhancements

• Email Notifications: Notify students when their complaint status changes
• SLA Tracking: Auto-escalate high-priority complaints unresolved after 48 hours
• Machine Learning Categorisation: Auto-tag complaint descriptions using NLP
• PWA Support: Convert to a Progressive Web App for mobile use

License

This project is open-source and built to address real institutional needs. Contributions and adaptations for other institutions are welcome.