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uConnect IT Onboarding Technical Guide

Read about our comprehensive onboarding technical guide for the uConnect product, designed for IT teams at universities who support career centers in their implementations.

Christina Butler avatar
Written by Christina Butler
Updated over a week ago

Overview

IT support is critical in the uConnect onboarding because the platform requires coordination across:

  • DNS & Email Deliverability – Ensuring the platform domain and email communications are properly configured. In most use cases, our clients use uConnect as their new career center website, so we will also work with university IT teams to schedule a cutover date for the URL.

  • Single Sign-On (SSO) – Streamlining authentication through university credentials. Read more here about how our SSO integration works.

  • Student Subscriber List – Loading student subscriber lists to power proactive email engagement.

  • (Optional) Student Information System (SIS) Sync – Automating updates of student populations (longer setup, usually after launch).

We recommend starting with DNS/Email, SSO, and a Subscriber List for rapid onboarding. SIS syncs can follow later without delaying go-live.

1. DNS & Email Deliverability

Purpose

uConnect requires DNS updates to point your institution’s branded career center domain to the uConnect platform and to ensure emails are delivered successfully without being flagged as spam. We will send customized instructions to your university IT team including your specific URL and email address that you'd like to use for your uConnect platform, but below is a high level overview of our set-up:

Required DNS Updates

Primary Platform URL (domain pointing):

sitename.school.edu.   300   IN   CNAME   uconnectrootname.hosting.gouconnect.com

Email Link Branding (internal + external DNS):

uctlinks.schoolurl.edu.   300   IN   CNAME   sendgrid.net 14324023.schoolurl.edu.   300   IN   CNAME   sendgrid.net

Email Domain Authentication:

uctreturn.schoolurl.edu.       300   IN   CNAME   u14324023.wl024.sendgrid.net uct._domainkey.schoolurl.edu.  300   IN   CNAME   uct.domainkey.u14324023.wl024.sendgrid.net uct2._domainkey.schoolurl.edu. 300   IN   CNAME   uct2.domainkey.u14324023.wl024.sendgrid.net

SPF Record Update:
Add the following IP to your domain’s SPF record:

ip4:168.245.25.116

Email Allowlisting

To prevent uConnect Support and automated communications from being flagged, allowlist:

  • Domains: intercom-mail.com, spe.intercom-mail.com, gouconnect.com, hs-inbox.com

  • IP Ranges:

    • Intercom (USA/EU/AUS listed above)

    • SendGrid ranges (hs-inbox.com)

2. Single Sign-On (SSO)

Purpose

SSO allows students, faculty, and staff to log into uConnect using university credentials, improving security and user experience. Learn more here.

Supported Protocols

  • Primary: SAML 2.0

  • Other protocols: Supported on request (require technical review).

  • SSO Supported Tools: Shibboleth, Azure/Microsoft, Okta

Standard SAML Attributes

Attribute

OID

Notes

UserID

urn:oid:1.3.6.1.4.1.5923.1.1.1.6

Required unique identifier

Email

urn:oid:0.9.2342.19200300.100.1.3

Required

First Name

urn:oid:2.5.4.42

Preferred first name

Last Name

urn:oid:2.5.4.4

Required

Process

  1. New Setup:

    • uConnect provides Service Provider (SP) metadata.

    • Institution provides Identity Provider (IdP) metadata.

    • Configure immediately after DNS branding to finalize metadata.

  2. Testing:

    • Test with IT/security staff.

    • Provide a test account if troubleshooting is needed.

  3. Updates:

    • Submit a support request if modifying SSO post-launch.

3. Student Subscriber List

Purpose

Subscriber lists enable career centers to proactively send tailored content to students, alumni, employers, and staff, but for onboarding purposes, we start with uploading a current student subscriber list.

Recommended for Launch

Use a Subscriber List for quick onboarding while SIS is configured. Our career center teams are able to upload these lists on their own; learn more here.

File Requirements

  • Format: .csv, .xls, or .xlsx

  • Minimum headers:

    FIRST_NAME, LAST_NAME, EMAIL, USER_ID (or USER_LOGIN if SSO), GRADUATION

Audience Types

  • Multiple subscriber types can be in one file (e.g., students, alumni).

  • Include a SUBSCRIBER_TYPE column if mixing groups.

Optional Fields

  • Community pre-subscriptions (e.g., Career Community = Finance).

  • Multiple values allowed using ;.

Upload Process

  • Navigate to Engage > Subscribers > Mauna Subscriber Uploads.

  • Upload file for processing.

4. (Optional) SIS (Student Information System) Integration

Purpose

Automates user management by syncing student records from the university’s SIS. Learn more about our SIS process in greater depth.

Process

  1. uConnect provisions an Amazon S3 bucket.

  2. Institution uploads student list (CSV, RFC 4180 standard).

  3. uConnect reviews and enables auto-sync.

File Requirements

  • Headers required:

    FIRST_NAME, LAST_NAME, EMAIL, USER_ID (or USER_LOGIN), GRADUATION, STAKEHOLDERS

Additional Notes

  • Unique identifier must match the SSO attribute.

  • One record per user (no duplicates).

  • Optional fields: EMAIL_OPT_OUT, DELETE, PROGRAM, AFFINITY, etc.

  • Supports mapping of Academic Programs/Majors to Communities (Career/Industry, College, Affinity).

  • Sync frequency: Weekly (Saturday nights).

5. Best Practices & Recommendations

  • Start with DNS, Email, SSO, Subscriber List → Go live faster.

  • Use SIS sync later once configuration and mapping details are finalized.

  • Coordinate early with IT Security to address institutional policies.

  • Test thoroughly after DNS/SSO changes before going live.

  • Provide test accounts when troubleshooting with uConnect.

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