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Notifications Requirements

Story Prefix: NOTIF Feature Area: Notifications System Overview: university-reg-features.md

NOTIF-001: Receive Email Notification for Registration Events​

As a Student I want to receive email notifications for key registration events So that I have a timely, durable record of changes to my enrollment

Acceptance Criteria​

  • Email notifications are sent for: successful course enrollment, course drop, joining a waitlist, automatic enrollment from a waitlist, declined waitlist spot, hold placed on account, and hold removed
  • Each email includes: the event type, relevant course/section details, timestamp, and a link to the affected page in the system
  • Emails are sent from a recognizable university sender address with a clear subject line (e.g., "Enrollment Confirmed — MATH-201 Spring 2026")
  • Delivery failures are retried up to 3 times; undeliverable addresses are flagged in the student profile for administrator review
  • Students cannot disable enrollment confirmation emails (they are transactional); other email notifications are configurable (NOTIF-005)

NOTIF-002: Receive SMS Notification (Opt-In)​

As a Student I want to opt in to receiving SMS notifications for urgent events So that I am alerted immediately even when I am not checking email

Acceptance Criteria​

  • Students can add and verify a mobile phone number in their notification preferences (NOTIF-005)
  • SMS notifications are sent for: automatic waitlist enrollment, billing due date reminders, and registration deadline reminders (when opted in)
  • SMS messages are concise (≤ 160 characters) and include a short URL to the relevant page
  • Students can opt out of SMS notifications at any time via account settings or by replying "STOP" to any SMS
  • Phone numbers are stored securely and not shared with third parties; SMS delivery is handled via a GDPR-compliant SMS gateway

NOTIF-003: View In-System Notification Center​

As a Student I want to view all my notifications in one place within the system So that I can review past alerts without searching my email inbox

Acceptance Criteria​

  • A notification center icon (with an unread badge count) is visible in the main navigation for all authenticated users
  • The notification center lists all notifications in reverse chronological order with: icon/type, message, timestamp, and read/unread status
  • Clicking a notification marks it as read and navigates to the relevant page
  • Users can mark all notifications as read in a single action
  • Notifications older than 90 days are automatically archived (no longer shown in the main list but accessible via an "Archived" tab)

NOTIF-004: Admin/Instructor Sends a System-Wide or Course-Level Announcement​

As an Administrator or Instructor I want to send an announcement to all system users or to students in a specific course So that I can communicate important information quickly and reliably

Acceptance Criteria​

  • Administrators can send a system-wide announcement that is delivered to all active user accounts
  • Instructors can send a course-level announcement to all students enrolled in their section(s) (COURSE-008)
  • Announcements are delivered as in-system notifications and optionally as email (respecting per-user preferences in NOTIF-005, except for urgent system-wide messages which are always emailed)
  • Announcements marked "Urgent" by the sender bypass user email preferences and are always emailed and displayed as in-system banners
  • All sent announcements are archived and viewable in the admin interface for 1 year

NOTIF-005: Configure Personal Notification Preferences​

As a Student I want to control which non-mandatory notifications I receive and how So that I am not overwhelmed with alerts and can choose my preferred communication channel

Acceptance Criteria​

  • Users can access notification preferences from their account settings page
  • Configurable notification categories include (at minimum): billing reminders, academic deadline reminders, grade postings, waitlist position updates, and course announcements
  • For each category, users can select their delivery channel: email only, SMS only, in-system only, all channels, or off (if the category is non-mandatory)
  • Mandatory transactional notifications (enrollment confirmations, hold notices, system security alerts) are not configurable and always delivered via email and in-system
  • Preference changes take effect immediately for future notifications