Data Governance Information Resources

What is Data Governance?

Our campus creates, uses and needs enormous amounts of data in its work to advance research and knowledge, and in its management of and service to our students, faculty and staff. 

Data Governance is a university-wide program to improve access to campus and multi-campus institutional data with greater usability and security. Data governance allows the university to curate its information resources effectively and provide data to decision-makers and stakeholders, so they have consistent, accurate, quality information to make decisions and communicate how the university operates. 

Data Governance Roles

Campus Data Trustee 
The data trustees advise the chancellor that the university is taking appropriate measures to ensure data quality and ensure compliance with relevant regulations and policies. These individuals, appointed by chancellors, work to resolve conflicts where data overlaps between multiple data groups. In addition to upholding university policies and state/federal law, Data Trustees are responsible for identifying the sensitivity and criticality of data. 

They play a vital role in data governance by ensuring the proper management, protection, and ethical use of data assets on behalf of data stakeholders, often through delegated management. 


Campus Data Steward 
The data stewards advise the Data Trustees and will often have data custodial responsibilities but are distinguished from Custodians by delegated decision-making authority from the Data Trustees, including identification of the criticality and sensitivity of data. 

Data stewards actively participate in processes that establish business-context and quality definitions for data elements. Data stewards are more likely to be associated with business functions than IT functions. 


Campus Data SME 
A Data SME (Subject Matter Expert) is a professional with deep expertise in specific data domains who ensures that data is accurate, consistent, and aligned with business rules and regulatory requirements. They collaborate with data stewards, data trustees, and governance teams to define data standards, validate data quality, and support data-related decision-making.

Campus Data Custodian 
Data Custodians typically have broad administration/oversight/management over a data asset's disposition, whether stored (at rest), in transit, or during creation. Custodians will often have modification or distribution responsibilities/privileges. Data Custodians carry a significant accountability/responsibility to secure and protect data as well as provision access and prevent unauthorized use. Data Custodians administer role-based access to data to end users. Data Custodians typically are associated with IT units within the university, either central IT organizations or IT offices within academic and administrative units. 


Multi Campus Data Governance Policy and Resources 


Campus Data Trustees and Stewards 
Coming Soon