Data Governance
Mission
Data Governance is the stewardship of data through policies, practices, and operations. Facilitated in collaboration between the Institutional and Educational Effectiveness (IEE) Division and Administrative Information Services (AIS), the Data Governance Committee provides a college-wide data strategies to support evidence-based decision-making. Its data assessment management infrastructure spans across the following phases in a data lifecycle:
- Collection: Systematic gathering of accurate and relevant data from multiple sources.
- Pathways: Defining, documenting, and maintaining clear routes for data movement within the institution to ensure data integrity, security, and efficient flow between systems.
- Integration: Unifying data from various sources for comprehensive analysis.
- Analysis: Utilizing advanced techniques to interpret data and uncover insights.
- Distribution: Efficiently disseminating data to stakeholders for timely access and support.
Guided by the goals of transforming data into a strategic asset, enhancing user experience, and fostering sustainable and continuous improvement, the Data Governance Committee establishes clear data definitions, documents data pathways and integration processes, conducts accurate and timely data analysis, assesses risks related to data access and distribution, and establish policies to support these areas of operations.
Areas of Oversight
- Student Data: Enrollment, academic performance, retention, graduation rates, and demographic information.
- Academic Data: Course offerings, curriculum development, faculty workload, and student learning outcomes.
- Financial Data: Budgeting, accounting, financial aid, and funding sources.
- Human Resources Data: Employee records, payroll, benefits, and demographic information.
- Alumni Data: Alumni engagement, donations, and career outcomes.
- Compliance Data: Adherence to local, state, and federal regulations, as well as accreditation requirements.
Data Governance Strategies
Data Governance Committee Member Acknowledgement of Responsibility
Executive Team
This leadership team is responsible for the oversight of data integrity in the offices under their supervision in a way that adheres to the established data definitions and processes. It also has a coordinating function to ensure the institution is making data-informed decisions by evaluating and addressing interdependent implications across various functions on campus. It is expected that this team set the priorities and agendas within their supervision on data-related initiatives, including development and administration of ad-hoc data collection and analysis such as post-graduation outcome and alumni data.
Data Stewards
Data stewards team responds to ongoing and newly raised issues about data sources, entries, definitions, computations, and uses. This team also keeps records of data access privilege and coordinates requests of new accesses with appropriate offices. The following departments have a steward:
- Human Resource
- Payroll
- Accounts Receivable
- Accounts Payable
- Finance
- Registrar's Office
- Financial Aid
- Admissions
- Housing
- The Advising Office
- Academic Success
- Academic Affairs
- Advancement
- Institutional Research
- Institutional & Educational Effectiveness
PowerBI Report Writers
Create a comprehensive information deck for each PowerBI report owned by various offices across campus for accurate interpretation of reports. The PowerBI Report Writer team is responsible for understanding the data definition and addressing any irregularities or issues they may discover during their report writing activities. Every report built on PowerBI must have a report card that explains its purpose, function, risk assessment, among others. Trained writers serve as consultants of PowerBI reports within their respective office to ensure that the use and understanding of the reports are correct when the reports or information extracted from the reports are shared with other offices or individuals. This team is organized by the AIS upon their approval of participation.
Data Dictionary Team
Create a comprehensive encyclopedia for all fields of data used at the institution to ensure validity and reliability of data. The Data Dictionary team approaches the development of this resource collaboratively by ensuring that stakeholders of each data field have a chance to review the definitions and processes from data entry to validation. At the conclusion of this work, we will have documented definitions, processes, and responsible units/offices or personnel for the preservation of data integrity.
Data Access Regulation Team
Establish data access privilege rules for various roles across campus to ensure data security and privacy. This entails determining what roles have access to specific Colleague windows, PowerBI data, and Self-Service student information.
Institutional data are critical asset to the institution, and the policies and procedures that maintain the clarity and integrity of data are foundational to decision support. These policies are developed to build effective infrastructure and efficient system, and have been vetted by the stakeholders.
CIP Code Policy
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) is a taxonomy of programs developed by the U.S. Department of Education. This taxonomic scheme supports the accurate tracking and reporting of fields of study and program completion activities. It is essentially the institution’s academic profile and used for IPEDS reporting, WSCUC, SEVIS (sponsoring international and exchange students), and Hanover Research to understand opportunities for growth. This policy specifies the governing structure of CIP code and policies around changing a CIP code. For more information about the STEM designated CIP code, visit the Department of Homeland Security STEM Designated Degree Program List for a comprehensive list of programs and the National Center for Education Statistics 2023 STEM designated CIP code for updated list.
Academic Deans and Chairs Access to GaelXpress 2.0
The Chairs and Deans role grants access to view academic records and update degree plans for all students. This policy outlines the access and permissions associated with the Chairs and Deans role within SMC's GaelXpress 2.0, ensuring the protection and proper handling of student information. Vice Provost for Institutional and Educational Effectiveness will contact the individuals on this list for onboarding and details of the policy.
Academic Department Name and Structural Changes Policy (forthcoming)
Saint Mary’s ERP system (Colleague) is our official institutional system of record. In Colleague, academic departments are the anchor that organizes degree programs, courses, employees, and GL code. This policy details the processes of departmental name and structure changes and outlines required information due submission to the Data Governance to enact on these changes.
Quick Access to PBI Reports and Dashboards
REPORTS: List of courses, students, or other information for immediate action and planning. | ||
| List of Majors, Minors, and More | This REPORT provides a list of students registered in the chosen term, filterable by program (aka. primary major), additional major, minor, certificates, and credential. It also allows you to get a list of graduating seniors. | See Training 1 Recording for Instructions | Use this to understand how many registered students programs have in the chosen term, how many credits they are registered, etc. You can also email students on the list. |
| CSAR | This REPORT includes essential course information such as course number, title, units, faculty assigned to teach, assigned teaching workload per course, class meeting schedule. | See Training 1 Recording for Instructions | Use this to understand the course and room scheduling history and plans. |
| Course Monitor | This REPORT includes the course capacity, enrollment count, and remaining capacity. It also lets you drill down to show the roster. Refreshes every 30 min from 8am to 5pm. | See Training 1 Recording for Instructions | Use this report to monitor course fill rates and ongoing course planning. You can monitor who are registered in each course. |
| Core Designated Courses by Term | This REPORT provides a list of courses offered in the chosen term, filterable by Core designation flags, course prefix, or course credits. The course offerings are NOT FINAL until they appear on GX2.0 before advising period. | See Training 2 Recording for Instructions | Use this during the advising period to help students identify Core designated courses. |
| Degree Conferred by Term | This REPORT provides a list of graduated students and earned degree(s) along with the date of degree conferral and contact information. | See Training 2 Recording for Instructions | Use this when you need to obtain the roster of students graduated from your program. |
DASHBOARDS: Aggregated trends data with visualization for program-level diagnosis and strategic planning. | ||
| DFW Grades | This DASHBOARD provides aggregated summaries of course GPAs and DFW rates disaggregated by student demographic characteristics. It also shows average class size. | See Training 2 Recording for Instructions | Use this to make program-level diagnosis of student success and refer to this dashboard to prepare the program review self-study. |
| Program Data Profile | This DASHBOARD shows enrollment trends, retention and graduation rates, and Tenure-Track v. non-Tenure-Track faculty course assignment records disaggregated by programs. | Use this to monitor program profile and make strategic decisions about the direction of the program. Refer to this dashboard to prepare for the program review self-study. |
| Post-Graduation Outcomes* | This DASHBOARD illustrates students' outcomes six months after degree completion. | Use this to understand what students do after they graduate and refer to this dashboard to prepare for the program review self-study. |
FACT BOOK & KPI: Institutional-level trends data with visualization to understand Saint Mary's characteristics | ||
| Fact Book* | Multiple dynamic interactive DASHBOARDS allow you to grasp the overall student and employee characteristics disaggregatable by various factors. | Use this for grant applications, presentations, and evaluation that require institutional-level data profile. |
| KPI* | Key Performance Indicator DASHBOARDS provide historical trends, goals for enrollment, and other critical success markers. KPI Dashboards are visual representations of institutional characteristics. | Use this to understand areas of accomplishments and improvement at the institutional level. |
*Access is public. Anyone can view the dashboards.
Access to the reports and dashboards without (*) are restricted to Academic School Deans, Chairs, and Directors. The Deans, Chairs, and Director roster is updated twice a year (Fall and Spring). Administrative support staff may be granted access upon request from Deans, Chairs, or Directors. Please submit THIS FORM to request access. Please note that access cannot be granted to student workers.
Confluence Pages for Data Stewards
Quick links for confluence pages for meeting notes, documentation of polices, procedures, definitions, and information.
Data Governance Leadership
Contact co-chairs of the Data Governance Committee