Approach
Drivers
Our university community uses institutional data daily to ask and answer complex questions to serve our teaching, research, and service mission. And we want to be prepared to answer future questions and draw insights readily.
The demand for data and analysis for decision-making is increasing at all levels of our organization. The amount of data generated, stored, analyzed, and applied is also growing, along with the accelerated availability and use of technology (e.g., AI, modern data platforms and infrastructure).
We face ongoing demands to comply with a growing list of evolving data privacy and protection legislation and regulations. We are committed to securing and protecting our data while also making it readily available for use that supports mission needs.
We have a diverse distributed data and analytics eco-system with multiple data architectures, systems, processes, and organizations. Data & Analytics governance facilitates harmonized and often standardized ways of working for faster and better cross-functional data and analysis including an improved user experience. Data & Analytics governance is one key component of Data & Analytics programming for the Academic Division.
Scope
Data & Analytics governance programming is limited to the Academic Division and focuses on the administrative and academic data domains. This program does not govern access and use of research or health system data.
Our Approach
In partnership with administrative units and schools, IRA focuses on delivering against the key objectives while facilitating institutional readiness for potential future broader data and analytics programming for the Academic Division. Current offerings and planned activities align to three focus areas: Catalog, Community & Training, and Governance.
Catalog
The Data Catalog (specific HSVPN access required), powered by the Alation software, focuses on cataloging and describing institutional data available in University Business Intelligence (UBI) reporting and analytics and the academic division Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW). The Data Catalog provides data definitions (that are also surfaced in UBI) and enables data & analytics practitioners to find, understand, collaboratively steward, and responsibly use institutional data.
To learn more or request access, visit contact Data Governance.
Community and Training
IRA engages our community of University data analytics practitioners through readily available analytics resources including training and data literacy resources, through the catalog, and through the Data & Analytics Community on Teams, a forum for data & analytics colleagues across the Academic Division to connect, ask questions, and access resources. The community is open to all Academic Division faculty and staff interested in university data and analytics. This includes University Business Intelligence, University Data, Data Catalog, Data Warehouse (EDW), and more.
Governance
For current governance, refer to Data Stewardship and data governance related policies, processes, and guidance. Planning is underway to establish a cross-functional data & analytics governance structure and operationalize needed standards, processes, and a delivery prioritization method.
IRA also supports data governance related activities for Workday governance, system access request and attestation initiatives, IT data architecture and data platforms (including the ITS Data Enablement Initiative), and IT integration services.